Rail travel photography Over the course of my half-century of railroad photography I’ve seen technology completely change the ways we make photographs. Even so, when it comes to rail travel photography your eye for images will pay dividends far greater than that provided by the latest and greatest camera. In 1984, two months after graduating […]
Train Topic: Railfanning
Santa Fe 4-8-4 No. 3751 set for LA appearance in September
LOS ANGELES — Santa Fe steam locomotive No. 3751 will make 2024 public debut this September at the Rail Safety: Los Angeles event, the San Bernardino Railroad Historical Society has announced. The free, two-day event will be the largest rail safety event hosted in downtown Los Angeles in more than a decade. Taking place at […]
Illinois Railway Museum sets night steam photo shoot
UNION, Ill. — The Illinois Railway Museum will host a night photo shoot featuring Frisco No. 1630, its 1918 Baldwin 2-10-0, on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. The event begins at 5 p.m. Tickets are $100 and participation will be limited. No. 1630 will be staged at locations around the property with actors wearing period-appropriate attire. […]
Lehigh Valley NRHS to host Alco Seminar
NORTHAMPTON, Pa. — The Lehigh Valley Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society/Railroad Historians of the Lehigh Valley are hosting an “Alco Seminar” on Saturday, Sept. 21, at the Northampton Event Center. The event will feature speakers who had a hand in the design and operation of Alcos, officials from railroads with Alco power, and […]
Connecticut’s Valley Railroad to host two-day steam photo event
ESSEX, Conn. — The Valley Railroad Co. will be the site of a two-day photography event Oct. 8-9 featuring the heritage railroad’s steam locomotives. Steam Charters, hosted by Dak Dilon Photography, is organizing the event. Plans for Oct. 8 call for a freight train from Old Saybrook to Goodspeed station to be pulled by Valley […]
Finding railroad history beyond the right-of-way
Railroad History Railroading exists everywhere we look, and in our travels we often get a glimpse into railroad history in places we least expect — like the half-dozen U-turns I’ve performed in ranch country where rust boxcars have been repurposed for storage. It’s an encounter with railroad history beyond the right-of-way. Drier climates in the […]
The Cass Scenic Railroad | Cass, W.Va.
The Cass Scenic Railroad is logging locomotive central for the East Coast, rostering all three major types of geared steam locomotives. The railroad is based out of Cass, W.Va., where a former logging railroad was saved in the 1960s to become the Cass Scenic Railroad State Park to preserve the railroad for future generations. Come […]
Railroading Heritage of Midwest America | Silvis, Ill.
Headquartered in the former Rock Island Railroad steam locomotive backshops in Silvis, Ill., Railroading Heritage of Midwest America is quickly becoming a major player in the rail preservation scene. The new owner of famed Union Pacific 4-6-6-4 Challenger No. 3985 and DDA40X Centennial diesel No. 6936, the RRHMA is the proud owner of a large […]
Reading & Northern Fall Foliage tickets on sale Monday (updated)
PORT CLINTON, Pa. — Tickets for Reading & Northern’s 40th season of Fall Foliage passenger excursions will go on sale at 9 a.m. ET on Monday, July 22. Five weekends of excursions — featuring diesel and steam power — will run to Jim Thorpe, Pa., originating from Reading, Pittston, and Pottsville, from Saturday, Oct. 5, […]
Two-day freight photo charter offered with Soo Line No. 1003
Ethan Brodie and Brodie Photography are organizing a two-day photo charter in November featuring Soo Line No. 1003, the 1913 Alco 2-8-2 operated by the Hartford, Wis.-based Steam Locomotive Heritage Association. One- and two-day tickets will be offered for the event Nov. 2-03, which will feature No. 1003 pulling a freight train including additional cars […]
News photos: Big Boy on the road in Nevada and California
ROSEVILLE, Calif. — Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4014 has reached the westernmost point of its current tour, beginning the first of two days of public display today in Roseville. Information on the display is available here. Here are a few images catching up on recent days of the “Westward Bound” tour, with Elrond Lawrence […]
UP Big Boy No. 4014 | Westbound Tour – Cheyenne to Salt Lake City
On June 30, 2024, Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4014 steam locomotive departed Cheyenne, Wyo. for a month-long tour to California in a year that will eventually take the engine over most of the Union Pacific rail network. Come along with Trains.com for the first four days of the tour, as 4014 hauls freight over […]