Beyond the byline with Greg McDonnell

man taking picture of train number

What was your first byline in Trains? “Beyond the 100-inch isoline — Railroading in the Lake Huron snowbelt,” published in the February 1980 issue. I began reading Trains at age 8 (the September 1963 issue) and aspired from that moment to write for Trains. I was never confident enough to submit anything until the summer of […]

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Chessie the railroad kitten

a drawing of three sleeping kittens

Chessie’s story is a unique one. Born to the world in 1933, from the imagination of many, Chessie’s tale begins innocently with her asleep, one eye slightly opened, and a paw stretched out from underneath a blanket. Her story, as it develops, flooded the mainstream media, creeping into people’s homes during a painful and uncertain […]

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BNSF’s Truxton Flyover: improving traffic flows on Southern Transcon

Train on bridge crossing over railroad tracks in desert landscape

BNSF’s Truxton Flyover project Truxton, Ariz., is not exactly one of the metropolitan centers of the American Southwest. “Population: very small,” says Craig Rasmussen, BNSF Railway assistant vice president, engineering services and structures. Officially, as of the 2020 census, 104 people live in the hamlet 42 miles northeast of Kingman, Ariz., on U.S. Route 66. […]

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Bangor & Aroostook Railroad remembered

Blue, red, and white Bangor & Aroostook Railroad horizontal striped boxcar

Northern Maine’s Bangor & Aroostook Railroad was a relative latecomer to the American railroad map, being organized under the General Laws of Maine on Feb. 13, 1891. There had been earlier efforts, but this one succeeded in linking northern Maine to the central Maine city of Bangor and the country’s rail network. First was the […]

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