The people who work on trains have a variety of jobs. A Norfolk Southern flagman inspects a train near Marion, Ohio. Dale A. DeVene Jr. The people who work on trains have a variety of jobs. Each member of a train crew has a specific function. Since train crews do most of their work beyond […]
Track classifications are among the most basic — and essential — operating considerations in railroading, and an army of workers keep watch over the rails. You’ve seen them out there nearly every day in their hi-rail trucks, motoring quietly up and down the main and not-so-main lines of America. Perhaps you’ve waited for them to […]
Schnabel car One may think 89-foot auto racks are large while standing trackside, but they can be dwarfed by specialized railcars called upon for heavy-duty service where shipping by truck isn’t available, practical, or affordable. These are Schnabel railcars, which feature the ability to carry heavy loads. With up to 22 axles, these cars used […]
Slugs What are slugs, what do they do You’re at trackside, eyeing an approaching CSX train. The roar of working diesels increases, but it’s oddly distant, given that the engines are so close. The lead unit grinds by, eerily silent but for the humming of its traction motors, followed by two others making all the […]
Did you ever wonder how a railroad goes about building a train schedule? It’s more complex than you may think. Train schedules have intrigued me since my father returned from a 1966 business trip with a present of current public timetables from 13 railroads. To 11-year-old me the timetables were like windows to a new […]
Summer rail travel tips and challenges Amtrak has a problem and it’s too much travel demand for the equipment assigned on its long distance-routes. This translates to a difficult summer for U.S. travelers seeking to ride the rails. In addition, since the company utilizes inventory “yield management” — in which fares rise as seats or […]
Helper locomotives Helper locomotives are an essential part of modern railroading. It is an additional locomotive (or locomotives) added to a train in order to provide sufficient horsepower when the train is working through steep inclines (or grades), or must keep up a specific speed. Many routes with stiff grades will have specifically designated “helper […]
Locomotive headlights and class lights Aside from required ditch lights on most locomotives today, extra lights are essentially gone from freight locomotives, but if you look hard enough you can still find traces of the past when additional lights were ordered by railroads. Before the era of locomotive standardization, many railroads chose to equip their […]
Head-end power: Dinner is about to arrive at table 7 in the Southwest Chief’s Superliner dining car. Outside, the late afternoon sun illuminates exhaust blasting skyward as the locomotives up front struggle to maintain speed up the more than 3% grade leading to the top of Raton Pass in New Mexico. Downstairs in the kitchen, […]
Locomotives are the power of railroading and the industries’ most potent and popular symbols. The major types that have been used in North America are steam (now confined to museums, tourist lines, and the occasional excursion), diesel-electric (the standard of the industry), and straight electric (always a tiny minority). Steam locomotives burn coal, oil, or […]
Rockslide detectors Of the myriad things that can foul the right-of-way and potentially derail a train is the unpredictably of falling rocks from lineside cuts and mountain passes. Even with track gangs constantly walking and inspecting, the possibility of a rockslide is a constant nightmare. To combat slides in any form, railroads employ a number […]
Railroaders, and railfans, are always talking about engines: How many engines were on that train? Don’t those new engines look good (or bad)? Did you get the number of that engine? So, what’s the difference between a locomotive and an engine? We use both terms to describe the most compelling element of railroading: the machines […]
