The Professionals filming location. The Professionals is a perfect Saturday afternoon popcorn picture. Four mercenaries in the waning days of the wild American West dive deep into Mexico to rescue the abducted wife of a multi-millionaire railroad tycoon. Along the way are bandits, memories of yesterday’s glory days, and plot twists that make what looks […]
Train Topic: History
Plaque, ceremony honor rail historian Peter A. Hansen
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Friends and admirers of Peter A. Hansen, the late editor of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society’s scholarly journal Railroad History, gathered here at Union Station Sunday (May 15, 2022) for the ceremonial unveiling of a plaque in his honor. Hansen, who edited the publication for 13 years, died two years […]
News photos: Passenger cars on display at Pullman Railroad Days
CHICAGO — The Pullman Historic Foundation’s “Railroad Days 2022” at Chicago’s Pullman National Monument, which began today (May 14, 2022) and continues Sunday, May 15, features tours of railcars built at the factory before it closed in 1981, as well as tours of the factory, Hotel Florence, the company-town neighborhood built in the 1880s, and […]
T1 Trust displays progress in building new steam locomotive
HARRISBURG, Pa. — In the first public showing of the combined cab, boiler shell, and prow of its new streamlined steam engine, No. 5550, the Pennsylvania Railroad T1 Steam Locomotive Trust displayed its progress on a project whose backers hope to see it running by 2030. The Trust trucked the 30-ton assembly 1,200 miles from […]
North Carolina museum transports 10 cars to its property
BONSAL, N.C. – The North Carolina Railway Museum is orchestrating the 5-mile highway movement of 10 landlocked railroad cars — both passenger and freight — from a nuclear power plant site to its headquarters here. The cars were the subject of NCRM’s “Save the Ten” campaign, which successfully raised nearly $200,000, $50,000 of which came […]
Fall for 1309 event sold out, more photo events available
Trains Magazine and Western Maryland Scenic will be hosting 60 guests at its sold-out event Nov. 4-6, 2022, to welcome back the last Baldwin-built steam locomotive made for the USA. The world’s largest operating Mallet will perform for guests for three days in its first fall photographers’ event. The event will include a program on […]
Union Pacific Challenger ruled the Overland Route
Union Pacific Challenger: Railroad slogans are one of the industry’s lost arts. The old ad men and promoters who came up with them were geniuses. Remember when phrases like Water Level Route or Main Line of Mid-America told you so much about a particular railroad? The best ones spoke of far-flung places, and how to […]
New England fall color featured in new ‘Trains’ tour
The combination of classic railroading and spectacular regional autumn color will be featured in “New England Fall Colors by Rail,” an eight-day, seven-night tour sponsored by Trains magazine and scheduled for Sept. 29-Oct. 6, 2022. Hosted by former Trains Editor Kevin P. Keefe and conducted by Special Interest Tours, the tour will be based out […]
EMD DDA40X Centennial
EMD DDA40X: In 1968, Union Pacific purchased 50 20-cylinder, 3,600 hp EMD SD45s for high-speed service. However, the units did not meet management’s expectations in that role. So, UP commissioned EMD to design and build a locomotive that would develop more horsepower than the DD35, U50, or C855 models. The result was the largest double-diesel […]
Christmas mail rush on the UP
A long string of Pacific Fruit Express reefers is being loaded with mail at right as workers sort mail bags at the Union Pacific Transfer in Council Bluffs, Iowa, during the 1951 Christmas rush. At busy times like this, all available equipment was pressed into mail service. Union Pacific Museum photo […]
More features added to Pullman Railroad Days
CHICAGO — The “Last Pullman Car,” Amtrak Superliner George M. Pullman, and a locomotive simulator from Norfolk Southern have been added to the upcoming Pullman Railroad Days, to be held May 14-15 at the Pullman National Monument and hosted by the Historic Pullman Foundation, the monument’s non-profit partner. The Superliner, the last car built by […]
Conrail locomotives remembered
Conrail locomotives: Classic Trains editors are celebrating the history, heritage, and style of Conrail all through April 2022. Enjoy this photo gallery of Conrail locomotives selected from the archives of Kalmbach Media’s David P. Morgan Library. Conrail was formed in 1976 with the consolidation of several bankrupt Northeastern railroads: Penn Central, Central of New Jersey, […]