BALTIMORE — The B&O Railroad Museum on Wednesday marked the start of work to prepare its campus for the 200th anniversary of American railroading, with a groundbreaking for construction including transformation of the South Car Works Building, the 1869 structure that remained in operation until 1990. That building will be turned into the new museum […]
Editors note: For more on the Rhätishe Bahn and its heritage fleet, including Switzerland’s one-of-a-kind snowplow, see the July 2025 issue of Trains Magazine. PONTRESINA, Switzerland — Markus Zaugg, head of rolling stock for the Rhätische Bahn, is leading an informal tour of the railroad’s shop building in the mountain village of Pontresina. The town […]
By 1840, the nation had 2,800 miles of railroad track. In his book American Notes, novelist Charles Dickens captured the flavor of an 1842 trip on the Boston & Lowell Railroad. “On it whirls headlong, dives through the woods again, emerges in the light, clatters over frail arches, rumbles upon the heavy ground, shoots beneath […]
In the old days, when an accident had a rail line shut down, it was time to call the big hook, rugged cranes built for the biggest chores in the rail industry. The driving wheels of a passenger-service steam locomotive can be taller than a grown man, a 3-foot section of rail can weigh 155 […]
Classic Trains Film Archive | Midwestern Missouri Pacific Journey, J. David Ingles Reel 0052 – Journey through the heart of 1960s Midwest railroading in this colorful film from former Trains Magazine Editor J. David Ingles. Ride a classic Missouri Pacific passenger train from St. Louis to Kansas City and witness historic rail action along the […]
Steamtown National Historic Site, once known as Steamtown USA, has a captivating history. Its journey from one man’s vision in New England to a National Park Service railroad museum in Pennsylvania is marked by highs and lows, attracting both advocates and critics. The Vision of F. Nelson Blount Francis Nelson Blount Jr. was […]
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This full-page ad from roller bearing manufacturer Timken appeared 75 years ago in the May 1950 issue of Trains Magazine. It’s a reminder that roller bearings represented a huge advancement over the earlier friction, or plain, bearing design. Axle-mounted roller bearings are a critical component in modern railroading due to their role in enhancing efficiency, […]
Although replaced in recent years by roller bearings, friction bearings (also called solid bearings or plain bearings) were a railroad standard for many years. Friction bearings were blocks of metal, usually brass, resting atop the axle and lubricated by oil-saturated wool waste enclosed in a hinged-lid journal box. To keep the bearing from getting too […]
WASHINGTON — Almost a decade after Amtrak cancelled “National Train Day,” an outreach promotion launched in 2008 designed to familiarize potential customers with where its passenger trains go, organizations around the U.S. continue to use May 10 as a tentpole around which to generate interest. The date commemorates completion of the first transcontinental railroad at […]
Almost exactly 160 years ago, the American Civil War wound down to a messy and anticlimactic end. By December 1864, it was apparent the Union had prevailed. It didn’t necessarily win, but at least southern secession had been thwarted. If noticed at all, the anniversary might be an occasion to recount the many roles railroading […]
Railroad dome cars are a gleaming symbol of postwar passenger train status. The streamliner era in North America bookended the World War II era in the U.S., since new streamlined passenger cars were not a priority between 1942 and 1945. Following the end of the war in the latter year, they began to […]
