A sleeping berth shown set for feet first in the direction of travel on an Amtrak long-distance train. Bob Johnston Q I previously understood that the safest position to sleep while traveling by train was with feet first, but the past Amtrak trips I took had the bed set up head first. Is there an […]
Take a tour of the new Raleigh, N.C., station, which opened in May 2018. The facility serves both Amtrak long-distance and state-supported trains, but it’s designed to accommodate commuter and high speed rail services in the future. […]
Two Chicago & North Western Pacific-powered commuter trains (“scoots,” in local parlance) unload passengers at the road’s Windy City passenger terminal in June 1953. Wallace W. Abbey photo […]
Baldwin road-switcher 1615 passes the Hertford, N.C., depot with Norfolk Southern freight 88 in January 1965. A few months later, removal of a siding here would cause some confusion. Harry Bundy Telegraph operators working from the extra list rolled with the punches. They were on call 24/7, as they say now, to fill vacancies created […]
Home for the heaviest rebuild, repair, and repaint work on the Norfolk Southern system is the sprawling former Pennsylvania Railroad Juniata Shops in Altoona, Pa. The backshop is the heart of this operation in the Keystone State. Alex Mayes Diesel locomotives are amazing. They are built to withstand the rigors of service, running 24 hours […]
Dots painted on trilevel auto racks indicate clearance heights. Rob Burnet Q I have seen colored painted dots on freight cars, mostly multilevel auto rack cars. What do they signify? – Rob Burnet, Etobicoke, Ont., Canada A Colored marks on auto multi-levels are to designate slightly different deck height clearances on trilevels. Orange dots indicate […]
We’ll ride the nose of a GE C30-7 for the trip from LaOroya to Hauncayo, Peru. We were riding on a Ferrocarril Central Andino railroad branch down a gorge that sees about one train a week. We’ll also herd llamas by train, cross bridges, pierce tunnels, see a display steam locomotive, and get a final […]
Charlie and his wife explore railroad-related sites in and around Evanston, Wyoming, before returning westward with the sun along the Union Pacific main line. […]
This C&O 2-6-6-6 strains mightily to get her 70 loads of eastbound coal moving at Thurmond, W. Va., in 1956. The Balky 1624 had slipped down, then cut off and run ahead to put down sand, and is now trying again. A full third of her tremendous engine weight rests on her lead and trailing […]
With clouds overhead mimicking steam, Big Boy No. 4004 sleeps in October 2013 at Cheyenne’s Holliday Park, just a few blocks from UP rails. Jim Wrinn No. 4004 • Holliday Park, Cheyenne, Wyo. BUILDER’S DATE: September 1941 SERIAL NUMBER: 69575 HISTORY: The fifth Big Boy constructed seems to have had an uneventful career. LIFETIME MILEAGE: […]
On Aug. 6, 2012, a single Illinois Central manned helper locomotive brings up the rear of a southbound Canadian National intermodal train working up Byron Hill on the Waukesha Subdivision near Byron, Wis. Tom Danneman Q How do locomotive engineers know they are doing equal work on trains equipped with manned helpers? – Robert A. […]
Come along for a look at the historic town of Harper Ferry, W.Va.! You’ll see CSX Transportation freights along with Amtrak and MARC commuter action in this scenic city on the Potomac River. […]
