Railfanning in North Dakota North Dakota is usually synonymous with the high plains of flat, rolling fields of wheat, corn, and soybeans, not railroad infrastructure such as bridges. One may be surprised that in a few places around the state, railroads required impressive bridges to cross wide river valleys and coulees. These structures were constructed […]
Ten must-see railroad engineering landmarks: While unfortunate to lose the steepest, U.S. standard-gauge climb in North Carolina’s Saluda Grade, there are thankfully many other railroad engineering landmarks across North America that continue to stand the test of time. Whether experiencing them by train, trackside or a mixture of both, here are our ten must-sees from […]
Freight locomotives on passenger trains can happen for a variety of reasons and make for memorable images. Early in Amtrak’s history, locomotives painted in the colors of freight-hauling railroads were common. In Amtrak’s “rainbow era” days, 50 years ago, the then-new National Railroad Passenger Corporation operated with leased or hand-me-down equipment, inherited from — and […]
EMD F69PHAC Locomotive builder EMD entered into an agreement with Siemens in 1989 to create the F69PHAC, an experimental four-axle alternating current passenger locomotive for the sole purpose of seeing how such a beast would work. Outwardly the locomotives strongly resemble a standard EMD F40 then found on passenger trains throughout the country except for […]
When livestock was shipped by train, the railroads provided free transportation for the “drovers” who accompanied the shipments. Chicago, Burlington & Quincy drovers car 5760 was rebuilt in 1948 from a heavyweight 12-section, one-drawing room sleeper. It’s shown here in 1958. Hol Wagner collection […]
Fast trains It never fails. Visit a train museum with a group of children, and at some point during your exploration one of them will ask: What is the fastest train? Once the discussion has begun, the apex of speed will need to be discussed for every piece encountered. Let’s not reserve this top-speed obsession […]
The Walkway Over the Hudson state park has an illustrious railroad history dating back to the opening of the massive Poughkeepsie Bridge at Poughkeepsie, N.Y., in 1889. From its creation in 1872 until it was merged into the Penn Central 97 years later, the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad (familiarly known […]
Freight locomotives in passenger service were the exception to the rules. They required passenger cars that were self-contained, the use of separate head-end power generator cars, or some understanding passengers. However, they often offered the best value for the railroads using them who may not have wanted to invest scarce capital in dedicated passenger power […]
What was your first byline in Trains? Brian M. Schmidt: In August 2006 I wrote about the state of the South Shore Line commuter service in Indiana, a remnant of the old Chicago South Shore & South Bend interurban. My friend Alexander Craghead was running Trains’ City Rail column at the time and arranged for […]
The Electro-Motive Division GP39 diesel locomotive was a 12-cylinder, turbocharged unit without a market. EMD rarely missed when the company introduced a new model, but the announcement of the GP39 turned out to be a sales dud. The few buyers who did take the plunge and roster the locomotive found that, in the right assignment, […]
Union Pacific’s General Electric U50C locomotives were the last double-diesel model to join the roster, beginning in late 1969. They were, however, the least successful of the three production models the railroad acquired. GE built 40 U50C locomotives for UP between September 1969 and January 1971. (Their production dates largely mirrored those of […]
The Algoma Central Railway was chartered in 1899 to build into the Ontario wilderness north of Sault Ste. Marie. Its purpose was to bring out pulpwood and iron ore. In 1901 the ambitions of its founder added “& Hudson Bay” to the corporate title. The line reached Hawk Junction, 165 miles north of Sault Ste. […]
