Ride behind a Santa Fe Pacific or an Alco S-1 on an 11-mile, 90-minute round trip over an ex-Rock Island line from the restored Rock Island depot in Abilene to Enterprise and return. Cross the Smoky Hill River on an early steel truss bridge and visit the 1880s-vintage Hoffman Grist Mill in Enterprise. Choices A […]
Trains are just as American as baseball, hot dogs, and apple pie. What’s even better is combining these. Imagine sitting back in the stands, munching a hot dog, watching a ballgame, and a train rumbles past outside the right-field fence. Could summertime be any better? This is high iron baseball — exploring independent leagues More […]
When the prolific and influential California photographer Stan Kistler won the Railway & Locomotive Society’s prestigious Fred A. and Jane R. Stindt Photography Award in 1996, he earned what might be considered the ultimate citation for a photographer: “He has not only documented the railroads of the West, but crafted beautiful images that will last […]
Romance aboard Amtrak’s Capitol Limited: A bit of background is in order to set the stage for this romance aboard Amtrak’s Capitol Limited. For 27 years, my wife, Julie, worked as a children’s librarian. I met her in the library. Yes, you could say I went there to check her out. That was early in […]
PHOENIX — Amit Bose, the Federal Railroad Administration’s Deputy Administrator, covered a great deal of ground in his keynote address Thursday to the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association. Only once, however, did he display a degree of agitation about his subject matter: when discussing a forthcoming rule proposal on train crew size. The […]
If anyone could demolish the aphorism that talent skips a generation, it was Jack Barriger. A third-generation railroader, he built a distinguished career as a Santa Fe Railway executive, only to make as big a mark in retirement as a leader in preserving the industry’s heritage. He also embraced his status as the son of […]
Hamlet, N.C., sits at a critical CSX junction, the hub of the former Seaboard Air Line Railway. To the north runs the Aberdeen Subdivision to Raleigh. (The stub-ended route continues north to Norlina, and once went to Petersburg, Va.) The Hamlet Subdivision extends south toward Columbia, S.C., and beyond to Charleston, S.C., and Florida. The […]
Feature Articles Steam, Diesels, and Disruption By Michael E. Iden Dieselization: The greatest change in 20th century railroading had profound effects on carriers, suppliers, and employees Disappearing Railroad Blues By Don L. Hofsommer Line abandonments: From a peak of 254,000 miles in 1916, rail routes fell by more than half Cheaper by the Thousands By […]
Anyone who thinks that S gauge starts and ends with American Flyer should take a look at the S-Helper Service line. For years the crew at S-Helper Service has been in the vanguard of manufacturers rising above postwar levels of detail, regardless of train gauge. Out are the cast-in handrails and roofwalks; in are add-on […]
WASHINGTON — The National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association has announced its 2019 award winners, to be honored at the 2020 NRC convention in Coronado, Calif., Jan. 5-8. R.J. Corman received the Large Project of the Year award for its BNSF Napier Project dealing with midwestern flooding. Massman Construction Co. received the Small Project of […]
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Five-time Grammy-winning artist Marty Stuart loves a good country ballad, and many of them revolve around trains. Now he and his longtime bandmate, Harry Stinson of the Fabulous Superlatives, have written a song to capture the spirit and history of Nashville’s most iconic steam engine: Locomotive No. 576. The World War II-era […]
Paul Hammond Colorado Railroad Museum GOLDEN, Colo. — Former California State Railroad Museum Director Paul Hammond will replace the retiring Donald Tallman as executive director of the Colorado Railroad Museum. Tallman, who has led the museum since 2006, will retire at the end of August. During his tenure, the museum has nearly doubled its attendance […]
