Rolling through the Rocks

Led by a new MP36PH-3C, a MARC commuter trains curves past the historic depot at Point of Rocks, Md., on its afternoon run from Washington, D.C., to Brunswick, Md., June 10, 2010. Photo by Alex Mayes […]

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Worcester waiting

A Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority train stares down a red signal at Worcester, Mass., the end of the run for Framingham Line trains, at dusk on Oct. 18, 2008. Soon the train will reverse direction and head back to Boston, with the engine pushing. Matt Van Hattem photo […]

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Threading through Ragan Interlocking

Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority train No. 9243 threads through Ragan Interlocking in Newport, Del., on its way south to Newark passenger station. Norfolk Southern train H5G with 17 empty autoracks bound for Chrysler Yard waits in the siding on Sept. 14, 2009. Michael S. Murray photo […]

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An Amtrak special move

An Amtrak special move, with private car Ohio River at the back, rolls along Canadian Pacific’s former Delaware & Hudson main line on Sept. 4, 2009. The train is on its way from Albany, N.Y., to Railfest 2009 in Scranton, Pa. Jim Conroy photo […]

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Northeast commuter trains per day: 2005

Northeast commuter trains map image

Think you’re in a hurry to get to work? The 3,170 trains on this map make it their business to hustle, with a purposefulness matched only by the riders packed aboard their coaches. This is a snapshot of the commuter trains that run every weekday in the Northeast. Without them, some of the biggest cities […]

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Conrail’s predecessors

Conrail's predecessor map

This map has been almost 25 years in coming. As soon as Conrail was formed in 1976, Trains readers began requesting a huge “breakdown” map of Conrail coded to predecessor railroads. The project was too big for the limited resources then available to us. Thanks to Curt Richards, though, we now have a good source […]

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Eastern mainline profiles

Eastern mainline profile map thumbnail

Compared here are the world’s most important main lines across the most important freight territory on earth, at a time when railroads were the most important of man’s technologies, 1927. These four main lines were the Trunk Lines, a title originally given to any important main line between two great cities, but later reserved almost […]

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