NEWTON, N.J. — Jim Boyd, an influential railroad photographer, book author, and longtime editor of Railfan & Railroad magazine, died Dec. 31, 2010. Boyd was born in Dixon, Ill., in 1941, and grew up watching steam engines on the nearby Illinois Central. He attended the University of Illinois and the Layton School of Art in […]
Florida from the air
We’re high above Seaboard Coast Line’s Uceta Yard and locomotive shop on Sept. 26 1970. Below is the busy former Atlantic Coast Line yard and the neighboring Seaboard Air Line Yeoman Yard that were brought together under the SCL banner with the 1967 merger. The locomotive shop would distinguish itself in the late 1970s with […]
Air hoses on locomotives
Q This is a follow-up question to one in the July 2010 issue about the three air hoses on locomotives (page 58). I saw engines in the ’70s and earlier with four hoses and some with only two. Why the difference?— Dan Mirabelli, Neenah, Wis. A The two-line m.u. setup was generally for 14EL-equipped units. […]
Measuring track curvature
Q How do railroad design engineers measure track curvature in the United States? I believe it has something to do with measuring the degrees between two radii of a circle having the track as the arc length, but I don’t fully understand how it is measured, or from where exactly on the tracks the radii […]
Trains Magazine 2010 Index
Trains Magazine’s 2010 Index trains_2010_index […]
Serving the South once again
Click the image to download this interactive PDF. It ’s not likely that Trains readers would immediately recognize the significance of the East Tennessee, Virginia & Georgia Railroad. However, the ETV&G (whose earliest ancestor lines date to 1856) merged with the Richmond & Danville in 1894 to create a more recognizable company name: Southern Railway. […]
Domeliners in the United States and Canada
Santa Fe’s premier train, the Chicago-Los Angeles Super Chief, was the first to get dome cars. Santa Fe called them “Pleasure Domes.” Santa Fe Railway Milwaukee Road’s upper-level domes stretched almost the full length of the car, earning the name “Super Dome.” Milwaukee Road Workers service a full-length Milwaukee Road Super Dome from the Olympian […]
Rebuilding RDCs for a new generation
Sign over car shop. Employee notifications are posted in English and French. Bob Johnston This unusual RDC4 originally built for Canadian Pacific will be refurbished for VIA’s Sudbury-White River, Ont., train. Bob Johnston A welder works on an RDC. Bob Johnston The new RDC engineer’s cab includes a computer display to monitor train performance. Bob […]
Ringling Bros. Circus Train Roster
Ringling’s Blue Unit circus train exits Huntsman Canyon at Moapa, Nev., June 15, 2010, oln its way to Las Vegas. This rare view shows the entire 61-car, 5,409-foot, 4,490-ton consist. Kenneth Kuehne The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus rail car fleet is an amazing collection of equipment from many railroads and many configurations. […]
Trains, December 2010
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CSX decommissions last of ex-Monon semaphore signals NEWSWIRE
CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. — CSX has removed the last semaphore signals from service on its Monon Subdivision in northwestern Indiana. The line was one of the final bastions for the signals anywhere in the U.S. and Canada. The final “blade” to fall, located at milepost 147.1 at North Crawfordsville, came down Tuesday. CSX is replacing the […]
New Commonwealth Railway line set to open NEWSWIRE
PORTSMOUTH, Va. – Double-stack trains will begin rolling next week on the Commonwealth Railway. The railroad, owned and operated by Genesee & Wyoming, had operated a line through urban neighborhoods in Portsmouth and Chesapeake, Va., which has 14 grade crossings. To replace the crossing-riddled line, a new route has been constructed that will enable double-stack […]
