Automobiles on the Rails

Car stored in a train car

    Originally, cars didn’t have it so good. They went in boxcars. They went on flatcars, stacked one on top of the other. Trains were important in making cars, too, and auto-parts special trains with nicknames like the *Sparkplug* began to appear. It didn’t take long to realize that something better had to come […]

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BNSF/Florida East Coast and natural gas testing

TRN_locomotive_video_power_chapter_4_0121

This video was originally published by Trains as part of the Locomotive 2017 DVD. Natural gas as a locomotive fuel has been around for decades. Testing in the 1980s and 1990s on several railroads failed to yield the interest and scope of testing the fuel has enjoyed in the past several years. Six of the […]

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Operations on the Delaware Lackawanna

TRN_locomotive_video_power_chapter_53_0121

This video was originally published by Trains as part of the Locomotive 2017 DVD.   The northeast United States continues to be an Alco and MLW stronghold. The largest percentage of active units from these two builders call many short line railroads in this region home. Two of these railroads, Western New York & Pennsylvania […]

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Operations on the Delaware Lackawanna

TRN_locomotive_video_power_chapter_53_0121

This video was originally published by Trains as part of the Locomotive 2017 DVD.   The northeast United States continues to be an Alco and MLW stronghold. The largest percentage of active units from these two builders call many short line railroads in this region home. Two of these railroads, Western New York & Pennsylvania […]

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Ontario Southerns FP9s and plowing snow

FP9 plowing snow on Ontario Southern

This video was originally published by Trains as part of the Locomotive 2017 DVD. Southwest Ontario’s rolling countryside is home to vast open stretches of fertile farmland. The gently rolling topography of the area forced the original builders of the rail lines in the area to employ a cut and fill approach to right of […]

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Ontario Southerns FP9s and plowing snow

FP9 plowing snow on Ontario Southern

This video was originally published by Trains as part of the Locomotive 2017 DVD. Southwest Ontario’s rolling countryside is home to vast open stretches of fertile farmland. The gently rolling topography of the area forced the original builders of the rail lines in the area to employ a cut and fill approach to right of […]

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Class One Motive Power–an overview

Class One Motive Power Review Chapter 1

Kansas City Southern hasn’t purchased new locomotives since 2014 as the company has had ample power for its traffic levels with coal deliveries down across its core north-south mainline south of Kansas City. The railroad continues to upgrade its existing power, converting six (confirm) GP38-2s and GP40-2s to GP32ECOs using kits supplied from EMD. KCS […]

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Rolling stones: rock, stone, sand — aggregates that railroads make money hauling

  At first glance, aggregates — stone, sand, and gravel — are unlikely darlings among railroad commodities. They’re low-value and they tend to move only short distances. But even though their revenue per car is low, they are nearly perfect freight: indestructible and relatively harmless if spilled. In fact, stones and sand not only make […]

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Big Skies & Iron Rails Series Trailer

Train moving though a forested mountain area.

Railfans and model railroaders alike will enjoy a glimpse of the forthcoming series, Big Skies & Iron Rails, hosted by designer, photographer, and now videographer Tom Danneman. Watch for full-length episodes highlighting stunning natural vistas and railroads of the American West to arrive in early 2021…exclusively on Trains.com! Trains.com Members have exclusive access to this […]

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Big Skies & Iron Rails, Series Trailer

Train moving though a forested mountain area.

Railfans and model railroaders alike will enjoy a glimpse of the forthcoming series, Big Skies & Iron Rails, hosted by designer, photographer, and now videographer Tom Danneman. Watch for full-length episodes highlighting stunning natural vistas and railroads of the American West to arrive in early 2021…exclusively on Trains.com! Trains.com Members have exclusive access to the […]

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Drew’s Trackside Adventures: Episode 44 Motorin’ across Mizzou

Union Pacific locomotive

Ride along with host Drew Halverson, Kent Johnson (KJ), and Allan Dahncke (Sherpa Al), as they motor across the middle of Missouri to a bustling BNSF transcontinental railroad route. In the final day of their Show-Me State Summer trek, the guys managed to find epic railfanning locations to capture BNSF, UP, NS, and Amtrak trains […]

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Drew’s Trackside Adventures: Episode 44 Motorin’ across Mizzou

Union Pacific locomotive

Ride along with host Drew Halverson, Kent Johnson (KJ), and Allan Dahncke (Sherpa Al), as they motor across the middle of Missouri to a bustling BNSF transcontinental railroad route. In the final day of their Show-Me State Summer trek, the guys managed to find epic railfanning locations to capture BNSF, UP, NS, and Amtrak trains […]

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