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Illinois city celebrates station upgrades NEWSWIRE
MATTOON, Ill. – A four-year, $3 million project to stabilize and then improve the three-story former railroad office building and passenger station in Mattoon was celebrated last week by Amtrak and Illinois DOT. Six daily Amtrak trains use the station, which is sited about 130 miles northeast of St. Louis. The Coles County Historical Society […]
Santa Fe Southern purchased by Australian high-tech company NEWSWIRE

Santa Fe Southern GP16 93 pauses at the Santa Fe, N.M., station. The railroad has two EMD road-switchers and several vintage railroad cars for its excursions to Lamy. Freight traffic has been limited to inbound loads of lumber, a beer distributor, and pipe for a natural gas line. David Lustig SANTA FE, N.M. – STI-Global, […]
South African steam locomotives scrapped following damage by thieves NEWSWIRE

Guards armed with shotguns keep scrap thieves at bay while locomotives are cut-up at an outdoor railroad museum near Johannesburg, South Africa Paul Ash The remains of once proud South African steam locomotives being recycled for scrap at an outdoor railroad museum near Johannesburg, South Africa. Paul Ash A priceless collection of steam locomotives has […]
November 2010 Free Trains Express PDFs

Anniversaries! Trains magazine has celebrated its longevity with special reports to look back over railroading’s rich history. Download the two PDFs below; here is a list of the stories. Twenty-Five Years of Trains By David P. Morgan Pages 20-21, November 1965 Steam . . . What a Void She Left By David P. Morgan […]
Afterward From Before: Observations About Railroads

Few would argue that Ted Benson is a great writer and photographer. His contributions to Trains over the years have been among our readers’ favorites. But did readers of our February 1977 issue realize Benson might also be prophetic? In “Andover Afterward,” he wrote of Southern Pacific 4449 returning to mainline rails after a 16-year […]
Trains, September 2010
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A case for the commonplace in railroad photography

Just another day: the first-trick tender of Norfolk Southern’s ex-Nickel Plate drawbridge over the Cuyahoga Valley in Cleveland heads to work on March 22, 2005. Scott Lothes Union Pacific’s business train looks nice heading south near Albany, Ore., on an October morning in 2009, but says little about the nature of the railroad. Scott Lothes […]
Rolling through the Rocks

Led by a new MP36PH-3C, a MARC commuter trains curves past the historic depot at Point of Rocks, Md., on its afternoon run from Washington, D.C., to Brunswick, Md., June 10, 2010. Photo by Alex Mayes […]
The high iron

Three Union Pacific diesels muscle a southbound intermodal train under classic Southern Pacific searchlight signals near Mojave, Calif., on Sept. 3, 2010. In the background are the Tehachapi Mountains, site of one of the world’s most impressive railroad crossings of a mountain range. Photo by William Steck […]
Arizona museum gets electric locomotive delivery by truck NEWSWIRE

Black Mesa & Lake Powell E60 electric locomotive No. 6001 negotiates a turn in the road at Tuba City, Ariz. Arizona State Railroad Museum WILLIAMS, Ariz. — The Arizona State Railroad Museum has taken delivery of Black Mesa & Lake Powell E60C electric locomotive No. 6001. The locomotive arrived from the isolated, electrified coal-hauler via […]
They made Milwaukee great

Two Wisconsin & Southern MP15s switch the MillerCoors brewery on July 1, 2010. The lead unit’s heritage is unmistakable, thanks to the Milwaukee Road lettering and “bandit” colors. Railroads and brewing propelled Milwaukee’s industrial might in the 20th century. Matt Van Hattem photo […]