Chicago-area pedestrian crossing disappears I have no idea how long pedestrians have been crossing the railroad right-of-way at the gated crossing on BNSF Railway’s triple-track main line at Central Avenue in Western Springs, Ill., but it’s safe to assume it’s been quite a while. But the way that crossing quickly disappeared is another reminder of […]
A Norfolk Southern train storms eastward through Otis, Indiana. Trains staff Read more Norfolk Southern articles on Trains‘ website. Norfolk Southern summary Norfolk Southern Corporation is a railroad holding company incorporated in Virginia. The company’s corporate headquarters are in Norfolk, Virginia. Operations headquarters are located in Atlanta, Georgia. Norfolk Southern Railway Company (NS), a large […]
Dynamic brakes The primary way to stop a train is using the air brake system located on the trailing freight cars behind the locomotives. A locomotive equipped with dynamic brakes can be a powerful tool for the engineer to help stop or control the speed of the train in addition to the train brakes. While […]
October on ex-Sacramento Northern Railway Each October, two former Key System bridge units operated by the Western Railway Museum become more than artifacts of 20th century transit. They regain their original role of moving crowds of people, quickly. The riders now are mostly kids and families visiting a trackside pumpkin patch, not commuters headed to […]
Markings on railroad tracks From signs that denote locations from terminals to speed limits signs, railroads leave us clues about them and how they operate. These clues can be hard to see because they are often covered with rust, mud, or dirt. For instance, the side of a railroad rail has identification markers that reveal […]
Railcar couplers Railcar couplers have been an issue since the beginning of railroading. Keeping the cars together yet making them easy enough to separate was key in the design of the rail transportation system. For many years, railroads used the link and pin coupler system, which required a trainman to be stationed between the cars for […]
Freight car wheels As railroads have developed and embraced emerging technology, the design of railcar wheelsets has remained the same for the past century. The amount of engineering that has gone into the development of wheelsets ensures a high level of safety every day. Here are five interesting things that may surprise you about how […]
Composite ties Wood crossties have been part of railroading from the beginning and North American railroads still purchase and install 25 million new wood ties in a typical year. Although concrete ties, which appeared in the 1970s, are increasingly common wood supports 95% of North America’s track. But hovering around the fringes is a third […]
BNSF’s Truxton Flyover project Truxton, Ariz., is not exactly one of the metropolitan centers of the American Southwest. “Population: very small,” says Craig Rasmussen, BNSF Railway assistant vice president, engineering services and structures. Officially, as of the 2020 census, 104 people live in the hamlet 42 miles northeast of Kingman, Ariz., on U.S. Route 66. […]
Amtrak’s Maple Leaf catches a CSX intermodal train With vehicle-train collisions near the top of the issues list following the Southwest Chief derailment at a Missouri roadway earlier in the summer, Trains News Wire scouted an appropriate photo location in western New York during a recent trip to capture an Amtrak train at a […]
Amtrak Capitol Limited adventure My family roots run deep in Wisconsin. For the last three or four generations, virtually all my relatives have been born and raised in Wisconsin. Only a few have slipped in from Illinois or out to Iowa and Ohio, but that’s alright. The college years and beyond In my youth, […]
Amtrak Hiawatha service highlights Amtrak runs daily trains called the Hiawatha Service between Milwaukee and Chicago. This service provides easy access for those living in Southeastern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois to the downtown centers of both cities. There are six daily trains in both directions, an additional train at peak morning commute times during weekdays, […]
