Ever wonder how the UPS and FedEx Ground packages you ship travel across the country? They go by train. And in the December 2012 issue of Trains magazine, we take you inside one of the top railroad intermodal yards for FedEx and UPS Ground shipments: BNSF Railway’s Willow Springs terminal outside Chicago. We spent 24 hours inside […]
Section: Railroads
NP 4-6-6-4 at Livingston, Mont.
As trackworkers tend to a frozen switch, Northern Pacific 4-6-6-4 No. 5122 prepares to head east out of Livingston, Mont., with a freight sometime in the late 1940s. NP’s Livingston shops, still used by today’s Montana Rail Link, are visible at right. C. W. Jernstrom photo […]
Cold winter’s night
A westbound NJ Transit Main Line train of Comet I cars pulls out of the station at Waldwick, N.J., on Dec. 29, 2008. The Pullman-built cars, delivered to Erie Lackawanna, have since been retired. Photo by Matt Van Hattem […]
Norfolk Southern’s business cars
Q What happened to the permanently coupled two business cars, the “Virginia” and the “Carolina,” that the Southern Railway provided for its president and chairman?— Bob Sewell, Marysville, Wash. A The Virginia (NS 1) and the Carolina (NS 2) have been paired since they were built in 1928. Pullman originally constructed them for Southern Railway. […]
Waiting on go
An Amtrak AEM7 rests between assignments at Washington Union Station on Jan. 14, 2009. Those motors don’t stay idle for long, and soon enough she’ll be racing along at up to 135 mph. Photo by Matt Van Hattem […]
The doctor’s appointment
Horseshoe Curve, 1940: Freight on track 1, passenger on track 2, smoke from a train climbing on track 3 or 4. H. W. Pontin You could not avoid liking my uncle, Matthew McGrail. Matt was a medical doctor in Bradford, Pa., by profession, but he was a full-time rail enthusiast. He befriended many crews of […]
AM radio antenna
It may look like a tiny handrail, but this is actually an AM antenna installed on some 1940s-era passenger cars. Michael Belcher Q What is the pipe on part of the roof of some 1940s-era diner and lounge cars as shown in Michael Belcher’s photo on page 90 of the April 2011 issue?— Randall Keils, […]
Track signs
The black-and-white sign with dots tells the plow operator to raise flanges prior to crossings, switches, etc. Greg McDonnell Q What does a whiteboard sign with black circles mean? It’s near grade crossings and sometimes has one black circle, and sometimes two.— Mike Cough, Kemptville, Ont., Canada A That board (which can also be black […]
Alternatives in railroad preservation
FULL SCREEN Davidson Ward A Deutsche Bahn intercity train whizzes past a steel boardwalk in Natur-Park Südgelände. FULL SCREEN Davidson Ward Tracks disappear into the forest, with a well-groomed hiking trail solidly established between the rails. FULL SCREEN Davidson Ward Here you can clearly see the delineation of path and nature, as bound by two […]
More than a touch of class
The Santa Fe was a class act, from its Warbonnet diesels to how it dealt with derailments. Gordon Glattenberg Back in 1955, when I was 22, I gained my first post-college newspaper reporting job with the Avalanche-Journal in Lubbock, Texas—not exactly the center of the railroad universe. Little did I know that within a few […]
Waiting is the hardest part
A Canadian National train rolls south through the diamonds at Trenton, Mich., while a Conrail local waits for its turn across on May 18, 2012. Photo by Matt Van Hattem […]
The Belt Railway: A Railroad’s Railroad
In the November 2012 issue of Trains, Sayre C. Kos describes The Belt Railway Company of Chicago’s monstrous hump yard operation, in which cars weave their way from one end to the other. Workers there call it “feeding the Beast.” For another in-depth look at The Belt Railway, download the free PDF below of “A […]
