Even as he handed it to me the other night at a Milwaukee slide show, I couldn’t quite believe what Mike Schafer was telling me. “Hey, this is my first railroad book! Maybe you’ll write about it?” Mike Schafer’s first railroad book. That didn’t sound quite right. I’ve been reading Mike’s name on […]
The Pacific Harbor Line is railroading at its best. In many ways it reflects railroading as it used to be. Consider the good old days. Lots of railroads, various locomotive builders and plenty of paint schemes, not to mention open stations and friendly and courteous employees. If you didn’t like what you saw in one […]
Slug units As avid railfans, we often find ourselves drawn to locations where we can witness a high volume of train activity. Cities like Chicago, Atlanta, or Portland boast major classification yards that serve as hot spots for freight operations. At such locations, we may encounter a peculiar sight: unusual-looking “locomotives” performing switching duties alongside […]
Half-century-old locomotives While Class I railroads continue to receive new locomotive orders from EMD and GE, older EMD GP, or Geep, locomotives that have served for several decades are still being used for switching and local service. Many of these locomotives on the BNSF Railway predate predecessor Burlington Northern, having been purchased by such fabled […]
There is more to understanding railroad wayside signals than simply “green means go, red means stop.” To appreciate what the signals you see along the track are telling you, you first have to grasp a few basic concepts. Railroad traffic control boils down to three situations: trains running in the same direction on the same […]
The people who work on trains have a variety of jobs. A Norfolk Southern flagman inspects a train near Marion, Ohio. Dale A. DeVene Jr. The people who work on trains have a variety of jobs. Each member of a train crew has a specific function. Since train crews do most of their work beyond […]
The traditional life cycle for new locomotives on a Class I roster would be revenue service, followed by lease return if the railroad leased the power or retirement and sale if they were purchased. In a handful of cases, power that departed a Class I roster will find its way back into its original owner’s […]
Just when you think recent progress in railroad preservation can’t get any better — I’m thinking here of everything from Big Boy to Reading & Northern 2102 to Silvis Shops to Michigan Central Station — along comes another milestone that, if not quite a blockbuster, is still remarkable. Especially if you’re interested in diesel […]
Abraham Lincoln railcar In early 2023, I had the unique opportunity to take a step back in time, experiencing a short ride on a privately owned railcar. I was able to see what it might have been like to be a railroad president inspecting his territory. The car, the Abraham Lincoln, with owners in the […]
Track classifications are among the most basic — and essential — operating considerations in railroading, and an army of workers keep watch over the rails. You’ve seen them out there nearly every day in their hi-rail trucks, motoring quietly up and down the main and not-so-main lines of America. Perhaps you’ve waited for them to […]
Locomotive controls Locomotive controls remained fairly standardized since diesels first invaded the roundhouses of America’s railroads in the 1930s. There’s a throttle, a reverser (to determine direction), a handle to control the locomotive’s independent brake, and an automatic brake handle to slow or stop the movement using the air brakes of the entire train. Since […]
In 1981, I was a locomotive engineer for the Chicago & North Western Railway based out of Council Bluffs, Iowa, and operating an interdivisional run to Sioux City, Iowa. I made this run many times, but one trip taught me a lesson about troubleshooting a diesel locomotive — and about railroading. Most of the trains […]
