Big Boy 4004 parties like it’s 1941 again! Join us at Cheyenne’s Holliday Park to talk to the restoration crew responsible for bringing Big Boy 4-8-8-4 No. 4004 back to its 1941 appearance in 2018. The giant locomotive has been on display for almost 60 years and is once more looking like its original appearance. […]
A split-rail derail along the trail in Auburn, Wash., helps keep errant railcars from fouling the main track. Dale Smith A wedge-style derail, that lifts wheels over the rail, protects the Norfolk Southern yard facility at Rossville, Tenn. Ralcon Wagner Q I recently observed the most unusual track switch along the Interurban Trail near Main […]
Of the eight Big Boy locomotives preserved, only two are indoors. No. 4017 is one of the major artifacts on display at the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wis. Join Editor Jim Wrinn and museum Education Director Bob Lettenberger on a tour of this giant of steam. […]
Join Trains Art Director Tom Danneman for a video adventure tracking down elusive BNSF Railway motive power in Wyoming’s Big Horn Basin. The spectacular and out-of the-way region is the scenic backdrop for unique BNSF locomotives such as Geeps, SD40-2s, and SD60Ms. A side trip to the Power River Basin and few “bonus” trains round […]
Where does the fire burn? Where does the water boil? Where does it travel? What are all those pipes about? Our simplified drawing of how a Big Boy works shows how this king of the rails made and used steam to pull long freight trains up to 70 mph in Wyoming and Utah from 1941 […]
At Wheaton, Ill., the motorman of a westbound Chicago Aurora & Elgin train looks back for the highball while the conductor waits on the platform to assist passengers. CA&E passenger service ended in 1957. Bob Schmidt photo […]
Join us for an adventure in the Utah desert! Ride with Trains Editor Jim Wrinn as he drives the original roadbed of the first transcontinental railroad west of Promontory. See where the Central Pacific built 10 miles of track in one day and where the tracks crossed the salt marshes. Explore the sites of railroad […]
Join us trackside in Waukesha on Sept. 5, 2018, for three northbound Canadian National moves: a rail train, a unit potash train, and an intermodal train. The rain in still falling and many railroads throughout the state are experiencing high-water conditions and washouts. […]
Trains Magazine · Conversations with Brian Solomon, Episode 39 Railroad author and photographer Brian Solomon produces this exclusive biweekly podcast for Trains Magazine. You can catch his column monthly in the magazine or his daily railroad photography blog at briansolomon.com/trackingthelight. Conversations with Brian Solomon, Episode 38 We’re back on the railfan track this week with […]
Penn Central and Santa Fe teamed up to provide coast-to-coast transport of containers for Seatrain Lines in August 1972. Here, four PC General Electric units are in charge of the train at Perlman Yard in Selkirk, N.Y. Carl H. Sturner photo […]
Although this CNJ RS3 had dual engineer controls, the “F” defines the leading end for hand or radio signals. Bert Pennypacker Q When diesels replaced steam locomotives, early cab units had snub noses with good front visibility for the engineer. When hood units appeared, some railroads set them up to run short hood forward and […]
Metra commuter and Norfolk Southern freight trains meet at tower A2 northwest of Union Station. Steve Sweeney Trains tracks the evolution of positive train control technology from the 1980s to present! August 1985 – Burlington Northern executives approve testing a PTC prototype system, ARES, in Minnesota’s Iron Range. May 1, 2007 – U.S. Rep. James […]
