It’s a warm Oct., 1, 2013, morning as CSX train K931-01 is coming off the Plymouth Subdivision in its namesake Michigan city with 52 empty stone hopper cars from Lansing behind BNSF No. 4992. In the distance, CSX No. 2741 waits for open track. Photo by Chris Paciocco […]
Drew goes west and heads north of the border to British Columbia, Canada, with MRVP’s Kent Johnson and pal Mike Danneman in tow. After following the BNSF main line in Idaho, the guys cross the border to railfan Canadian Pacific’s picturesque Winderemere subdivision. Along the way, Drew and the crew catch industrial switching action, hard-working […]
Having trouble viewing this video? Please visit our Video FAQ page In this episode, MR Senior Editor Jim Hediger shares insights related to two custom-built O scale passenger cars owned by Model Railroader magazine founder Al Kalmbach in the early days of the hobby. In the course of examining the amazing craftsmanship, Jim also […]
FULL SCREEN Mark Llanuza The headlights of an eastbound Metra train slice through the rain and heavy fog setting in over Elgin, Ill., in November of 2012. FULL SCREEN Mark Llanuza An early morning mix of rain and sleet greets commuters as they board a Metra train at the Bartlett, Ill., station in 2012. FULL […]
Chicago might have more trains, and St. Louis a big shiny arch, but Kansas City is the ton-mile king, with over 1 billion tons passing through the city (or above it, on flyovers) in 2003. That is 15 percent more tons than Chicago. What is remarkable about K.C. is its sheer growth, from 378 million […]
Robert Jordan took this aerial image of Canadian Pacific train No. 270 at Bellevue, Iowa, and won grand prize for Trains 2012 photo contest. Trains‘ 2014 photo contest theme is “Sequence.” Sequential art can be traced back to cave drawings, and more recently in comic books. Well-known photographer Elliott Erwitt published a 2011 book called […]
The “Crandic” interurban was a safe way for University of Iowa students to travel to and from parties at Cou Falls, 15 miles north of Iowa City. Crandic car 120 is near the Cou Falls station shelter in May 1944. Classic Trains coll. The Cedar Rapids & Iowa City Railway, universally known by the abbreviation […]
In October 2013, Trains sent me to Southern California to attend the first-ever Association of Tourist Railroads and Railway Museums meeting, to see Union Pacific’s preparatory work for moving Big Boy 4-8-8-4 No. 4014 AND to get material for the February 2014 article in the magazine: “Cajon Pass Unplugged.” I spent weeks before and after […]
FULL SCREEN Bob Johnston Amtrak bridge operator Merrill Perkins controls the Northeast Corridor’s Niantic River movable bridge from a tower at the end of the structure. Push-button controls make this bridge easy to operate. FULL SCREEN Bob Johnston The previous Niantic River movable bridge had been built by the New Haven Railroad in 1907, and […]
An eastbound Union Pacific intermodal freight enters Rainbow Canyon near Elgin, Nev., on Nov. 3, 2006. For 20 miles the train will follow the Meadow Valley Wash up the steep grade to the former division point at Caliente, Nev., on the Los Angeles & Salt Lake route. Photo by Robert Jordan […]
An eastbound empty coal train, led by CSX AC44CW No. 418, passes Defiance, Ohio, on May 5, 2013. The train is made up mostly of old Bethlehem Steel “BethGon” gondolas, now used by successor ArcelorMittal. Photo by Brian Schmidt […]
With so much talk about Union Pacific’s effort to restore Big Boy steam locomotive No. 4014, the world wants to know … what is a wristpin? Listen in as UP steam boss Ed Dickens Jr. talks about this 50-pound plus hunk of metal without which a live, steaming Big Boy would grind to a halt. […]
