Waukesha train-watching in the rain

A red-painted Canadian National locomotive hauling a train in the rain.

Join us trackside in Waukesha on Sept. 5, 2018, for three northbound Canadian National moves: a rail train, a unit potash train, and an intermodal train. The rain in still falling and many railroads throughout the state are experiencing high-water conditions and washouts. […]

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Conversations with Brian Solomon

Trains Magazine · Conversations with Brian Solomon, Episode 39 Railroad author and photographer Brian Solomon produces this exclusive biweekly podcast for Trains Magazine. You can catch his column monthly in the magazine or his daily railroad photography blog at briansolomon.com/trackingthelight. Conversations with Brian Solomon, Episode 38 We’re back on the railfan track this week with […]

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Seatrain containers on Penn Central

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Penn Central and Santa Fe teamed up to provide coast-to-coast transport of containers for Seatrain Lines in August 1972. Here, four PC General Electric units are in charge of the train at Perlman Yard in Selkirk, N.Y. Carl H. Sturner photo […]

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Why long hood vs. short?

CNJRS31546

Although this CNJ RS3 had dual engineer controls, the “F” defines the leading end for hand or radio signals. Bert Pennypacker Q When diesels replaced steam locomotives, early cab units had snub noses with good front visibility for the engineer. When hood units appeared, some railroads set them up to run short hood forward and […]

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PTC timeline: How did we get here?

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Metra commuter and Norfolk Southern freight trains meet at tower A2 northwest of Union Station. Steve Sweeney Trains tracks the evolution of positive train control technology from the 1980s to present! August 1985 – Burlington Northern executives approve testing a PTC prototype system, ARES, in Minnesota’s Iron Range. May 1, 2007 – U.S. Rep. James […]

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Adventures of a rookie brakeman

ApalachicolaNortherndoodlebug

An old GE doodlebug provided passenger services on the Apalachicola Northern in the 1940s. Classic Trains coll. I’m clutching the grab iron on the back of a steam locomotive cab, my feet on the apron between the engine and tender. I’m vibrating head to toe, with the heat from the boiler all over me. How […]

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Serendipity on a mail car

Northern Pacific triple-combine express car

Join Trains for a ride on a former Northern Pacific triple-combine express car as a retired mail car clerk, a historical interpreter, and a reporter meet to catch a mail bag full of history on a moving train on the Osceola & St. Croix Valley Railway in October 2017. Only from Trains! […]

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SP’s short-lived Houston station

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Southern Pacific built this structure, which it called Grand Central Station, in Houston in 1934 to replace an 1886 depot. But Grand Central had a short life, being razed after only 25 years to make way for a new central post office. Classic Trains coll. […]

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Turbine in Weber Canyon

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Union Pacific No. 51, the first unit in the road’s fleet of General Electric gas-turbine-electric locomotives, climbs east in Weber Canyon with a train out of Ogden, Utah, in mid-1952. I. W. King photo […]

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2018 Trains’ preservation award

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Trains Magazine is accepting proposals through Oct. 15 for its annual $10,000 preservation award. The grant will go to a nonprofit educational group in the U.S. or Canada for the restoration or repair of an important locomotive, unique rolling stock, or for archives. Priority goes to projects of regional or national significance, for which the […]

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