Characteristic of the indignities suffered by steam in its final years, Reading G-3 Pacific 215, built in 1948 as a top-flight passenger engine, loafs along with a single coach on the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines in September 1955. Philip R. Hastings photo […]
Section: Railroads
Quiet Sunday on the DT&I
Mikados, an 0-8-0, and an ex-Pennsylvania Railroad Consolidation are arrayed around the turntable at Detroit, Toledo & Ironton’s Flat Rock Yard near Detroit on the day before Labor Day, 1955. Philip R. Hastings photo […]
Reading Co. Camelback Ten-Wheeler
As a crossing watchman stands guard, Reading Camelback 4-6-0 No. 608 brings a Newtown, Pa.–Philadelphia local into Fox Chase station in 1948. Leslie R. Ross photo […]
Icing the reefers on the CB&Q
A worker shovels salt into a reefer via a rolling chute at the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy’s icing dock in Denver in 1949. The conveyor chain on the platform at right carries block ice along the platform. Earl Cochran photo […]
Dallas interlocking tower
An interior view at Tower 19 near Dallas (Texas) Union Terminal shows the track diagram (“model board”) of the territory controlled by the tower and some of the levers that controlled the switches and signals. This is an electro-pneumatic interlocking, in which switches are operated by compressed air. Historic American Engineering Record photo […]
Tracks Ahead: Season 9 – Rekindled Toy Train Memories
Having trouble viewing this video? Please visit our Video FAQ page This PBS Tracks Ahead segment covers Paul Jann’s basement-filling O scale (3-rail) toy train layout. […]
Tracks Ahead: Season 9 – Williams Grove Steam Engine Association
In this PBS Tracks Ahead segment, watch a number of vintage steam-powered locomotives and machines come to life on this working railroad ranch. […]
Tracks Ahead: Season 9 – Cedar Creek Central Railroad
Visit the N, HO, and large scale layouts built and operated by the Cedar Creek Central Railroad Club in this PBS Tracks Ahead segment. […]
Century in sections at Chicago
New York Central E8 diesels idle at La Salle Street Station, Chicago, awaiting departure with two sections of the 20th Century Limited in November 1953. Robert W. Carper photo […]
Trains Presents: Norfolk Southern’s Virginian route
The Trains Presents video series takes you to Virginia to examine operations on Norfolk Southern’s now-closed former Virginian Railway main line. Learn more about this mountain railroad, only from Trains! […]
‘Piedmont’ cab ride video
Ride along with Trains Magazine passenger correspondent Bob Johnston on Amtrak’s northbound Piedmont, train No. 73, between Cary and Durham, N.C. This September 2015 trip features a look at corridor improvements funded by the North Carolina Department of Transportation. NCDOT Rail Division Manager of Design and Construction Jason Orthner answers questions while engineer Fred Gibson […]
Catching the Gulf Wind
The sight of an approaching Seaboard E7 signaled adventure: a boy’s first train ride. Wiley M. Bryan I don’t know how my fascination for trains began, but ever since I could remember, I had been drawn to their mystique. I like tracks, switches, sidings, and depots. I like everything associated with trains. So, in November […]