TRAIN-WATCHING HIGHLIGHTS OF THE TWIN CITIES HIAWATHA LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT LINE Runs from: Warehouse District/Hennepin Ave. in downtown Minneapolis along Hiawatha Avenue to MSP International Airport and Mall of America in Bloomington, 11.6 miles. Train frequency: Trains run daily, every 7-8 minutes during rush hours, every 10 minutes between 9:00 am and 3:00 pm, every […]
Railroad: Union Pacific
Rio Grande railfanning
Think “Rio Grande” and one imagines long freights grinding through the tunnels and screeching around the tight curves of the Front Range, or coal drags with multiple helpers creeping up Soldier Summit or winding through the double horseshoe at Gilluly. Not as frequently considered, yet almost entirely accessible end-to-end, is the stretch from Dotsero, at […]
Soldier Summit, Utah
Soldier Summit is one of two sites in Utah profiled in Kalmbach’s Guide to North American Hot Spots by TRAINS Senior Editor J. David Ingles. Read below for Soldier Summit information. DescriptionDouble-track main line of Union Pacific’s ex-Denver & Rio Grande Western line over the Wasatch Mountains, used jointly by UP and the Utah Railway. […]
Spokane, Wash., a railfanning hotspot
Eastbound BNSF freights from Seattle descend into Spokane on the Indian Canyon Bridge, part of a 1970s relocation of the ex-Great Northern main line. Bruce Kelly Spokane is one of three Washington state locales profiled in Kalmbach’s Guide to North American Hot Spots by TRAINS Senior Editor J. David Ingles. Description Spokane is the busy […]
Texarkana, Texas
Texarkana is one of four sites in Texas profiled in Kalmbach’s Guide to North American Hot Spots by TRAINS Senior Editor J. David Ingles. Read below for Texarkana information. Site: Texarkana, Texas Nearest Cities: Dallas (186 miles southwest); Shreveport, La. (71 miles southeast) Popular Name: Tower 42 Location: Texas/Eastern EC-12 (Rand McNally Atlas) Directions: About […]
Tulsa, Okla.
Tulsa-Sapulpa Union No. 104 borrows a page from the story ” The Little Engine that Could.” Hal Miller Tulsa, Okla. is served by two Class 1 railroads, three short lines, and two industrial operations. TRAINS Magazine profiled two of Tulsa’s hometown short lines in its April 2001 issue. See below for some information on Tulsa’s […]
Weber Canyon, Utah
Ogden is still a busy railroad town with main lines approaching from four different directions. From the east, Union Pacific reaches Ogden through 40-mile Weber Canyon (pronounced “WEE-ber.”) It’s one of two Utah hot spots profiled in Kalmbach Publishing’s Guide to North American Railroad Hot Spots by TRAINS Senior Editor J. David Ingles. Read below: […]
Union Pacific merger family tree
Union Pacific Railroad Union Pacific has the right name-it’s the last major U.S. rail system whose name has never changed, dating from its charter in 1862 to build the nation’s first transcontinental westward from Omaha, Nebraska. Construction began in 1865, and was completed on May 10, 1869. Also notable for their longevity are Union Pacific’s […]
Union Pacific Railroad
Wearing Union Pacific’s revived wing shield emblem, a trio of SD70M locomotives leads a trailer train eastbound through Creston, Ill. Howard Ande The largest U.S. railroad, Union Pacific Railroad operates a 32,000-mile network (27,000 route miles owned, 5,000 route miles on trackage rights) serving 23 states. The railroad links every major city in the west […]
MTH Premier line O gauge Centipede and Lionel O gauge 4-8-8-4 Big Boy
STEAM VERSUS diesel, Godzilla versus Mothra, great taste – less filling. These are some of the significant battles of our time. Almost on cue, MTH Electric Trains and Lionel have released two O gauge locomotives that will challenge all but the gentlest of curves and the sturdiest of bridges. MTH offers the first three-rail model […]
MTH RailKing Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 Big Boy
IN 1996, THE FIRST MTH RailKing articulated locomotive – the no. 30-1107 Union Pacific Challenger 4-6-6-4 – rolled onto tinplate track and created quite a stir. Regardless of its reduced dimensions, no manufacturer had ever offered an articulated, die-cast metal steamer for the small layout, tight-radius crowd. Its success heralded 1997’s Allegheny 2-6-6-6, 1998’s Big […]
Rivarossi upgrades its HO scale Union Pacific 4-8-4 Northern steam locomotive
Rivarossi HO Union Pacific 4-8-4 Northern steam locomotive Click on chart for a larger image Improved HO 4-8-4 has looks and power This HO 4-8-4 from Rivarossi is a welcome upgrade to an accurate and attractive model originally introduced in 1980. The new engine features RP-25 wheels, improved electrical pickup, flywheel drive, increased weight for […]
