The time I got to run ‘my unit’

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On June 15, 1972 — six years before author Olson’s ride on it — Illinois Central Gulf SD40 6000 pulls into Markham Yard at Homewood, Ill., with GP40 3011. J. David Ingles I have always had a thing for “class units,” that is, the first in a series, and “my engine” is Illinois Central 6000, […]

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Baltimore yards and rail lines, 1948

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It was an act of sheer audacity that made Baltimore the cradle of American railroading. Baltimore’s topography of hills broken by short, steep valleys was exactly wrong for a canal, and the city’s outlet to the west, the National Road, was expensive and slow. So city leaders proposed a railroad, the Baltimore & Ohio, to […]

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1990s B units

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Santa Fe management ordered 23 GP60B units in 1991 for road service. Today, these four-axle veterans still ply BNSF Railway rails, but mostly on local jobs. Bob Miller Q I was watching railroad videos of the 1990s and saw locomotives without cabs in various consists. I rarely see these units on the main lines of […]

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Trains Presents: Nashville Union Station

Nashville Union Station

Come along with Trains Magazine Editor Jim Wrinn as we look at this gem of the Music City. Nashville Union Station is a luxury boutique hotel in the heart of the city’s historic downtown. It’s also a magnificent railroad preservation project, and an excellent place to watch action on the adjacent CSX Transportation main line! […]

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Win a few, lose a few

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Empty refrigerator cars race across the Union Pacific in Nebraska in the early ’50s. A UP conductor in Idaho talked his way out of a jam when his reefer train blocked a crossing, but got into trouble when he tried to enter the produce business himself. Linn H. Westcott Within any group, whether depicted in […]

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Trains Presents: CN in Stevens Point, Wis.

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Trains Magazine Assistant Editor Brian Schmidt takes you to Stevens Point, Wis., for a day of Canadian National freight action in October 2016. You’ll learn the best places in town to watch trains, and see unique motive power from CN, Illinois Central, and Wisconsin Central. Learn more about CN’s Chicago to Winnipeg corridor in the […]

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