Union Pacific predecessors

Union Pacific predecessors map thumbnail

Jeff Wilson and Robert Wegner This Map of the Month appeared in the October 2004 issue of Trains magazine. It’s fitting that the largest U.S. railroad today, the Union Pacific, was born as part of a grandiose plan — to build the nation’s first transcontinental railroad. From that not-so-humble beginning, UP has grown into the […]

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Unexpected Treasure

Rare find: Working in Cajon Pass helper service, Santa Fe center-cab Baldwin 2600 heads west at Summit. David Lustig collection I think I was about 14 or 15 when the word got out that I liked trains. It was not a secret, you understand, but unless I seriously misjudged him, I don’t think my father […]

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Rollover Tank Car Test

2009 tank car test set up

RIS removed the trucks from a donated tank car, attached it to supports bolted onto concrete slabs, and filled it with water. The yellow block in the lower-left of the frame is layers of concrete. Researchers expected the top layer or a few would be destroyed, but hoped that the bottom of the block might […]

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The black fog of Blossburg, Montana

Mullan Pass tunnel

A westbound loaded BNSF Railway coal train exits Montana Rail Link’s 3,986-foot-long Mullan Tunnel on Sept. 16, 2006. Tom Danneman As detailed in the February 2010 issue of TRAINS, ventilating exhaust from Mullan Pass tunnel has been a challenge since its completion in 1883. This sequence of photos, taken by TRAINS Art Director Tom Danneman, […]

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The Obscure Ones: Illinois Central Gulf SD40-2s

Click the image to download a PDF of this article as it would appear in TRAINS magazine. Quick: Name one locomotive model to which the word “obscure” would never apply. There’s a high likelihood that, if you watched trains in the 1980s and ’90s, the SD40-2 came quickly to your mind. After all, thousands roamed […]

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BNSF 4617 East at summit of East Ash Hill

Though half of its train continues to ascend a 1.0 percent grade, BNSF 4617 East has crested the summit at East Ash Hill, about seven miles east of Ludlow, Calif., on the morning of Oct. 8, 2009. Within a few thousand feet, all 50 autoracks of BNSF Train V-SDGCLO1-07 (Vehicles, San Diego, Calif. — Clovis, […]

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History according to Hediger 8

Person with model train table

Having trouble viewing this video?   Please visit our Video FAQ page Model Railroader Senior Editor Jim Hediger grew up in Dearborn, Mich., and lived across the alley from Star Hobbies, a hobby shop owned by noted railroad photographer Emery Gulash. In this episode Jim shares an amusing story that demonstrates Emery’s legendary sense of […]

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Pan Am Railways Locomotive Roster 2009

Pan Am Railways

Late in the day, but early on author Fred Frailey’s trip, Pan Am train AYMO passes Otter Creek, Mass., on Aug. 6, 2009. Ryan Parent In our January 2010 issue, Fred W. Frailey explores Pan Am Railways’ history and its history-making partnership with Norfolk Southern Railway: Pan Am Southern, which provides Pan Am a lot […]

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Cascade Tunnel promo

Great Northern issued this promotional diagram in advance of its opening of the Cascade Tunnel at Stevens Pass, Wash. The January 2010 issue of TRAINS explores another option GN could have used to cross the mountain range. […]

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Spanish Rail Excursion

RENFE 141F No. 2111

British-built 141F 2111 looks good at Oural, Spain, on Oct. 10, 2003, but Schenectady, N.Y.,-built FD7 No. 1812 is pushing on the rear. J.W. Swanberg Renfe Alco FD7 No. 1808 at Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain, is intact, but lacking a prime mover and a main generator on Oct. 11, 2003. J.W. Swanberg Another […]

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