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North Dakota’s corn trains When you watch a freight train pass, it will most likely be comprised of cars that have a single use, hauling a commodity to one location before returning empty to a yard or another assignment. And most freight only touches the rails once during its path from source to final customer, […]
It’s strange but true: Diesel-electric locomotives have streetcar roots. With diesel locomotives rapidly replacing steam locomotives in the years after World War II, it’s easy to imagine diesels as a natural evolution of the steam locomotive. The fact is, there was almost no transfer of technology. The melodious steam whistle was replaced by a blaring […]
How to get the shot It has happened to all of us sooner or later. We plan a train day and head out, camera in hand, to enjoy our hobby … and get skunked. Here’s how to get the shot — even when you missed it. Maybe there was a maintenance window somewhere on the […]
Amtrak police dogs More than 50 police dogs serve and protect Amtrak’s trains and stations throughout the United States. From birth to adulthood, these canines are trained to work with their human counterparts, protecting them from threats such as bombs. A few of the dogs are solely trained to detect narcotics. In fact, when Amtrak’s […]
I suspect most writers like me live and die with Google. I’ve come to depend on its online search capabilities more than I should, but I have to say its reach — even for arcane railroad information — often seems like a miracle. Until it isn’t. Case in point: Last week my editor, […]
Freight locomotives on passenger trains can happen for a variety of reasons and make for memorable images. Early in Amtrak’s history, locomotives painted in the colors of freight-hauling railroads were common. In Amtrak’s “rainbow era” days, 50 years ago, the then-new National Railroad Passenger Corporation operated with leased or hand-me-down equipment, inherited from — and […]
Fast trains It never fails. Visit a train museum with a group of children, and at some point during your exploration one of them will ask: What is the fastest train? Once the discussion has begun, the apex of speed will need to be discussed for every piece encountered. Let’s not reserve this top-speed obsession […]
The Walkway Over the Hudson state park has an illustrious railroad history dating back to the opening of the massive Poughkeepsie Bridge at Poughkeepsie, N.Y., in 1889. From its creation in 1872 until it was merged into the Penn Central 97 years later, the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad (familiarly known […]
What was your first byline in Trains? Brian M. Schmidt: In August 2006 I wrote about the state of the South Shore Line commuter service in Indiana, a remnant of the old Chicago South Shore & South Bend interurban. My friend Alexander Craghead was running Trains’ City Rail column at the time and arranged for […]
Sandusky coal dock The early days Sandusky, Ohio, is the roller coaster capital of the United States. It is home to the Cedar Point amusement park, which has sixteen of the fastest, wildest, most thrilling coasters anyone has ever seen. But did you know there’s one more? You can’t ride on it, and many Sanduskians […]
The Pacific Harbor Line is railroading at its best. In many ways it reflects railroading as it used to be. Consider the good old days. Lots of railroads, various locomotive builders and plenty of paint schemes, not to mention open stations and friendly and courteous employees. If you didn’t like what you saw in one […]
Slug units As avid railfans, we often find ourselves drawn to locations where we can witness a high volume of train activity. Cities like Chicago, Atlanta, or Portland boast major classification yards that serve as hot spots for freight operations. At such locations, we may encounter a peculiar sight: unusual-looking “locomotives” performing switching duties alongside […]
