Nashville’s REA terminal

Railway Express Agency Nashville terminal

Baggage-express cars are spotted at Railway Express Agency’s Nashville terminal in 1962. Several of REA’s distinctive delivery trucks can be seen on the other side of the building. Railway Express Agency photo […]

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Southern Pacific passenger trains remembered

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All through February 2022, Classic Trains editors are celebrating the history and heritage of the Southern Pacific Lines. Please enjoy this photo gallery of Southern Pacific passenger trains selected from the image files in Kalmbach Media’s David P. Morgan Library. This gallery was first published in January 2019. […]

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Narrow gauge electric line

Boston, Revere Beach and Lynn Railroad

The 3-foot-gauge Boston, Revere Beach & Lynn was built in 1875 and in 1928 electrified its double-track line along the shore north of Boston. Business was brisk at first, as attested by this scene at Crescent Beach, Mass. Nevertheless, the BRB&L was abandoned in 1940. General Electric photo […]

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What’s in Chase Gunnoe’s camera bag?

Camera gear inside a bag.

Fifteen years ago, when entering the rail photography scene capturing photos of Norfolk Southern trains switching freight cars on the old West Virginia Secondary in Nitro, W.Va., my resources involved a Kodak EasyShare C433 and a Walmart-bought Case Logic case. The camera’s rectangular dimensions were smaller than today’s smartphones and a quick eBay search determines […]

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10 hot spots with Chase Gunnoe

Aerial photo of passenger train in river canyon under sky of broken clouds

10 hot spots with Chase Gunnoe: Identifying my 10 favorite train-watching spots in the U.S. is no easy task. There’s a lot of great spots here in the Mountain State that have earned my favoritism, but to showcase what the American rail landscape has to offer, I’ve selected these areas to witness railroading at its […]

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Continental Divide

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Five black-and-gold Northern Pacific F units lift a freight up the west slope of the Continental Divide at Elliston, Mont., in the 1950s. The NP relied on F units for both freight and passenger service. R. V. Nixon photo […]

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General Electric passenger U-boats — Diesels that didn’t

Three red-and-silver diesel locomotives pull a passenger train through an urban canyon

The General Electric passenger U-boats filled a niche in the 1960’s locomotive market. Santa Fe, like many Class I railroads at the time, was still proud of its passenger service. But its roster of suitable diesel locomotives was getting old and any thought of Amtrak was still years away. Keeping its aging fleet of silver […]

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Amtrak America’s Railroad book review

Book cover

Amtrak America’s Railroad records the many trials of keeping America’s railroad passenger service on track, and there were and still remain many. The chapters offer coverage of “What We Had,” “Creating a New National Network,” “Where Do We Go From Here?” and “The Road to the Future.” The authors have dug deep to record input […]

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