Big Skies & Iron Rails, Winter, Episode 2

Big Skies & Iron Rails logo on a scenic winter background with snow, evergreen trees, and BNSF locomotive

Railroad photographer/videographer Tom Danneman resides in Wisconsin, but his heart never wanders from the American West – even during the harshest days of winter. Take a cinematic trek with him, as he immerses us to the clash with the cold, charms of the quiet, and the continuous challenges railroads face under Big Skies & Iron […]

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Big Skies & Iron Rails, Montana and Eastern Washington, Episode 1

Train moving along the tracks at dusk and Big Skies & Iron Rails logo.

Railfans and model railroaders alike will enjoy this ethereal approach to capturing the stunning natural vistas and railroads of the American West. Beginning with this Autumn episode of an all-new, seasonal series by photographer/videographer Tom Danneman, you’ll be immersed in extended-length footage of contemporary trains working through expansive scenes, and even bigger, broader skies. Available […]

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Cass Scenic Railroad steam logging locomotive quintuple-header (that’s 5 at once!)

Geared steam locomotive hauling a train through the forest.

  Join Trains Editor Jim Wrinn in Cass, West Virginia, in June 2020 for the re-opening of the Cass Scenic Railroad. Although the opening came amid a serious health crisis, Cass crews steamed up five locomotives and coupled them end-to-end for a quintuple-headed steam train — rare in any location in modern times. The highlight […]

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Rio Grande Southern steam locomotive returned to service in Colorado

Steam locomotive moves out of a roundhouse.

  Follow along with Trains Editor Jim Wrinn as he gets a close look at Rio Grande Southern No. 20 — a newly restored narrow-gauge 4-6-0 steam locomotive now homed at the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden, Colo.  Before 2020, No. 20 had not steamed since the 1950s and required more than a decade of […]

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Manitou & Pike’s Peak Cog Railway re-construction work

Track workers and a back hoe work high on a mountain top.

  Trains’ Editor Jim Wrinn visited the Manitou & Pike’s Peak Cog Railway in August 2020 to grab video above the tree line to record portions of the tourist line’s re-construction project. The railroad itself is being completely re-built and is expected to re-open in May 2021. The railroad has also ordered new trains from […]

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