Big Steam is Back

Big Steam is Back features 11 well-known locomotives from across the United States and their individual journeys to restoration. This special 100-page edition includes the restored Norfolk & Western Class J No. 611, widely considered to be the best and most powerful locomotive ever built, the colorful Southern Pacific 4449, and an update on the […]

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Fall 2015

Feature Articles A Century of Catenary By Frank Tatnall The Main Line west of Philadelphia — the first segment of the Pennsylvania Railroad’s empire under wire — has been a grand stage for electric traction since 1915 View photos related to the PRR’s network of electrified lines. Ingles Color Classics: Monon Moments: Riding the Route, […]

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Summer 2012

Classic Trains is a quarterly magazine celebrating the “golden years of railroading.” Each issue covers the North American railroad scene from the 1920s to the late 1970s with extraordinary photographs and compelling writing. Giant steam locomotives, colorful streamliners, down-home local trains, great passenger terminals, recollections of railroaders and train-watchers . . . they’re all in […]

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Spring 2010

Classic Trains is a quarterly magazine celebrating the “golden years of railroading.” Each issue covers the North American railroad scene from the 1920s to the late 1970s with extraordinary photographs and compelling writing. Giant steam locomotives, colorful streamliners, down-home local trains, great passenger terminals, recollections of railroaders and train-watchers . . . they’re all in […]

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Summer 2009

Classic Trains is a quarterly magazine celebrating the “golden years of railroading.” Each issue covers the North American railroad scene from the 1920s to the late 1970s with extraordinary photographs and compelling writing. Giant steam locomotives, colorful streamliners, down-home local trains, great passenger terminals, recollections of railroaders and train-watchers . . . they’re all in […]

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Summer 2000

Classic Trains is a quarterly magazine celebrating the “golden years of railroading.” Each issue covers the North American railroad scene from the 1920s to the late 1970s with extraordinary photographs and compelling writing. Giant steam locomotives, colorful streamliners, down-home local trains, great passenger terminals, recollections of railroaders and train-watchers . . . they’re all in […]

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Digest: Virginia port receives $20 million for rail expansion

Tuesday morning rail news: Norfolk, Va., port receives $20 million for rail expansion project The Virginia Port Authority will receive $20.2 million in Port Infrastructure Development funding from the U.S.Department of Transportation to complete rail expansion at its Norfolk International Terminals. The Suffolk News Herald reports the money will support building two new four-track sections for its […]

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Workaday Baldwins

Chesapeake Western, a 54-mile T-shaped west central Virginia road, employed three 1946 Baldwin DS-4-4-660s, two of which drill cars at Harrisonburg, site of the Southern Railway interchange, on November 5, 1958. CW, under Norfolk & Western control after 1954, also reached C&O at Staunton. Bob Krone photo […]

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New model trains for the week of July 16, 2020

See the latest HO, N, Z, and large scale model railroad products from Broadway Limited Imports, DCCconcepts, ScaleTrains.com, and more! HO scale locomotives Electro-Motive Division F units. F3A: Southern Pacific (orange and black, one road number). F7A and F7B: Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe (F7A, F7B, and F7A-B set in one number each); Great Northern […]

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New model trains for the week of July 9, 2020

HO scale locomotives Electro-Motive Division GP38-2 diesel locomotive. Canadian National (red, white, and black with Illinois Central reporting marks); Canadian Pacific (with large herald in two road numbers, small herald in one number); Illinois Central Gulf (orange-and-white and orange-and-gray schemes, two numbers each); Missouri Pacific (1972 as-delivered paint scheme); Soo Line (red “SOO” lettering on […]

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Locomotive profile: Alco’s C630 diesel electric locomotive

Norfolk & Western C630 No. 1134 at Roanoke, Virginia. Rick Johnson C630 •YEARS BUILT: 1965-1969 •MANUFACTURERS: Alco, Montreal •OPERATED ON: Atlantic Coast Line, Canadian National, Canadian Pacific, Chesapeake & Ohio, Louisville & Nashville, Norfolk & Western, Pacific Great Eastern, Pennsylvania Railroad, Reading, Southern Pacific, others •NAMES: C630, M630 •QUANTITY: 133 •HORSEPOWER: 3,000 •KNOWN FOR: The […]

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Locomotive profile: Alco’s C630 diesel electric locomotive

Norfolk & Western C630 No. 1134 at Roanoke, Virginia. Rick Johnson C630 •YEARS BUILT: 1965-1969 •MANUFACTURERS: Alco, Montreal •OPERATED ON: Atlantic Coast Line, Canadian National, Canadian Pacific, Chesapeake & Ohio, Louisville & Nashville, Norfolk & Western, Pacific Great Eastern, Pennsylvania Railroad, Reading, Southern Pacific, others •NAMES: C630, M630 •QUANTITY: 133 •HORSEPOWER: 3,000 •KNOWN FOR: The […]

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