Walk around the halls of Baltimore’s B&O Railroad Museum and you will encounter many first, last, and only railroad objects. There is the William Mason, an 1856 4-4-0 steam locomotive that pulled Abraham Lincoln’s train as he snuck through Baltimore prior to his presidential inauguration. You will see B&O No. 51, an EMC EA, the […]
[Ed. — This adventure is excerpted from a story originally appearing in Trains, September 1984. It, along with 45 other railroad stories, can be found in a forthcoming Trains/Classic Train book: Tales of the Rails, due out in March 2026. Visit shop.trains.com to order your copy.] On June 27, 1955, I witnessed a veteran locomotive […]
WEST CHESTER, Pa. — The West Chester Railroad Heritage Association is continuing efforts to raise $85,000 for the exterior restoration of the Glen Mills train station, built in 1882 by the Pennsylvania Railroad on its West Chester line. Glen Mills and its ornate brick structure was served by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority until 1986. […]
Being a safety supervisor at a small regional railroad entailed more than being a statistician. When promoted to the position on the Maine Central in early 1982, I was part of a two-man team, tasked with promoting safety. This required meeting train crews, riding with them, learning the rudiments of their tasks; talking with engineering […]
Like its Midwest rivals, the Chicago & North Western Railway jumped on the idea of brand-named passenger trains. However, it took a different route with the name in the form of a three-digit number: 400. The name [or number] stuck as the railroad rolled out a prominent fleet of Chicago & North Western 400 passenger […]
The Baltimore & Ohio’s passenger terminal in Chicago was Grand Central Station, built in 1890 to the plans of noted architect S. S. Bemen. The Wisconsin Central Railroad actually commissioned the station, but later sold it to the B&O; other users were Chicago Great Western and Pere Marquette. Grand Central was razed in 1970; its […]
Chicago has always had a plethora of terminal railroads. Many have come and gone, but a handful with historical roots dating to the late 19th Century are still active today, and vital to keeping the freight and passenger traffic consistently moving in and out of the city. These are Historical Chicago terminal railroads that are […]
Join Trains.com Staff Writer Lucas Iverson as he reviews the Lionel Legacy O gauge (1:48) USRA 2-8-2 Heavy Mikado Soo Line No. 1003 , featuring video of the model operating on the Milwaukee Lionel RR Club and the 1:1 scale steam locomotive too! This Legacy model boasts detailed construction, stack and whistle steam, and is easily […]
ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pa. — The Friends of the East Broad Top has launched its 2026 fundraising campaign, which seeks to raise $350,000 for projects including the heritage railroad’s ongoing “March to Saltillo” extension of its operable trackage. The 2026 campaign, announced last weekend in connection with the annual EBT Fall Reunion, follows a 2025 campaign […]
HOBOKEN, N.J. — NJ Transit is partnering with three other organizations for a “Meet Our Rail Fleet” event — featuring displays of historical equipment and an opportunity to learn about careers with the transit agency — set for Sunday, Oct. 12, at Hoboken Terminal. The event — in conjunction with the United Railroad Historical Society […]
Trains magazine editor David P. Morgan pauses on a station platform at Joliet, Ill., to watch trains – in this case a Santa Fe streamliner behind EMD F7 diesels. Photo by Classic Trains collection […]
Army half-tracks are loaded onto flatcars at an unidentified location during World War II. This image is from the 1943 Office of War Information film Troop Train, a 10-minute short depicting the movement of an armored division to the West Coast. Photo by Classic Trains collection […]
