Matt Van Hattem’s top 10 railfan spots

CSX intermodal train at Bear Mountain, N.Y.

A southbound CSX intermodal train skirts the Hudson River at Bear Mountain, N.Y., on May 12, 2011. Three photos, Matt Van Hattem Every region has fascinating places to watch trains, and working at Trains brought me to locations I had always longed to visit as well as great spots I might not have otherwise come […]

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Tom Danneman’s top 10 retreats

Montana Rail Link traveling through the mountains

Two Montana Rail Link GP9s head up the Paradise Local as it crosses the Clark Fork River in Paradise, Mont. Three photos, Tom Danneman When I was asked to come up with 10 of my favorite spots to view and photograph railroading, I knew it wouldn’t be difficult. The difficulty was picking just 10 spots, […]

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Piedmont & Northern electric train

Piedmont and Northern Railroad in Belmont, South Carolina

A northbound Piedmont & Northern train makes a stop at Belton, S.C., in April 1951. Later that year the road ended all passenger service and converted its South Carolina division from electric to diesel operation. A.C. Kalmbach photo […]

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Centennial Trains

Classic Trains Logo

View the public schedule of the 1963 West Virginia Centennial Special. Download the schedule by clicking on the PDF below. WV_Centennial_Schedule     View the initial working schedules of the 1964 Montana Centennial Train. Download the schedule by clicking on the PDF below. Montana_centennial_train_schedule […]

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Chicago Railroad Fair

an illustrated red and orange official guide book cover for the chicago railroad fair

Tour the Chicago Railroad Fair through the pages of the 1948 Official Guide Book. FULL SCREEN FULL SCREEN FULL SCREEN FULL SCREEN FULL SCREEN FULL SCREEN FULL SCREEN FULL SCREEN FULL SCREEN FULL SCREEN Read about the Chicago Railroad Fair in “The Last Great Railroad Show,” an article from August 1998 Trains magazine. Download the story by clicking […]

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Yampa Valley meet

Rio Grande Railroad Yampa Valley trains

December 31, 1966, on the Rio Grande finds the east- and westbound Yampa Valley trains meeting at Radium, Colo. Seen from the cab of Alco PA 6013 on westbound train 9, eastbound train 10 is headed by a PA and an F7B. Steve Patterson photo […]

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Foggy day on the D&NE

Duluth and Northeastern Railroad at Cloquet, Minnesota

Duluth & Northeastern 2-8-0 No. 27 is at Cloquet, Minn., bound for Saginaw with empty log flats in August 1962. The 11-mile line was all-steam until 1964. A sister to this engine, D&NE 28, was recently reactivated by the Lake Superior Railroad Museum. Russ Porter photo […]

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Joliet Union Station ticket counter

Joliet Union Station

A man and woman stand at the center window of the ticket counter at Joliet (Ill.) Union Station in fall 1951. Note the stylized ALTON, SANTA FE, ROCK ISLAND lettering across the top, four years after the Alton was absorbed into the Gulf, Mobile & Ohio. Wallace W. Abbey photo […]

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