America’s fastest rail lines

Screen Shot 20140311 at 111909 AM

How many places in the United States can a railroad passenger travel more than 70 miles in one hour? This map spotlights those locations, based on the schedules in Amtrak’s Fall/Winter 2007 system timetable and its Spring 2008 Northeast Corridor timetable. (Where precise information was not available, the speeds factor in 1 minute of dwell […]

Read More…

Afternoon switching with Whitewater Valley No. 25

Join Trains’ Steve Sweeney on a trip to the Whitewater Valley Railroad in December 2013. This tourist line in Southern Indiana boasts an assortment of rolling stock including cabooses and Stillwell commuter coaches. In this video, watch as Whitewater Valley crews use Lima-Hamilton No. 25 to switch cars in the afternoon before the railroad’s annual […]

Read More…

The cat’s out of the bag

J at speed

Anything in the path of fast-moving N&W class J was sure to sustain significant damage. W. A. Akin Jr. Back in the glory days, the speed limit for passenger trains on Norfolk & Western’s Bristol Line was 65 mph. Several of the trains, including 45 and 46, the streamlined Tennessean, did considerable station work en […]

Read More…

Drew’s Trackside Adventures: Episode 12 – Alberta, Canada

A freight train follows the tracks along a rocky canyon bottom in British Columbia.

Follow MRVP’s Drew Halverson, Kent Johnson, and friends as they trace the Canadian Pacific main line into the heart of the Canadian Rockies. Along the way Drew and crew capture a variety of freight and passenger trains in action, railroad engineering at its finest, and astonishing natural settings that are ripe for modeling. […]

Read More…

History According to Hediger: Visiting Union Pacific’s Los Angeles subdivision

Yellow diesel switcher in yard

Having trouble viewing this video?   Please visit our Video FAQ page In co-operation with the railroad, MR’s Senior Editor Jim Hediger once took a trip to research Union Pacific’s Los Angeles subdivision. Upon Jim’s arrival in California, his host made a rather embarrassing discovery about the railroad operations for the day. Hear how Jim […]

Read More…