Back to business travel aboard Amtrak

Travel aboard a long-distance train for business? Before you set your time machine back to 1951, you might want to consider the perks of booking an overnight trip on a present-day Amtrak train! That’s precisely what Trains.com staffers did when they needed to get themselves, plus all their photography and video gear, from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, […]

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Action at Union Avenue, Chicago

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The location is Union Avenue interlocking at the east end of Burlington Northern’s “racetrack” to Aurora in about 1980. Amtrak train 380 from Carbondale, Ill., comes off the St. Charles Air Line (left) as a BN “dinky” from Aurora in push mode heads for Chicago Union Station (right); between them, is a BN E unit […]

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Union Pacific to donate artwork to Pullman National Monument

Poster with Pulllman National Monument main building, porters, and sleeping car

CHICAGO — Union Pacific is donating the original artwork it commissioned for the grand opening of the Pullman National Monument to the National Park Service for permanent display. The poster, created by Chicago artist Joe Nelson, is in the style of UP national park travel posters of the 1900s and honors the resilience and strength […]

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Construction contract for South Shore double track project approved

A silver passenger train operates in the middle of a street.

CHESTERTON, Ind. — After its first effort to find a contractor was halted because bids far exceeded expectations, the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District board of directors has approved a contract for construction of the South Shore Double Track project, which will add a second main line between Gary and Michigan City, Ind. The Times […]

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Orders at Clare

An engineer receives paper orders from a hoop in a red-painted locomotive leading a freight train.

Orders at Clare At the joint Chesapeake & Ohio-Ann Arbor depot in Clare, Mich., the engineer on Toledo–Frankfort freight TF-1, behind two GP35s, reaches to pick up orders in May 1966. John S. Ingles photo, Brian Schmidt collection […]

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Frisco steam locomotive cab ride

View from behind fireman tossing coal into firebox in steam engine on a Frisco steam locomotive cab ride

My Frisco steam locomotive cab ride came on Sept. 5, 2021. It was a first for me. I knew that it would be fun and that I’d like it, but what I didn’t know was exactly how much. It was a feast for the senses. My photos here may not be great or even capture […]

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Remembering Milwaukee Road locomotives

Broadside of streamlined steam locomotive in valley

Milwaukee Road locomotives All through November, Classic Trains editors are celebrating the multi-faceted Milwaukee Road. Please enjoy this photo gallery of Milwaukee Road selected from the image archives of Kalmbach Media’s David P. Morgan Library. The Milwaukee Road operated with steam, electric, and diesel motive power in its Midwest-to-Northwest service area. There are examples in […]

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Reefer block

Steam locomotive with freight train

Reefer block 4-8-2 2605, a product of IC’s own Paducah (Ky.) shops, leads a long string of refrigerator cars north on the main line at Peotone, Ill., in the 1940s. Illinois Central photo […]

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Ohio short line gets funding for rail project

black and yellow locomotive at crossing on fall, gray day

DEFIANCE, Ohio – The Ohio Rail Development Commission has approved a grant of up to $687,622.50 to replace rail on a portion of Pioneer Lines Napoleon Defiance & Western Railway’s line east of Defiance, Ohio. NDW’s line runs from Woodburn, Ind., to Napoleon, Ohio, with interchanges with Norfolk Southern in Woodburn and CSX in Defiance. […]

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Minnesota museum saves Soo Line caboose

red caboose resting inactive

MINNEAPOLIS – The Iron Horse Central Railroad Museum has acquired a 110-year-old Soo Line caboose that has been a landmark in Minneapolis for 46 years. The caboose was owned by the Broadway Bar Pizza Restaurant, and has stood at the intersection at Broadway Avenue and East River Road since 1975. In 2020, the pizza shop’s […]

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Milwaukee Road freight trains photo gallery

Streamlined electric locomotive leads freight train with four diesels through mountain valley in snow

All through November, Classic Trains editors are celebrating the multi-faceted Milwaukee Road. Please enjoy this photo gallery of Milwaukee Road freight trains selected from the image archives of Kalmbach Media’s David P. Morgan Library. In its history, the Milwaukee Road operated freight service from as far as Louisville, Ky., west to Tacoma, Wash., and Portland, […]

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