Click the image to download this interactive PDF. Dick Steinheimer knew an era was coming to an end in the Sierra Nevada. It was 1983, and the wooden snowsheds that had long protected Southern Pacific Railroad’s mountain crossing over Donner Pass were disappearing, most of them torn down or replaced by concrete sheds. That spring […]
From 1943 to 1989, Kalmbach Publishing Co. — whose family of magazines includes Model Railroader (launched 1934), Trains (1940), and Classic Trains (2000) — occupied this building at 1027 N. 7th Street in Milwaukee. The number “1027” has significance for generations of KPC customers. Classic Trains collection […]
Bruceton was a busy junction in west Tennessee on the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway. One engineer who worked out of there was known for his pompous, stuffed-shirt manner and lordly bearing which often grated upon others. Drawing a hotshot run out of Bruceton, this engineer put his 2-8-2 to serious work and was […]
Way back in 1940, I took a fling at railroading. After ditching art school, I went to work for the Alton Railroad at its roundhouse at Glenn Yard in southwest Chicago. My job was mechanic’s helper. One of my duties was to tighten the bolts on locomotive cylinder heads. I attacked the task with vim […]
Many of our model railroads have freight stations, but we don’t always make the most of their operational possibilities. Especially for cities from medium to larger size, freight stations can be among the busiest industries on our layouts. Freight stations provide rail service to businesses that don’t have their own rail sidings. You can think […]
Anniversaries! Trains magazine has celebrated its longevity with special reports to look back over railroading’s rich history. Download the two PDFs below; here is a list of the stories. Twenty-Five Years of Trains By David P. Morgan Pages 20-21, November 1965 Steam . . . What a Void She Left By David P. Morgan […]
Few would argue that Ted Benson is a great writer and photographer. His contributions to Trains over the years have been among our readers’ favorites. But did readers of our February 1977 issue realize Benson might also be prophetic? In “Andover Afterward,” he wrote of Southern Pacific 4449 returning to mainline rails after a 16-year […]
Just another day: the first-trick tender of Norfolk Southern’s ex-Nickel Plate drawbridge over the Cuyahoga Valley in Cleveland heads to work on March 22, 2005. Scott Lothes Union Pacific’s business train looks nice heading south near Albany, Ore., on an October morning in 2009, but says little about the nature of the railroad. Scott Lothes […]
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 […]
Three Union Pacific diesels muscle a southbound intermodal train under classic Southern Pacific searchlight signals near Mojave, Calif., on Sept. 3, 2010. In the background are the Tehachapi Mountains, site of one of the world’s most impressive railroad crossings of a mountain range. Photo by William Steck […]
Depot and diesel wear different heralds, but nothing is out of the ordinary as a Chicago Great Western freight ambles past the Rock Island station in Waterloo, Iowa, in June 1961. Richard J. Anderson A family visit took me to Waterloo, Iowa, on a June day in 1961, but it was good ol’ railfan instinct […]
Two Wisconsin & Southern MP15s switch the MillerCoors brewery on July 1, 2010. The lead unit’s heritage is unmistakable, thanks to the Milwaukee Road lettering and “bandit” colors. Railroads and brewing propelled Milwaukee’s industrial might in the 20th century. Matt Van Hattem photo […]
