The 4-6-6-4 Challenger was the most successful articulated steam locomotive design. Rating steam locomotives is a risky business. You might easily compare engines by weight or length or lists of accessories, but actual performance — judged by the engineering standards of 2023 — is somewhat subjective. It would be an exaggeration to say […]
Without an ampersand, directional vector, or superlative in its title, the Lehigh Valley Railroad was of understated geographical reach. Its 440-mile New York-Buffalo line was slightly longer than competing routes of the Erie, New York Central, and Lackawanna, but shorter than the Pennsylvania’s. LV’s earliest component dated to 1836, but “the Valley” owed its existence […]
Builder’s plate Imagine walking around all of your life with your birth certificate attached to your forehead. Anyone could walk up to you and in one glance (assuming they understood your birth certificate’s cryptic codes) ascertain your age, lineage, weight, maybe how many legs you should have, and possibly how much work you can do. […]
Of all the railroads that tried various gambits to get out of the passenger business in the 1960s, perhaps none attracted as much vitriol as Southern Pacific. Not that SP downgraded or got rid of the most trains — that honor probably goes to New York Central — but its 1966 substitution of an […]
Trains Photo Contest 2023 Trains is excited to continue the partnership with the National Railway Historical Society for the 2023 photo contest. The NRHS is a nonprofit that promotes the interest and study of the railroad industry, a mission shred by the Trains brand. The NRHS, which was established in 1935, is an excellent partner […]
These five US short line and regional railroads with Class I capabilities may not have the impressive track mileage and revenues compared with the country’s massive Class I railroads. What these standouts lack in quantity make up in quality with both infrastructure and operational practices that sets them apart from the other small freight railroads. […]
Milwaukee Road Hiawatha passenger trains are the long-lasting legacy of a Midwestern railroad plagued with underperformance and mismanagement — right up until its merger with the much smaller Soo Line in 1986. Rather than recount the bad times, join us for a look back at the Hiawatha trains over the years. Only from Trains.com. Twin […]
Some photographs grab your imagination and won’t let go. Case in point: this simple but quietly affecting portrait of what I’m guessing are some teenage girls giving two friends a sendoff as they board Louisville & Nashville train No. 3 on the platform of the joint L&N and Southern Railway station in Calera, […]
Climax Class A logging locomotive As steam locomotives go, logging engines aren’t the most attractive specimens out there. They’re the railroad version of the long-standing joke that a camel is a horse designed by a committee. But let’s not get hung up on appearances. These engines carved out their own niche in the very lucrative […]
Aerial photography Digital photography is constantly improving, and these advancements are empowering photographers to push the boundaries and explore new styles of photography. A new style that has recently emerged reinvents the classic, pan and pace. Using a low shutter speed and a steady hand, this style allows photographers to focus on the subject – […]
Dirt the railroad cat Within a few hours of announcing Dirt’s death to the public in a Facebook post on January 11, 2023, Nevada Northern Railway Museum’s page flooded with thousands of people posting their condolences and sharing their fondest memories and pictures of Dirt. From a small stray kitten found in the enginehouse to […]
Control cars Always looking for more effective ways to be a railroad, Union Pacific in the early 2000s experimented with what was perceived as a better method of performing switching using remote-control locomotives. Traditionally, a regular locomotive is outfitted with remote-control equipment and assigned to those duties. That’s all well and good until the equipped […]
