One thousand ‘Trains’ Magazine covers down!

Trains Magazine covers Whether past or present — staff, correspondents, and contributors — were asked to submit one of their favorite covers since the magazine’s inception in November 1940 — 84 years of railroading history in the making. This is what they came up with and why. If there is a particular cover you like, […]

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Indiana Northeastern Railroad photo gallery

Indiana Northeastern Railroad The Indiana Northeastern Railroad is a shortline railroad running in Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. It is owned and operated by a close-knit family and friendly employees. The railroad has an all-Electro-Motive Division locomotive roster, which is maintained in a state-of-the-art shop at Hudson, Ind. The shop forces have rebuilt several of the […]

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A railroad study in snow

Black and white photo of rotary snow plow blades. A study in snow.

A railroad study in snow On Jan. 15, 1885, Wilson “Snowflake” Bentley, a farmer from Jericho, Vt., became the first person to successfully photograph a single snow crystal — a snowflake. Bentley, in his study of snow, went on to capture images of more than 5,000 individual snowflakes, finding that, in fact, no two were […]

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More snowy model railroad scenes

A trio of diesels pulls an intermodal freight train through a snowy mountain landscape

If it’s December, it must be time to put on a crackling fire, pour a hot chocolate, and explore some snowy model railroad scenes compiled from the pages of Model Railroader. If you’d like to see last year’s gallery of snowy model railroad scenes, follow this link. […]

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CSX Santa Train photo gallery

close up view of blue santa train car

CSX Santa Train The CSX Santa Train, enjoying new life after a two-year hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic, again delighted children and adults along its 110-mile former Clinchfield Railroad route between Shelby, Ky., and Kingsport, Tenn. This year’s train featured a new “Santa Car” rebuilt from a former Pan Am Railways office car, as well […]

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Hoosier Valley’s Electro-Motive Division BL2 No. 52

Electro-Motive Division BL2 No. 52 On a picture perfect Saturday Sept. 2, 2023, the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum’s refurbished Electro-Motive Division BL2 No. 52, made three round-trip runs from North Judson to English Lake, Ind. The museum’s mechanical department, led by Mechanic Travis Hunt, has worked on returning the locomotive to service for over two […]

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Delaware & Hudson passenger trains remembered

Wooden coaches on Albany–Binghamton train 208 at Albany Union Station, circa 1945–46.

Delaware & Hudson passenger trains     All through July 2023, Classic Trains editors are celebrating the grit and grandeur of the Delaware & Hudson in its bicentennial year. Please enjoy this photo gallery of Kansas City Southern passenger trains selected from the files in Kalmbach Media‘s David P. Morgan Library.   Only from Trains.com! […]

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Steam locomotives: An era long since past

steam train in distance with sunset and cattails

Steam locomotives What is it about a steam locomotives that attract generations? Like the Saturn V rockets of their time, steam locomotives represent the pinnacle of engineering in an era long since passed. Their ability to use simple components, coal or oil with water, to produce power sometimes only inhibited by the hand of the […]

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Locomotive models in Bicentennial paint

Color image of electric locomotive in patriotic paint scheme.

With Independence Day just around the corner, we thought it would be fun to take a look back at some N and HO scale locomotive models in Bicentennial paint schemes. As the 200th birthday of the United States approached, numerous prototype railroads renumbered and repainted locomotives in patriotic schemes to pay tribute to the nation. […]

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Aberdeen Carolina & Western E9A debuts

Aberdeen Carolina & Western E9A The short line, Aberdeen Carolina & Western Railway Company, debuts its rebuilt and repainted former Union Pacific E9A locomotive, No. 103, on an equipment ferry move on May 25. Then E9A leads former Norfolk Southern F9A and F9B locomotives between the company’s headquarters and main shops at Candor, N.C., and […]

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A visit to Wabtec’s Fort Worth factory

Shiny locomotives outside building

Wabtec’s Fort Worth plant FORT WORTH, Texas — In October 2022, following my attendance at the Railway Supply Institute Expo and Technical Conference, I also had a chance to visit Wabtec’s locomotive assembly plant in Fort Worth. My visit happened to fall on the day Canadian National accepted the first of a series of 50 […]

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