Trains Photo Contest 2019 winners: Go West!

FULL SCREEN Photo by Bryan Bechtold Runner-up: To appreciate the daunting task of the transcontinental railroad builders, you need only go west to Wyoming. The modern Union Pacific Railroad remains tested by the same vast landscape that challenged the pioneers. In a scene repeated for 150 years, a manifest train climbs out of Rock River, […]

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Trains Photo Contest 2020: In the City

Sumpter Valley trains Ben Duncan Grand Prize winner Trains photo contest 2019

2019 Grand Prize: Ben Duncan This photograph captures my perceptions of American westward expansion. It creates a tension between ideas of East and West, past and future, static and dynamic, confinement and freedom. Taken on my first visit to the western United States, it depicts the Sumpter Valley Railroad, which runs close to one of […]

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Remembering the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad

ACLa

There is no mistaking Atlantic Coast Line boss Champ Davis’ favorite color — Royal Purple — as E6 No. 518 nears Cascade Road leaving greater Atlanta for Waycross, Ga., with local train 101 in Oct. 1958. David W. Salter The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad was true to its name: it linked an important string of […]

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Smoldering embers of a different age

GCTtrack21gate

A passenger for the New Haven’s Owl checks in at the gate for track 21 in Grand Central Terminal. This photo, from March 1957 Trains magazine, was author Gwyer’s introduction to the train. Don Wood I was first introduced to the New Haven Railroad’s Owl by a photo in the March 1957 issue of Trains magazine. The picture, made […]

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Remembering Boston & Maine Railroad freight trains

8BMmountain

All this month — October 2019 — Classic Trains editors are celebrating the heritage, history, and images of the Boston & Maine Railroad. Please enjoy this photo gallery of images from the David P. Morgan Library archives at Kalmbach Media that include B&M steam-powered freight trains through time. You might also enjoy this B&M history […]

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Ask Trains: Can train crews turn off crossing gates?

Q: Do train crews have the ability to activate or deactivate crossing lights and gates? — Richard Collingwood, Milan, Ohio A: No. Here’s why: Crossing circuits have set approaches based off of warning time required and maximum speed of the trains. The modern day crossing processors — mini computers inside a crossing gate bungalow (the metal […]

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Remembering Boston & Maine Railroad locomotives

2-8-4 steam locomotive as seen obliquely from the front.

Starting in October 2019, Classic Trains editors will celebrate the heritage, history, and lore of famed (and infamous) railroads. We start this series with the beloved Boston & Maine. Please enjoy a collection of images located in the David P. Morgan Library archives at Kalmbach Media that include B&M’s iconic locomotives and scarce builder’s photos. […]

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Remembering Boston & Maine Railroad locomotives

A close up black and white photo of the Boston & Maine Railroad 2-10-2 Santa Fe-type locomotive No. 3021 sitting on the tracks

Starting in October 2019, Classic Trains editors will celebrate the heritage, history, and lore of famed (and infamous) railroads. We start this series with the beloved Boston & Maine. Please enjoy a collection of images located in the David P. Morgan Library archives at Kalmbach Media that include B&M’s iconic locomotives and scarce builder’s photos. […]

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