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3

Victor and Vanquished

Posted 7 months ago by George Hamlin

Now that Amtrak has celebrated its 40th anniversary, with the 50th not that far away, it’s hard to put into perspective the positive vibe that the arrival of the SDP40F into the fleet produced in the railfan community in the early 1970s. Put it this way: since then, two whole generations of diesel motive power (the F40PH followed by the Genesis series) have come onto the roster. On the electric side, the E60 was supplanted by the AEM-7, which was replaced more recently by ...

26

Encouraging words, uncertain prognoses at passenger group’s 50th anniversary summit

Posted 7 months ago by Malcolm Kenton

Revised November 21, 2017. Two weeks ago, over 250 members of the National Association of Railroad Passengers (which will soon be known as the Rail Passengers Association), of which I have been an active supporter for over a decade, gathered in Chicago (the city where the Association was founded in 1967) to celebrate the nonprofit advocacy group’s 50th anniversary. At the summit, dubbed RailNation Chicago, there were many discussions about the role passenger advocates should play, and the...

8

A train chaser’s guide to the 2017 CSX Santa Train

Posted 7 months ago by Ron Flanary

The 2017 CSX Transportation Santa Train departs the railroad’s yard at Shelby, Ky., (Shelbiana is the community name) at 5:45 a.m. This is located about 6 miles south of Pikeville, where there are plenty of lodging and food service options to be found. Between Shelby and Elkhorn City, photo ops are mostly limited to a few public grade crossings. Even if it’s a clear day, this will be mostly in the dark. There is a stop scheduled at a grade crossing at Marrowbone, Ky., at 6:20 a.m., ...

8

For a taste of the rails this holiday season just add butter

Posted 7 months ago by Justin Franz

November is a time for cooking. The days are getting shorter, the weather is getting cooler and there is less and less to do outside. November also features that classic American celebration of culinary excess, Thanksgiving. In preparation for Thanksgiving, my fiancée and I like to throw what we call “Friendsgiving,” a dinner party a week or two before the big event. It’s a great opportunity to see friends before they head home for the holiday and it’s a good time ...

12

Don't Leave Too Soon...Just Because the Trains and Daylight Have Gone

Posted 7 months ago by George Hamlin

When I went out on what was then Norfolk Southern’s Washington District (the northern end of the former Southern Railway’s Washington, DC-Atlanta, Georgia main line) on Sunday October 25, 2009, I didn’t have great expectations for railroad photography. I headed for the area between Calverton and Bealeton along Virginia Route 28, hoping to find something moving on the railroad; Sunday afternoons here can be quiet from a train movement perspective, but there would almost de...

3

Conference sponsors, speakers bullish on transformational technology

Posted 8 months ago by Malcolm Kenton

Technologies introduced within recent decades and those in development — the Internet, smartphones, cellular data networks, GPS, RFID, autonomous vehicles, etc. — have already begun to change how people and goods move: both the inner workings of transportation systems and the user’s experience of personal mobility and shipping. The trend towards greater seamlessness and interconnectivity, and greater use of networked systems to manage railroads, transit systems and other transp...

8

Standing in the rain at milepost 1195

Posted 8 months ago by Justin Franz

This weekend, a friend of mine tipped me off that a BNSF Railway grain train was coming across Marias Pass with a former BC Rail C40-8 in the consist. Being a fan of all things Canadian railroading, and having nothing better to do on a rainy Sunday afternoon, I decided to head out to see if I could find this visitor from the north. Even before I grabbed my camera bag and headed out the door, I knew exactly where I wanted to shoot it: The curve near milepost 1195 just east of West Glacier, Montan...

17

A Belle of a Good Time

Posted 8 months ago by George Hamlin

I know that I’m not the only one with this shot, or something very similar, since I was standing with a number of other railfans, in the ‘feared flatlands’ of north central Ohio, specifically at Marion Union Station, where the CSX’s former NYC/Erie east-west line crosses both the former C&O (now also CSX) Detroit-Columbus line, as well as Norfolk Southern’s former PRR north-south artery between Bellevue Yard, Columbus and points east on the former N&W &l...

2

Not even two months old, SMART offers vital service to fire-ravaged area

Posted 8 months ago by Malcolm Kenton

I wrote a profile for the July issue of Trains of Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART), the culmination of a ten-year effort to bring passenger trains back to the North Bay area of Northern California after a half-century absence using some innovative approaches in the North American commuter rail space. Yesterday, while visiting the Bay Area for a reunion of the Millennial Trains Project (about whose 2014 crowd-funded transcontinental journey I blogged ...

5

Sampling competing tourist services on busiest narrow-gauge passenger railroad in the Americas

Posted 8 months ago by Malcolm Kenton

Part 2 of 2 - Read Part 1 The least expensive and most basic service on Peru’s only narrow-gauge line is available on four daily PeruRail trains that only Peruvians are allowed to ride (a Peruvian national ID card is required to purchase a ticket). The fare for any length of journey on these “local trains” is 10 soles (about $3.50 US). One train goes all the way from San Pedro station in central Cusco (from whence the tourist trains once departed) to Aguas Calientes, while thr...

5

A Mudhen in Makeup

Posted 8 months ago by Justin Franz

As a cold drizzle comes down in the mountains of Colorado, a shriek whistle in the distance shatters the calm October afternoon. A few minutes later, smoke starts to emerge from the trees and the wet rails that wrap around a rock outcrop are illuminated by an approaching headlight. Soon after, a small 2-8-2 lumbers around the corner with a short train in tow. While this scene unfolds multiple times a day along the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic, there’s something different about this 2-8-2...

3

Busy narrow-gauge line offers spectacular journey to iconic destination

Posted 8 months ago by Malcolm Kenton

Part 1 of 2 - Read Part 2 I was privileged to have joined a handful of fellow explorers on Trains’ Ultimate Peruvian Railway Experience tour, about which Editor Jim Wrinn has blogged in Train of Thought, which ended on Thursday. I decided to stay an extra two days in Cusco, and used one of those days (Friday) to retrace the same route the group had ridden to and from Machu Picchu on Tuesday, Oct. 3 (see Jim’s reports here and here), but on different schedules and in different classe...

11

I've Passed this Way Before

Posted 8 months ago by George Hamlin

When the Southern Railway re-equipped its premier passenger trains in the post-World War II era, two of them, the Crescent and the New Royal Palm, included five double-bedroom observation lounge cars. The Crescent, of course, was the flagship of the New York-New Orleans route, and the Palm connected points in the Midwest with Florida, running on Southern’s tracks between Cincinnati, Ohio and Jacksonville, Florida. Pullman-Standard delivered eight observations for these services,...

11

Portland's Streetcar Revival

Posted 9 months ago by Robert W. Scott

Portland, Oregon is a transit lovers dream. the city split along the Willamette River boasts a 60 mile long Tri-Met Max light rail and the 7.2 mile Portland Streetcar system. Starting in 2001, the Portland Streetcar now touts nearly 20,000 daily riders and now serves both sides of the city along the Willamette River. The river is crossed on the south end on the new Max and Streetcar shared Tillicum crossing bridge. On the north end, the river is crossed on the 1913 built Broadway bridge. The nor...

20

Amazon’s HQ2 will show rail transit to be key to competitiveness

Posted 9 months ago by Malcolm Kenton

Many experts on metropolitan geography and economics are eyeing closely Amazon’s choice of a North American metro area to host its “HQ2,” a second headquarters that the online retail giant says will equal its current downtown Seattle base camp in size and scope. The company promises to bring at least 50,000 direct jobs paying six-figure salaries, along with thousands of indirect jobs in the various industries that will support Amazon and its workers. The firm’s press rel...

1

History Lost. History Saved.

Posted 9 months ago by Justin Franz

Two weeks ago, I wrote about the loss of the Sperry Chalet in Glacier National Park. Built in 1913 by the Great Northern Railway, Sperry was not just a reminder of railroads’ efforts to entice passengers aboard their trains to see the scenic wonders of the west, but also a reminder that railroad history is made up of more than just locomotives and cars. But not all is lost in Glacier National Park for fans of railroad history. Fifteen miles away, the National Park Service has recen...

3

Now out of legal limbo, Fillmore & Western is well worth a trip

Posted 9 months ago by Malcolm Kenton

I reported in Trains News Wire today on a major victory for the Fillmore & Western Railway, a southern California tourist railroad that’s been locked in a seven-year dispute with the county authority that owns the track it uses, but relies on the railroad’s workforce to maintain the 35 miles of track and perform day-to-day tasks. Excursion train crews are all volunteers with the railway's partner nonprofit, the Santa Clara River Valley Railroad Historical Society. One of those vo...

13

Trailers

Posted 9 months ago by George Hamlin

No, I’m not talking about the “Previews of Coming Attractions” often seen prior to the feature film in a movie theater. What’s going on here is an entire bridge full of them, in their highway (and rail intermodal) incarnation. Yes, “Big Rigs” and “Eighteen Wheelers”; in this case, however, minus their tractors, and drivers. Replacing the tractors are a pair of Norfolk Southern General Electric “Catfish” locomotives...

10

A rural Canadian railbus where there's no use booking in advance

Posted 9 months ago by Malcolm Kenton

There are certain things that a prospective passenger should expect a passenger train operator to be able to do, even if they offer a bare-bones service on a very limited schedule and only accept cash payment. If the operator allows reservations to be made by phone, one expects the reservation to be honored and to guarantee a seat, or at least a place to stand, on the train. Well, two travel companions and I have encountered one passenger train in North America that doesn’t even meet that ...

21

Railroad history is more than just freight cars and locomotives

Posted 9 months ago by Justin Franz

One of the most significant pieces of Great Northern Railway history in Montana burned to the ground last week. The Sperry Chalet was built in 1913, one of a half-dozen wilderness lodges in Glacier National Park that were the brainchild of GN President Louis W. Hill. In the years that followed Glacier National Park’s creation in 1910, the GN constructed a number of chalets and lodges in and around the park to entice eastern visitors to ride the railroad’s passenger trains to Montana...

19

Memories, in Brick and Mortar

Posted 9 months ago by George Hamlin

In this case, for real, and not the “Misty water-colored memories of the way we were” in Barbara Streisand’s evocative song, although mist was certainly apparent on the morning of August 14, 2016 as I was passing through Delaware, Ohio, returning from attending Summerail in Marion. While I hadn’t been there in many years, in earlier times I’d passed through this Ohio town many times, both on U.S. route 42, and also on New York Central passenger trains.&nb...

2

Striving for the poetic

Posted 9 months ago by Malcolm Kenton

Railroading is an industry of poetry as well as prose. The prose is in the engineering, mechanics and technology that makes everything work. But the poetry lies in the lived experience of these machines and systems working — in a sublime train ride or the thrill of watching the action trackside. I dare suggest that, while there is plenty to be intrigued with in the prosaic aspects of railroading, it is its poetic side that truly captivates us, that keeps us in or close to the industry. It...

7

Good times with fellow wonks

Posted 10 months ago by Malcolm Kenton

Those of us who are connoisseurs of train travel tend to seek out and most look forward to unique trips — either an unusual route (rare mileage or more common mileage that one is traversing for the first time), special equipment or other out-of-the-ordinary experience. But sometimes a trip familiar, more mundane (albeit fairly scenic) route with good company and fun group activities can be just as enjoyable. One such trip that happens annually (and in which I am participating for my secon...

6

Reporter’s Notebook: A Ride On New York City’s “Zombie” Train

Posted 10 months ago by Justin Franz

Note: Besides writing for Observation Tower twice a month and Trains News Wire, I’m often working on a number of stories for the print edition of Trains Magazine. Occasionally, I’ll share some interesting tidbits I come across in Reporter’s Notebook. Whenever I’m working on a story for Trains Magazine, or any other publication, I frequently find myself going down the “rabbit hole” of newspaper archives. I can spend hours flipping through old newspapers, somet...

6

How prepared are you?

Posted 10 months ago by Chase Gunnoe

I’ve always been curious of the amount of effort we all put into our rail related travels. From classic maps to old timetables to today’s digital resources, like sun calculators, and online radio streams and webcams. With our railfan arsenals equipped with a mixed bag of traditional literature and new technology, what do you do when planning for a trip? For me, it’s a little bit of everything. I bought an iPad a few years ago and downloaded a bunch of railroad maps and old ti...

8

Steam excursions as public relations, and as public service

Posted 10 months ago by Hayley Enoch

The steam preservation industry operates with a cloud over its head, and not just the one created by hard-working engines. Participants and onlookers are reminded daily that every run could potentially be the last, that every day that a fire is dropped might be the last time that an engine in their care holds heat. Against that background, the idea of bringing two different large engines to the same city within two months of each other would seem like a much too lofty goal to be attainabl...

14

Do What the Light Lets You, and ...

Posted 10 months ago by George Hamlin

Yes, that’s a Norfolk Southern ‘heritage’ unit pictured, and this is how I intended to photograph it. Among other things, there was no need to worry about whether the nose of the lead locomotive would be adequately lit. And no, It wasn’t the case that I arrived at this spot too late to do anything else; it was with intent aforethought. Furthermore, I don’t think that I’m in need of any sort of rehabilitation process to cure me of taking sho...

10

What’s in your bag?

Posted 10 months ago by Justin Franz

A few weeks ago, I was preparing for a trip to British Columbia when I decided it would be a good opportunity to clean out my camera bag. I frequently reorganize and repack my camera bag because it almost always becomes a disorganized mess over the course of a trip (I purchased a mid-priced camera bag on Amazon a few years ago and, well, I got what I paid for). However, the exercise of unloading and loading my camera bag got me thinking about a conversation I had recently had with Assistant E...

19

Where's the Camera?

Posted 10 months ago by George Hamlin

In places where there are still active passenger stations (think Amtrak and commuter trains), you’ll often find railfans there, observing their favorite subject matter. In today’s world, it’s not likely that you’ll be able to obtain information about operations other than passenger trains (agents/operators employed by railroads other than Amtrak are long-gone, with rare exceptions), but between the internet, including social media, and technology, including scan...

21

European trains? I’d rather have their stations.

Posted 11 months ago by Hayley Enoch

Travelers pause to take in the decorations at Stockholm City Station. In surmising our inauguratory experience with European railroads, I will spare the well-worn but valid observations about how much better that part of the world does intercity rail service. By now, we in the United States have thrown our weight behind a system that favors road and freight rail traffic. Instead, I’ll take the space of this blog to present a different observation. Traveling through Sweden and N...

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