Clarence Monin, former BLE president, dies at 84

Head shot of smiling man in suit

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — Former Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers International President Clarence V. Monin has died, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen has announced. Morin, 84, died on June 26. He held the union’s highest office from 1996 to 1998. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the entire Monin family in their time of […]

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Raymond Burton, former TTX CEO, dies at 86

Man smoking pipe in outdoor setting

CHICAGO — Former TTX president and CEO Raymond C. Burton Jr. has died, the company has announced. Burton, 89, died June 19 in New York City. He was the company’s president and CEO from 1982 until his retirement in 2000, and is credited with modernizing the company, helping strengthen its financial condition and meet growing […]

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Photographer, author J. Parker Lamb dies at 91

Man with mustache in white shirt under trees

AUSTIN, Texas – Among the daring practitioners who revolutionized railroad photography in the 1950s and early ’60s, none reached a more receptive audience or garnered more praise than J. Parker Lamb. A mechanical engineer by profession, he worked hard to have his photos tell a story about people and technology, especially if it involved diesel […]

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Steam veteran Wes Camp remembered

Man next to locomotive

DOVER, Del. — Dozens and dozens of steam locomotives have been revived over the past 60-plus years, and many bear the fingerprints, often literally, of Wesley “Wes” Camp, one of the guiding lights of steam engineering and practice, a man who dedicated his professional life to what many thought would be a lost art. That […]

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South Dakota railroad historian Rick Mills dies

Smiling man in black shirt

HILL CITY, S.D.— If you had a question, needed a photo, or just wanted to chat about railroading in South Dakota, there was only one person to go to: Rick W. Mills. Mills, who wrote several books on South Dakota railroading and served as the curator of the South Dakota Railroad Museum, died unexpected April […]

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Remembering Jim Schwinkendorf

Head shot of smiling man

For many years, operators of mainline steam locomotives knew they had a valuable friend in Jim Schwinkendorf, a veteran railroad manager who oversaw several high-profile special movements in his years at BNSF Railway, including supervision of the railroad’s Employee Appreciation Specials. James Alden “Jim” Schwinkendorf, of Pacific, Mo., died Feb. 21, 2025. He was 81. […]

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Brian Rosenwald left indelible mark at Amtrak

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CHICAGO — The Amtrak executive who embraced managerial freedom and risk-taking in the company’s product line era of the mid-1990s to transform the Seattle-Los Angeles Coast Starlight into a “superior service” long-distance passenger train has died. Brian Rosenwald succumbed to colon cancer this week after a long illness. His 40-year Amtrak career began in 1973 […]

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Robert Wegner, Kalmbach illustrator, dies at 83

Man working at computer on illustrations

RICHFIELD, Wis. — For more than 40 years, readers of Trains magazine were the beneficiaries of one of railroad publishing’s most accomplished but unsung talents, a man who created hundreds of the railroad maps that helped seal the magazine’s reputation. But unless you read the tiny, 6-point type in the corner, you wouldn’t know the […]

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Nancy L. Bartol, longtime Trains staffer, dies at 83

Head shot of woman with glasses in red sweater

OSHKOSH, Wis. — Nancy L. Bartol, a longtime member of the Trains magazine editorial staff and later Kalmbach Publishing Co.’s librarian, died Dec. 29 at age 83. With 43 years at Kalmbach, she was one of the longest-tenured employees in the company’s history, most of her career reporting directly to Trains Editor David P. Morgan. […]

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Author, engineer David H. Hamley dies at 84

David H. Hamley, a professional engineer and Trains magazine author with a talent for writing about diesel locomotives, died Dec. 18 at a hospital near his home south of Pittsburgh. He was 84. Born in Pittsburgh on Nov. 4, 1940, Hamley in 1965 earned a degree in engineering from the University of Pittsburgh and went […]

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Southern Pacific fans remember ‘The Bear’

"The Bear" Jim Mahon in white hard hat looking out window

When mourners gather Thursday for services at the Church of Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Auburn, Calif., it will mark a special occasion for anyone associated with the once-upon-a-time Southern Pacific Railroad: a moment to appreciate a true SP hero, James C. Mahon, known from Sacramento to San Antonio as “The Bear.” Railroaders in charge […]

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Jim Mahon, ‘The Bear,’ kept the SP rolling

Man looking at snow from window of rail equipment

Railroaders in charge of fixed plant — often carrying the “roadmaster” title — rarely attract much fame, but a significant exception is James C. Mahon, the longtime Southern Pacific official who won some of SP’s most significant battles against nature and along the way developed legions of fans, especially in California. Mahon, known across the […]

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