Foreign Trains in "Trains"

[FJ and G]

Like many of you, I don't have a whole lot of interest in trains that are not US and Canadian and in the last decade, Trains has shy'd away from running foreign stuff. And, you'd never catch a foreign train on my layout:

http://davidvergun.tripod.com/

But recently, Trains mag has. And do you know what?

It ain't half bad.

I couldn't help but admire the spectacular scenery in Ecuador with 19th century steam trains that still have the brakeman riding atop the cars. Then, read another article about Swiss trains and how the country rewrote their Constitution to ensure that trains make up the bulk of freight and passenger mode. A pretty radical idea that never will happen in the USA even if gas hits $10 a gallon. In England gas is $7 gal and people still drive.

Dave Vergun

[Modelcar]

Agree with most of above....But being reminded of the US taxpayer footing the bill to revive the Iraqi railroad....Just a bit difficult for me to take. I fully agree the Swiss article was great but I vote to not take up magazine space in the future of any more Iraq endeavors.

[FJ and G]

Yes, I forgot to mention Iraqi Railroads. Must be a "blast" riding on those.

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

Railroading beyond North America is delightfully different and quite varied. It ranges from a strong resemblance to North America found in Australia and Brazil to the tight clearances and heavy frequencies found in Great Britain.

Railroading is fascinating no matter where it is and I'm happy that TRAINS is bringing railroading in the rest of the world to us.

[nslakediv]

I would like to see more on Iraqi railroading since we are paying for it, not a whole spread but possibly some updates and some numbers to see if its worth the $$$$$$.

[rrnut282]

Don't be surprised if you notice a trend towards more foreign railroad coverage. Unfortunately, it will be harder and harder to write new articles on American Railroading as access is further restricted. So far, I have found these articles interesting, a little variety is nice. I don't think I would like a wholesale revamping of the current coverage, though.

[garr]

I pre-judged the July issue of Trains when I first saw that there was going to be foriegn coverage in the issue. Thought it would be a quick read with nothing of interest. Boy was I wrong-the Iraq article was the first thing I checked out and didn't put the magazine down until all had been read.

It was a well written article about behind the sences aspects of the Iraqi railroad. But the most surprising fact was the totally different picture it gave of the day to day life in Iraq than what is portrayed in the main stream media.

Jay

[FJ and G]

Jay,

I'm in complete agreement with you. If it is a well-written article, it is worthy of a read. I don't care much for the "travel" type articles on foreign railroads accompanied by a diary. Space fillers, IMO. But the latest Iraq, Ecuador, and Switzerland are examples of well-written pieces, even tho Iraq had somewhat of (but not totally) a diary-type delivery.

[Anonymous]

I've always been heavily interested in foreign trains as well as North American ones and I am glad that Trains is putting more articles about railways from abroad in their magazine. I must say that I found the Iraq and Switzerland articles absolutely fascinating. Keep up the great work!

[TH&B]

I am generaly interested in all trains, TRAINS magazine though is my good North American railway coverage, although articals on steam engines anywhere in the world are very welcome and extreme railway projects like the Swiss tunnels is good too, but I dont have any interest in Araqi railways partly because it's war torn (unless it was steam). I'm sick of Iraq (unless they have steam trains).

[Anonymous]

Sorry guys but the foriegn stuff in trains drives me nuts!

[BR60103]

Well, I think they should dump all the foreign stuff and just write about Canadian railways. [:D]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by garr

I pre-judged the July issue of Trains when I first saw that there was going to be foriegn coverage in the issue. Thought it would be a quick read with nothing of interest. Boy was I wrong-the Iraq article was the first thing I checked out and didn't put the magazine down until all had been read.

It was a well written article about behind the sences aspects of the Iraqi railroad. But the most surprising fact was the totally different picture it gave of the day to day life in Iraq than what is portrayed in the main stream media.

Jay

Those were my thoughts exactly Jay, when I saw the cover, I figured I wouldn't have much internest in this particular issue.

I did read the entire issue and thought that all the coverage was very interesting (much better than I originally thought), worth the money, but I still prefer the more local coverage.

[Train Guy 3]

I prefer U.S. and Canadian train coverage but I don't mind hearing about the rest of the train world every now and then.

[Anonymous]

I liked the Iraq article. I'd like to hear more. I'd also like to see an article on the railroads of Iran. Seems to me we provided them with a bunch of Alcos, RSD-1s I think.

LC

[Anonymous]

Personally, I could care less about foreign railroads. I would like to see more articles geared toward the operations side of railroading. Things like the CSX Trainmaster, and more stories from actual railroaders. Maybe even some more on shortlines and tourist railroads.

[M636C]

But all the US coverage is about foreign trains to anyone who doesn't live in the USA!

Peter

[edblysard]

You know, it's almost funny, here we sit, argueing about American/Canadian versus "foreign" railroads.

Just for grins, I dug out a old book of locomotive classes, and let it fall open by random.

Funny part?

It is open to a page showing a locomotive from the India Railways....

Guess who built, and what powers this locomotive?

Alco, with the 251D diesel.

Now, the Indian Railways call this locomotive the WDM2, but Alco called it a DL560.

Even more funny, it's class still runs in India, and parts and repair work is still done by...Bombardier, (Monteral Locomotive Works).

An Alco, built by Canadians, running in India, but its a foreign thing?

Just how North American can you get?

When we lock ourselves into one geographical prefrence, we miss out on a lot of really neat things.

Anybody here ever see a Garratt?

Steam powered, a 4+8+2 * 2+4+8 also with 4+6+4 * 4+6+4 in the Whyte arrangement.

There is no mistaking what it is, or what is was designed to do, pull heavy freight over pretty steep grades.

You can only see them in Africa.

Amazing piece of engineering, with one look you can see it really does exemplify the form follows function concept.
These things are meant to pull, and pull hard!

Just to lets you know, EMD, GE and Bombardier all export quite a lot of locomotives.

So, is it foreign motive power that bugs you guys, or just the fact that the railroad is in some other country besides America and Canada?

Because trust me, there are a few hundred more types and classes of locomotives "over there" that we ever dreamed of here, and some of them are quite impressive, and quite beautiful.

Ed

[Modelcar]

....I've heard enough about Iraq to last me for some years....I'm not looking for Iraq interests in my TRAIN'S magazine. Believe there are plenty of areas in this vast land of ours to find good railroad interests. Have nothing against reporting interesting happenings or trends in free nations, such as Uk, Australia, etc....I'm just really bumbed out on Iraq and hearing about it daily...especially of our people continuing to die over there.....

[edblysard]

Sure, I am tired of the place too, but...

American are helping rebuild it, and they will have a large part in running the railroad over there.

What I was trying to get across was, if we limit ourselver to this(north america) single location, we miss out on some of the most fantistic engineering ever seen.

I am looking at a photo of a french steam locomotive, as streamed lined and
beautiful as a J, so why not learn about it?

How about Kozzie down under?

His country has some pretty wild looking locomotives, why miss them?
Just because they dont run here dosnt mean they arent worthy.

I too, wish I could watch the evening news, and not hear about Iraq, but I doubt that will happen for several years.

But I am not going to let the events there affect my enjoyment, and desire to learn, about railroad everywhere.

After all, they all use two rails and locomotives.

Ed

QUOTE: Originally posted by Modelcar

....I've heard enough about Iraq to last me for some years....I'm not looking for Iraq interests in my TRAIN'S magazine. Believe there are plenty of areas in this vast land of ours to find good railroad interests. Have nothing against reporting interesting happenings or trends in free nations, such as Uk, Australia, etc....I'm just really bumbed out on Iraq and hearing about it daily...especially of our people continuing to die over there.....

[Anonymous]

I just want to read about trains period. I still prefer most of what I read to be based on American or Canadian railroading. Throw in Mexico as well. Overall I dont have a preference for the most part. But I wouldnt mind reading an occasional "foreign" article from time to time. I enjoyed the Iraq article. Seeing that China is a growing economic power, I wouldnt mind seeing a Trains article about railroading in that country.

My only "grudge" I have against TRAINS is, Im a little lost and showing a lack of interest reading articles and seeing pictures based and takin in the past. I like to read articles about modern railroading. And if I had my way, I'd like to see trains do a feature each month about a particular RR. Showcase it in other words. Also maybe do a feature on a particular segment of railroading like grain, autos, steel, intermodal, coal, etc. I'd like to see that because Im new to railfanning and would hopefully give me a better understanding about how railroads work in todays economy. Maybe post some kind of "diary" section of whats it like to be a worker on the RR on a daily basis.

Thats just my 2 cents. Sorry about going off topic.

[Kathi Kube]

5penniesworth,

Those are excellent points and great ideas. I don't know how much we'll be able to do in the near-term, since we're in this crazy time of flux, but I'm listening and will pass on all your ideas as we move forward.

I can totally relate to where you're coming from, though. Until I began working for a railroading trade magazine in June 1999, I had little or no interest in railroading, and for the most part was oblivious to anything that happened prior to the Conrail Carve-up. But, since being here for the past year-and-a-half, I've gained a greater appreciation for how the history of a line or railroad affects its current operations.

For example, knowing that New Jersey Transit's lines were built and operated by competing railroads explains why it has been so hard to develop these lines into a coordinated system. Also, helping edit Paul Schmidt's article on BC Rail, with all its historical twists and turns, helped me fully understand why the railroad is struggling so much today.

I guess what I'm saying is be patient. 150 years worth of history is an awful lot to catch up on, that's for sure. But if you nibble at it here and there, and especially seek opportunities to read first-person accounts of what a certain time and place were like from a worker's point of view, it won't be long before you start getting a much more complete picture of how it all relates to railroading today. And anything that helps you get a complete picture is worth the time.

Happy rails!
Kathi

[cherokee woman]

Very nicely put, Kathi!! Thanks for the info.

[Modelcar]

Ed....Note I included Australia in my comments of areas I don't mind seeing and hearing about.....Just keep Iraq out of the equation.

[edblysard]

Did note that...
And I am with you, we get enough on the evening news.

Ed

[vsmith]

QUOTE: Originally posted by BR60103

Well, I think they should dump all the foreign stuff and just write about Canadian railways. [:D]

Thats a 2-minute penalty to BR60103, power play advantage to the opposing team, Eh?[;)]

[espeefoamer]

There are still mainline ALCos running in Australia.[:)] That alone makes the place worth a Trains article.[:)]
The most scenic train ride I ever took was on BC Rail from North Vancouver to Lilooet.[:D]
Amtrak's Adirondak was a close second.[8D]

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

Australia also still has a fair number of GM (Clyde) locomotives with bulldog noses still running, including some double-enders in Victoria with 2 bulldog noses.

[jr1948]

I enjoy reading about ALL railroading. I especially liked the article that TRAINS did about what Switzerland is doing. I think it is great to hear about a country that has the foresight to address its "entire transportation system - not just build more highways and airports.

I would like to see TRAINS continue to have articles about American railroading but also include more articles about foreign operations. I would especially like to see more articles about succesful passenger operations. Not the passenger operations like we have here in the US but more like what we find in Europe. Maybe if we see success stories in other countries we may be able to generate more support for us to emulate what they are doing in our country. Just a thought!

[fuzzybroken]

I guess I'll have to pick up the July issue! I don't blame those who are sick of hearing of Iraq, especially if they keep hearing all the bad news on the nightly news, in the papers, etc. Change your news source!!! There's a lot of good news in Iraq, and I am glad that Trains is reporting on some of that good news. Personally, I was sick of hearing about Iraq in the ten+ years leading up to the war, but now that something's being done about it, I enjoy hearing about what's been done.

Besides, didn't we do the same thing in WWII? Didn't we rebuild the railroads in Europe and probably Japan? We helped bring economic health and vitality to war-destroyed regions of the world, and then forgave the debts owed us by these very nations! And then we exported lots and lots of equipment to them...

God Bless America!!!
-Mark
http://www.geocities.com/fuzzybroken