In October 2013, Trains sent me to Southern California to attend the first-ever Association of Tourist Railroads and Railway Museums meeting, to see Union Pacific’s preparatory work for moving Big Boy 4-8-8-4 No. 4014 AND to get material for the February 2014 article in the magazine: “Cajon Pass Unplugged.” I spent weeks before and after […]
Section: Railroads
Sounds and images: Raising a Northeast Corridor drawbridge
FULL SCREEN Bob Johnston Amtrak bridge operator Merrill Perkins controls the Northeast Corridor’s Niantic River movable bridge from a tower at the end of the structure. Push-button controls make this bridge easy to operate. FULL SCREEN Bob Johnston The previous Niantic River movable bridge had been built by the New Haven Railroad in 1907, and […]
Ride through Rainbow Canyon

An eastbound Union Pacific intermodal freight enters Rainbow Canyon near Elgin, Nev., on Nov. 3, 2006. For 20 miles the train will follow the Meadow Valley Wash up the steep grade to the former division point at Caliente, Nev., on the Los Angeles & Salt Lake route. Photo by Robert Jordan […]
Team Bethlehem

An eastbound empty coal train, led by CSX AC44CW No. 418, passes Defiance, Ohio, on May 5, 2013. The train is made up mostly of old Bethlehem Steel “BethGon” gondolas, now used by successor ArcelorMittal. Photo by Brian Schmidt […]
What is a wristpin?
With so much talk about Union Pacific’s effort to restore Big Boy steam locomotive No. 4014, the world wants to know … what is a wristpin? Listen in as UP steam boss Ed Dickens Jr. talks about this 50-pound plus hunk of metal without which a live, steaming Big Boy would grind to a halt. […]
CN’s roundhouse at Moncton, New Brunswick

In fall 1953, Canadian National 4-6-2 5545 simmers inside the roundhouse at Moncton, New Brunswick. Philip R. Hastings photo […]
Extended network

Two Norfolk Southern GE ponies, with Union Pacific train Z-CHEM in tow, gallop out of North Lake, Wis., on their journey to Minneapolis, Minn. The Triple Crown train is one of the few that operates off NS rails. Photo by Matt Krause […]
Now arriving

An Amtrak San Joaquin train arrives at Emeryville, Calif., as the afternoon rush comes into full swing on Aug. 27, 2013. Photo by Michael S. Murray […]
Roselle to Jersey City: A farewell

CNJ GP7 1524 brings a Jersey City-bound commuter train into Roselle station on April 27, 1967, not long before the Aldene Plan diverted such trains to Newark’s Penn Station. John A. Yohannan A major change was about to take place in 1967 on the Jersey Central passenger service to Jersey City, N.J. From its humble beginnings […]
Fall vision

Oct. 7, 1997, was a perfect day to witness Conrail’s Office Car Special rolling east through the Berkshires on the Boston & Albany line at Bancroft, Mass. Photo by Robert Jordan […]
Bob Johnston’s “Intermountain Odyssey”

Check out additional material related to Bob Johnston’s “Intermountain Odyssey” article in Classic Trains’ Special Edition No. 13, All Aboard! Movies View clips from the 8mm movies that Bob Johnston took during the 1963 NRHS Intermountain Limited convention. Transportation Notice See the Burlington Route’s original Transportation Notice for the Aug. 26–Sept. 7, 1963, Intermountain Limited NRHS […]
Inside the Cab of Big Boy No. 4014
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