Trains.com

Looking back at Trains – 1992

Posted by Brian Schmidt
on Tuesday, December 27, 2016

May 1992 issue cover
As we 're about to flip our calendars over to 2017, I'm continuing the sentimental tone this week with a look back at Trains 25 years ago, in 1992:

Jan. 3

Fred A. Stindt, a railroad and maritime historian who helped establish the California State Railroad Museum and was past president of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society, dies at the age of 80.

February

Don Phillips, veteran Washington Post transportation reporter and author of Trains’ monthly “Potomac Pundit” column from 1977-1986, rejoins Trains with a monthly column bearing his name.

February

CSX completes the first transcontinental shipment of an entire double-stack train of refrigerated containers on a test run from Tacoma, Wash., to Little Ferry, N.J.

Feb. 5

Omer Lavallee, retired Canadian Pacific archivist and prominent Canadian railroad historian who authored several books, dies at the age of 67.

April

Norfolk Southern, the only company to stick with RoadRailer technology, announces that the service has achieved profitability.

April 30

Potomac Yard, located just south of Washington, D.C., which was built in 1906 to interchange traffic between railroads in the North and West with those in the South and Southeast, closes.

June

Union Pacific orders two locomotives fueled by liquefied natural gas as part of a $70 million order for 50 SD60Ms for delivery in 1992.

June

Executive Art Director George Gloff, who joined Kalmbach as an artist on Jan. 26, 1951, retires.

June 24-25

Labor unions strike all U.S. railroads over wage, job security, and work rules; strike ended when President George H.W. Bush signed Congressional legislation ordering a 38-day cooling-off period.

June 22

After 27 years of planning, Virginia Railway Express commences commuter rail service between Washington, D.C., and Manassas. Service to Fredericksburg begins July 20.

Aug. 24

Hurricane Andrew strikes South Florida and Louisiana, damaging the lines of CSX, Florida East Coast, Southern Pacific in Louisiana, and Miami’s Gold Coast Railroad Museum.

Sept. 1

Norfolk Southern names David R. Goode as Chairman and CEO.

Sept. 11

Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad ceases operation after 113 years of service.

October

Kevin P. Keefe named editor of Trains, succeeding J. David Ingles, who was named senior editor.

October

Metrolink is formed by the Southern California Regional Rail Authority to provide commuter rail service for a six-county area of Los Angeles.

Dec. 10

Amtrak runs demonstration train X2000, a Swedish-built, high-speed passenger train, with hydraulic tilt technology that allows the train to take curves at higher-than-normal speeds.

You can read more about railroading and Trains Magazine with our 75-year timeline, part of our recent anniversary celebration.

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