Merger time in Warren

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Renumbered DL&W E8’s (top) roll into Warren with train 6 in 1962. Earlier that year, E8 833, its livery only slightly altered to reflect the 1960 EL merger, led an ex-DL&W E8 on No. 9. W. L. Gwyer The Erie Railroad served my hometown of Warren, Ohio. During my college years in the early 1960s, […]

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Flying high

Empty CSX auto rack train Q217 rolls westbound on the Philadelphia Subdivision across the Susquehanna River as the tug boat “Captain Mac” awaits its next assignment at Perryville, Md., on June 18, 2012. Photo by Michael S. Murray […]

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Watch Talgo build high speed trains

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Talgo trains under construction in Milwaukee. Matt Van Hattem Go behind the scenes and watch America’s newest passenger trains come to life in the January 2013 issue of Trains magazine. We spent two years visiting Talgo’s plant in Milwaukee, documenting the assembly of the new Series 8 trainsets, which will enter revenue service on the […]

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Give my regards to the Broadway

A Conrail executive locomotive, E8 No. 4022, leads the eastbound Broadway Limited, train No. 40, into Chicago Union Station on April 11, 1977. Amtrak is in the midst of a motive power shortage, caused by problems with its EMD SDP40F fleet, and is leasing extra locomotives wherever it can. Photo by Gary Dolzall […]

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‘Penny pictures’ of the Sandy River

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Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes 2-foot-gauge Mogul No. 16 pokes out of the covered depot at Kingfield, Maine. Charlie French, Mallory Hope Ferrell coll. While still a teenager in the early 1950s, I corresponded with a man who had grown up on the 2-foot-gauge lines of Maine. Arthur French, by then elderly, collected Indian Head […]

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How I photographed a long-distance train ride

FULL SCREEN Roger Varland Threading the maze of girders and other tracks while coming off the MacArthur Bridge into St. Louis. FULL SCREEN Roger Varland The sun is about gone as the Texas Eagle readies for points south at St. Louis. FULL SCREEN Roger Varland Union Pacific signal upgrades watch over a waiting Texas Eagle […]

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Hurry up and wait

The railroaders’ mantra has always been “hurry up and wait” and this CSX crew at Glendale, Ohio, in suburban Cincinnati is living up to their creed. This portion of the former Baltimore & Ohio Toledo to Cincinnati route is paired with the Norfolk Southern New Castle District in directional running; most trains passing Glendale are […]

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Finis for Philo

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A 1962 freight derailment spelled the end for the century-old Wabash depot at little Philo, Ill. Glen Brewer My clock-radio came on at the usual morning hour with the local news. The date was Wednesday, October 3, 1962. The announcer reported a train wreck in Philo, Ill., the previous evening, blocking the Wabash Railroad’s main […]

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Delaware & Hudson in the Sterzing era

Read more about the Bruce Sterzing era on the D&H in three news articles from Trains magazine. Download each story by clicking on the underlined PDF below. “D&H: 150 Years Old and Still Solvent” by J. David Ingles, published in the May 1973 issue of Trains magazine D&H 150 Years Old DOWNLOAD “Learning the Alphabet” […]

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Intermodal crane at work

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 […]

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NP 4-6-6-4 at Livingston, Mont.

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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 […]

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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 […]

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