This is a snapshot of traffic across the Continental Divide in 1980 and 2000 on U.S. transcontinental routes. It’s inherent in map-making that accuracy gets sacrificed on the altar of clarity: traffic density is by no means uniform across the shaded line segments, and a slightly different picture would emerge were the snapshots taken in […]
Coal is the No. 1 rail-shipped commodity by tonnage in the U.S., and power plants consume most of it. Three key characteristics shape this map (see June 2002 Trains for the East, and January 2003 for the South): Population is concentrated in cities; most plants are mine-mouth or near the mine; and its most populous […]
Fox Valley Models N scale ES44AC diesel locomotive A General Electric ES44AC is the debut locomotive from Fox Valley Models. The direct-current ready-to-run N scale model, based on GE’s Evolution Series locomotive, uses a split-frame mechanism and features numerous railroad-specific details. A package of modeler- installed etched-metal and wire details is also included. The GE […]
Orange poppies and a beautiful blue sky frame Union Pacific boxcars at Eugene Yard, Ore., in May 2009. Tyler J. Dzierzek photo […]
WHETHER YOU ARE AN ADULT OR A CHILD, I’D SPECULATE THAT YOU GOT INTO MODEL RAILROADING WITH A STARTER SET.No matter the scale, that first starter set can make or break your interest in the hobby. A well-constructed set with interesting components can snag you and make you want more. By contrast, a poorly made […]
When the TRAINS staff began preparing its April 2010 report on obscure coal moves in North America, we got more photos than we bargained for. In no particular order, here are five more cool coal moves. Two SD90MACs on lease to Wheeling & Lake Erie lead two run-through Union Pacific diesels on a Powder River […]
Walthers HO scale Pullman 4-4-2 sleeper car The Union Pacific’s classic City trains are the next series of HO scale passenger cars coming from Walthers, and the first car to arrive is this Pullman-Standard 4-4-2 luxury all-room sleeper. Unlike earlier releases of this car, this ready-to-run model features factory-installed handrails. Built in 1942, this lightweight […]
Wisconsin & Southern freight train passes a tobacco shed near Stoughton, Wisconsin, on Feb. 6, 2008, in the middle of a hard winter season. The mid-morning darkness and blizzard-like conditions give a very impressionistic feel to the photograph. Hank Koshollek Winter photography requires some skill and quite a bit of luck, partly because of the […]
Robert Wegner This Map of the Month appeared in the December 2004 issue of Trains magazine. Although the idea of branding passenger-train fleets did not begin with the streamliner, it flourished in that era. Innovations such as stainless steel found widespread use in an age captivated by design. Suddenly, appearance mattered. Trains with colorful paint […]
Bill Metzger This Map of the Month appeared in the December 2008 issue of Trains magazine. Colorado’s snowsheds were grouped on a few passes above the timberline or in avalanche-prone areas. The exact dimensions and locations of most snowsheds are not well documented. Over time they were built, extended, shortened, burned, and removed. Most were […]
This Map of the Month appeared in the January 2006 issue of Trains magazine. Pick up any state highway map and the multi-lane roads are shown prominently. Most railroad maps don’t distinguish between single and double track, however, so to compile this map of U.S. multiple-track main lines, a variety of other sources had to be […]
Jeff Wilson and Robert Wegner This Map of the Month appeared in the February 2007 issue of Trains magazine. Twenty-five years separate these two maps showing the busiest freight railroad lines in the United States. The 1980 map depicts American railroads at the end of regulation — the Staggers Rail Act of 1980 was signed […]
