Washington Metro welcomes first 7000-series railcars NEWSWIRE

WAMTA-1

The new 8000-series cars approach the Greenbelt Station. Sol Tucker Interior of the new 8000-series WMATA cars. Sol Tucker WASHINGTON – The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is debuting its first 7000-series train at Greenbelt Station this week. The newest addition to the rail fleet will fulfill a critical National Transportation Safety Board recommendation by replacing […]

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Cajon Pass Extra

In October 2013, Trains sent me to Southern California to attend the first-ever Association of Tourist Railroads and Railway Museums meeting, to see Union Pacific’s preparatory work for moving Big Boy 4-8-8-4 No. 4014 AND to get material for the February 2014 article in the magazine: “Cajon Pass Unplugged.” I spent weeks before and after […]

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Sounds and images: Raising a Northeast Corridor drawbridge

FULL SCREEN Bob Johnston Amtrak bridge operator Merrill Perkins controls the Northeast Corridor’s Niantic River movable bridge from a tower at the end of the structure. Push-button controls make this bridge easy to operate. FULL SCREEN Bob Johnston The previous Niantic River movable bridge had been built by the New Haven Railroad in 1907, and […]

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Book Review: Railroads for Michigan

Railroads for Michigan

Railroads for Michigan by Graydon M. Meints Michigan State University Press, Suite 25, Manly Miles Building, 1405 S. Harrison Road, East Lansing, MI 48823-5245; 640 pages, 180 black-and-white photos; hardcover, 8.5 x 11 in.; $49.95. Michigan’s railroad history is well served by “Railroads for Michigan,” a sprawling new survey by historian Graydon M. Meints. From […]

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Ride through Rainbow Canyon

  An eastbound Union Pacific intermodal freight enters Rainbow Canyon near Elgin, Nev., on Nov. 3, 2006. For 20 miles the train will follow the Meadow Valley Wash up the steep grade to the former division point at Caliente, Nev., on the Los Angeles & Salt Lake route. Photo by Robert Jordan […]

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Team Bethlehem

  An eastbound empty coal train, led by CSX AC44CW No. 418, passes Defiance, Ohio, on May 5, 2013. The train is made up mostly of old Bethlehem Steel “BethGon” gondolas, now used by successor ArcelorMittal. Photo by Brian Schmidt […]

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What is a wristpin?

With so much talk about Union Pacific’s effort to restore Big Boy steam locomotive No. 4014, the world wants to know … what is a wristpin? Listen in as UP steam boss Ed Dickens Jr. talks about this 50-pound plus hunk of metal without which a live, steaming Big Boy would grind to a halt. […]

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