Everybody has a life’s “to do” list. Some people have heightened this sense of urgency by calling it their “bucket list” of must-do activities they consider essential before they pass from this earth or “kick the bucket.” I was reminded of this earlier this week when I saw pictures of the tiny two-truck...

Posted by Jim Wrinn, Editor Heber Valley Railroad Executive Director Craig Lacey was astounded at the phone call he got Tuesday. It was from a resident of the region just east of Salt Lake City wondering what that sound was. “She wondered if it was a cow in distress, or maybe giving birth,” Lacey said...

On Tuesday morning, the shop door at the Nevada State Railroad Museum lifted and a century-old ghost rolled out. Virginia & Truckee McKeen car No. 22, under restoration for years, puttered out under its own power. This is a rare car, possibly the only one that’s complete today. McKeen’s nautical...

Posted by Roy Blanchard Union Pacific stepped up to the quarterly earnings plate Thursday and, like CSX, knocked the first pitch out of the park. It’s a case of doing many things right. Operating income was up 47 percent to $988 million on a 16 percent revenue increase to $4 billion. Operating expense...

For me, the highlight of the Rochelle, Ill., Railroad Park’s Railroad Days last weekend wasn’t the bounty of trains that the Union Pacific and BNSF Railway sent parading by on that rainy and muggy Saturday. It wasn’t in the goofy watermelon seed spitting contest either that attracted more folks than...

I was set to pondering Dan Machalaba’s September feature, “What to do about NIMBYS?” when I stumbled across this column in the Manteca Bulletin (Calif.), " Be very afraid: UP toying with monster trains ." The columnist tells us to “be very afraid” of “monster” trains. This all goes back to...

July 8 Union Pacific No. 7261 leads Weston coal loads through Merton, Wis. Canon EOS 30D, 7/8/2011, 1/1000 sec, f/8, ISO 250, 161mm. Drew Halverson photos I'm soaking wet right now, after this month's first big storm. And I fell climbing the stairs at work this morning (just...

Union Pacific's MSSPR rolls by Habanero's Mexican Kitchen in Wauwatosa, Wis., on a clear summer night. Canon EOS 30D, 7/11/2011, 0.8 sec, f/11, ISO 250, 18mm. Drew Halverson photo Here's the first photo of the series I'd like to have back. I contemplated not even using it, but then...

Leading a locomotive trio featuring the YN2 paint scheme, CSX C40-8W No. 7834 rolls west on the Adams line in Merton, Wis. Canon EOS 30D, July 13, 2011, 1/800 sec, f/6.3, ISO 320, 84mm. Drew Halverson photo Let’s add CSX to the list of railroads featured in this monthly photo challenge! For...

What a scorcher of a weekend, with a lot of action on the local railroads! Here are a quick three, featuring Canadian National, Union Pacific and Indiana Rail Road. Please leave your comments here or on our Trains Facebook page or Twitter . I'll be sure to check in throughout the day! July 16...

July 22 A Union Pacific distributed power unit pushes the rear of a westbound coal train on the Adams line in Merton, Wis. Canon EOS 30D, 7/8/2011, 1/1250 sec, f/8, ISO 250, 141mm. Drew Halverson photo What I like: The black-and-white treatment. This motif isolates the gleaming rails...

Throughout the month of August, I want to try a photography project that focuses on the trains in TRAINS Magazine's backyard. How many different pictures can be taken in a circle extending 10.27 miles from downtown Waukesha, Wis.? Thank you to all of you who have "liked" or commented on...

Throughout the month of August, I want to try a photography project that focuses on the trains in TRAINS Magazine's backyard. How many different pictures can be taken in a circle extending 10.27 miles from downtown Waukesha, Wis.? One of the fun things about this project is that I'm revisiting...

Throughout the month of August, I want to try a photography project that focuses on the trains in TRAINS Magazine's backyard. How many different pictures can be taken in a circle extending 10.27 miles from downtown Waukesha, Wis.? You're watching Union Pacific local LPA70 switching cars on a...

The Transportation Research Board is holding its 91st Annual Meeting this week in Washington, D.C., and I’m here looking for ideas for technology columns, seeing old friends, and meeting new contacts who can help bring the latest in the rail industry to Trains’ pages. Just yesterday morning...

For this year's photo contest, we were looking for creative use of light and shadow. Overall, the quality of photos submitted was very high, making the task of choosing the winners even harder than usual. Take a look at the winners below and please leave your comments. Thank you. Grand Prize...

The town of Missouri Valley, Iowa, is 40 miles north of Omaha, Neb., on I-29. It's the site of some of the most concentrated and intense mainline freight action you'll ever see. And I make it a point to get out there whenever business takes me to Omaha. Such was the case the week of Halloween for the...

My father, to whom I owe my interest in railroads, was a long-time subscriber to both Trains and Model Railroader . He and I made many trips during my childhood to watch trains at various places in central Massachusetts, where I grew up. But he didn't take many photos of trains, so the two below, which...