Magzter Gold (Sitewide Promotion)

Magzter Gold (Sitewide Promotion)

Digital Delivery

Trains January 1st, 2024 Digital Back Issue Cover

Trains January 2024 (Digital)

(96)

Single Digital Issue

January 2024

$7.99

Powered By Zinio

Zinio

Satisfaction Guaranteed

Instant Start

Subscribe Instead

1 Year Subscription

12 digital issues

$44.99

($3.75/issue)

Go to Subscription

View Subscription Options

22 Articles

From the Editor

cswanson@kalmbach.com @TrainsMagazine @trains_magazine There was a gap in my education — I’d never visited the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad or the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, two of the nation’s premier heritage rail operations. When I learned Kevin Gilliam, video producer for Trains.com, was heading to Colorado to film the C&TS and take part in a two-day photo charter on the D&SNG (see page 48), I promptly invited myself along. It was an eye-opening trip. If you’ve been there, you know what the fuss is about. If you haven’t, well, you really should plan a visit if you are able. But be warned: As former Trains Editor David P. Morgan famously said, “The narrow gauge gets in the blood, and will not out.” Trains.com facebook.com/TrainsMagazine twitter.com/TrainsMagazine @trains_magazine…

From the Editor

Young rail enthusiasts explore summer railroad camp

TRAINS LIVE HOST and Associate Editor Bob Lettenberger visited railroad camp at the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wis., this past summer. There he talked with three campers — Austin, Caleb, and Izzy — along with their moms. For the boys, camp is all about fun with trains and their friends. For the moms, camp has had a positive impact on their boys in a variety of ways. Will they be returning to NRM in summer 2024? Certainly, in this case, as there is more fun with trains for all involved. Railroad museums, tourist lines, railroad historical societies, even some universities host summer camp programs centered around trains. Camp participants, whether they realize it or not, are experiencing personal growth during these summer events. This is especially true for youth campers,…

Young rail enthusiasts explore summer railroad camp

A Swiss mountain with two ways to the top

TRAINS SENIOR EDITOR DAVID LASSEN spent much of September 2023 in Switzerland, working on two upcoming features and taking part in the Trains and Special Interest Tours “Majestic Switzerland” 11-day tour. During his trip, he made not one but two visits to the Rigi Railways, the spectacular cog lines to the top of 5,897-foot Mount Rigi in central Switzerland. (Below left is a view from the top.) Yes, that’s railways, plural. While cog railways are hardly uncommon in Switzerland, Rigi is unique in having two routes to the top. In “Seeing double on Mount Rigi,” David tells you about that; why Rigi should be a must for any visitor to Switzerland, railfan or not; and the restaurant near the top named for a steam locomotive (that’s it to the left of…

A Swiss mountain with two ways to the top

WHAT’S THIS ICON doing in my magazine? The quick-response barcodes or “QR” codes found throughout this issue will help guide you to additional video content found exclusively on Trains.com. Simply use your smartphone camera to scan the code, tap on the selection, and you’ll be directed to the action. RAIL PASS HERE is your official commuter rail pass for Trains.com. Let it take you on an excursion through the mountains and into the forest of content cultivated by our train enthusiasts. Like our readers, our writers raise the bar!…

TRAINS’ BILL STEPHENS SPOKE with Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena after the railroad’s Oct. 19 third-quarter earnings call. Vena, 62, who served as UP’s chief operating officer in 2019 and 2020, rejoined the railroad as its chief executive on Aug. 14. Vena has pledged to make Union Pacific the safest railroad in North America and to grow volume faster than the overall economy through a combination of what he calls service and operational excellence. This Q&A has been edited for clarity and brevity. Q Union Pacific is an enigma. Investor presentations point out that UP has the best rail network in North America. Yet for the past decade UP has lagged behind all other Class I railroads in volume growth. How do you turn this around? How can UP fully exploit…

Avoiding Amtrak Airo surprises

WHEN NEW railroad locomotives, cars, and other products are announced, a press release from the manufacturer or buyer will often mention the extensive testing planned before full production begins. But what does that really mean? Michael Cahill, president of Siemens Mobility Rolling Stock, North America, talked with Trains about testing plans for the Amtrak Airo equipment the company is building. Amtrak has ordered 83 fixed trainsets, the first of which is scheduled to enter revenue service in 2026. They will be used in Northeast Corridor and state-supported passenger rail services on the East and West coasts. A prototype made its debut Oct. 11, 2023, at the Siemens plant in Sacramento, Calif. Retrofits and design changes during the development process are inevitable, so how does Siemens Mobility go about working the bugs out…

Avoiding Amtrak Airo surprises

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN announced the FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINSTRATION would provide $16.4 billion for 23 infrastructure projects on the Northeast Corridor, as well as two studies for future improvements, in a Nov. 6 appearance at AMTRAK’s Bear, Del., maintenance facility. Among the projects receiving funding: Baltimore’s Frederick Douglass Tunnel, the Hudson River Tunnel, and Maryland’s Susequehanna River Bridge. A dozen of these projects will be overseen by Amtrak, with others led by the GATEWAY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION, New York’s METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY, the CONNECTICUT DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, NJ TRANSIT, and the SOUTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY. The MASSACHUSETTS BAY TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY said that more than half of the track on its 4.7-mile GREEN LINE EXTENSION rail transit line, which opened in December 2022, would have to be rebuilt because tracks were built out of…

Regulatory overkill stunts proposed project

bybillstephens@gmail.com Follow me on LinkedIn Analysis: Trains.com To see why it is so difficult to build anything these days, consider the sad case of the proposed Savage Tooele Railroad. Savage wants to revive Union Pacific’s abandoned 6-mile Warner Branch in Tooele County, Utah, restore a quarter mile of ripped-up track, and build 5 miles of new track within the Lakeview Business Park and its planned 800 acres of rail-served property. The business park is under construction in Grantsville, which sits southwest of Salt Lake City. Once built, the 11-mile Savage Tooele Railroad would operate a single 12- to 20-car train in each direction every weekday between the business park and the interchange with UP’s Shafter Subdivision at Burmester. It’s small potatoes for sure, but the story spotlights the ridiculously cumbersome regulatory review process. In September 2021, Savage…

Regulatory overkill stunts proposed project

Brightline’s milestone moment

The pounding rain crashing against the window of the Premium class coach was coming down so fast and heavy that cars on parallel Dixie Highway through Vero Beach, Fla., were barely visible. Stuck by a ground stop at an airport or attempting to drive through that? No thanks. As the 2:04 p.m. departure out of West Palm Beach hurtled north through the coastal town on Sept. 26, 2023, what reflected off that window was an Italian sandwich tray accompanied by veggies, hummus, and a fruit cup. Creature comforts like these, the ability to relax or devote full attention to work, and freedom to walk around without seat-belt constraints now provide a passenger rail alternative to flying and driving between south and central Florida’s biggest population centers. That option exists because five days…

Brightline’s milestone moment

BUILDING FROM SCRATCH

MIKE LEFEVRE WAS THE FIRST employee hired in 2013 by commuter and passenger rail expert Gene Skoropowski to home-grow an operating staff rather than relinquish that function to a contract operator. Fortress Industries founder Wes Edens brought on Skoropowski, in part, because the Boston native had been the managing director of California’s Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority. He helped forge deals with Union Pacific and Amtrak for enhanced track maintenance and infrastructure improvements on a Sacramento-San Jose route with gobs of passenger and freight trains. More importantly, Skoropowski had also been involved with navigating two stillborn Florida passenger projects: “FOX,” the 1990s Florida Overland Express, a Miami-Orlando-Tampa French TGV-based proposal, and a 2010 Orlando-Tampa high speed rail project with state highway and the Orlando airport authorities. Despite both federal and private…

BUILDING FROM SCRATCH

THE CHOKE POINT

ONE PLACE MIAMI AND ORLANDO DEPARTURES must avoid conflicts is at a single-track drawbridge crossing the St. Lucie River at Stuart, 38 miles north of West Palm Beach. Remote controlled by DispatchCo from a desk in Jacksonville, Fla., the bridge historically remained open to river traffic until one of about a dozen daily Florida East Coast freight trains approached. Marine interests, fearing passage to and from the Atlantic Ocean would be “unreasonably obstructed” with more than 30 additional trains daily, filed a lawsuit to change those rules. They also engaged U.S. Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.) in lobbying the U.S. Coast Guard to impose a “temporary deviation” from the established practice. Without consulting Brightline, the host railroad, or the Federal Railroad Administration, the Coast Guard mandated 15-minute openings at the top and…

THE CHOKE POINT

FROM WALTON ROAD TO SHIMONEK LANE

TWO RURAL HIGHWAY CROSSINGS represent significantly different installations designed to achieve the same result: protect highway users and pedestrians from 110-mph trains. Walton Road is a heavily-traveled, two-lane highway north of Stuart. Although in a rural area, the crossing sports nine warning devices protecting the roadway and sidewalks yet to be built. By contrast, the Shimonek Lane installation protects a private driveway in St. Lucie, Fla., north of Fort Pierce. Both are equipped with exit gates that don’t lower until the entrance gate for that lane goes down. If the radar device mounted on a pole next to the crossing (to the left of the locomotive in the bottom photo) detects an obstruction when gates are activated, the exit gate will lower after the space is clear. The system calculates approaching speeds…

FROM WALTON ROAD TO SHIMONEK LANE

CANADIAN NATIONAL’S CHICAGO ADVANTAGE

If one location epitomizes Canadian National’s desire to control its own destiny in Chicago by acquiring the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern in 2009, it’s JB Tower in West Chicago, Ill. The two-story brick tower — still manned and sporting its orange “The J” sign — guards the junction of CN’s single-track Leithton Subdivision with Union Pacific’s triple-track former Chicago & North Western main line. CN runs about two dozen trains a day across the diamond, linking its network in Western Canada with Chicago via the EJ&E. Every weekday, UP and Chicago commuter railroad Metra send 90 or so trains over the Geneva Subdivision, the eastern leg of UP’s route to the West Coast. Yet CN is in charge here, as it is at most of the J’s at-grade junctions with other railroads…

CANADIAN NATIONAL’S CHICAGO ADVANTAGE

24 hours in Trout Creek

Trout Creek is a small town in the far reaches of Northwest Montana. With a population of under 300 hearty souls, the town’s claim to fame is the proclamation that it’s the “Huckleberry Capital of Montana.” With the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness, and beautiful Clark Fork River nearby, an outdoor enthusiast would have plenty of opportunities to camp, hike, hunt, or fish in this neck of the woods. But I was there to take in the waning days of Montana Rail Link. With the pending lease buyout and acquisition of MRL by BNSF looming, this would be a good opportunity to spend some time along the railroad in this rustic little town and the surrounding area. I spent part of my time in Trout Creek documenting 24 hours’ worth of trains that…

24 hours in Trout Creek

Quebec North Shore & Labrador runs North America’s Heaviest train

LONG BEFORE “MEGATRAINS” became common as part of North America’s precision scheduled railroading practices, the Quebec North Shore & Labrador Railway was running 240-car trains with distributed power units — and just one employee in the locomotive cab. Then-Associate Editor Andy Cummings and Montreal-based railroader and writer John Godfrey ventured into far eastern Quebec and adjacent Newfoundland and Labrador to report on QNS&L’s history and operations. Godfrey’s bilingual skills were an asset in this largely French-speaking region. From the February 2012 issue (part of Nos. 900 to 999), this article took readers to this impressive isolated Canadian iron ore hauler, which provided a better understanding of this one facet of 21st century railroading. — Scott Hartley, correspondent Engineer Richard Simoneau is frustrated. The shipping managers at the Carol Lake iron ore…

Quebec North Shore & Labrador runs North America’s Heaviest train

Milestone for Rio Grande’s K-28s

AS CLASSIC AS A ’67 Chevrolet Chevelle SS and as smooth as a Rolls Royce, the Rio Grande’s 2-8-2 Mikado “Sport Model” K-28s turned 100 years old in 2023. Those 100 years have been spent hauling tonnage across one of the most difficult narrow-gauge lines in the U.S. In October 2023, the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad hosted a two-day photo excursion with K-28s Nos. 473 and 476 to celebrate the centennial. No. 476 served as mid-train helper with No. 473 on the point, recreating an operating scenario not occurring on the railroad’s High Line since the 1950s. The photo charter from Durango to Silverton, Colo., included runbys on the first day with Nos. 473 and 476 at nine different locations deep in the Animas River Canyon. On the second day,…

Milestone for Rio Grande’s K-28s

New gold spike memorial recalls Transcontinental Railroad workers

AT THE KENTUCKY STUDIO of sculptor Douwe Blumberg, a crane gently lifted a gold spike measuring 43.3 feet long and weighing just under 7,000 pounds, onto a decorated semitrailer. The spike, commissioned by Utah’s Golden Spike Foundation, is a new memorial commemorating the workers who built the Transcontinental Railroad. Starting Oct. 5, the spike traveled to Utah, making nine event stops en route. Ultimately, this new piece of public art will be installed in Golden Spike Park at Reeder Ranch, in Box Elder County, Utah, outside of Brigham City along Interstate 15. Until the Transcontinental Railroad’s 150th anniversary in 2019, the complete story of the railroad’s construction had gone largely untold. The contribution of the thousands of workers had been ignored. The Golden Spike Foundation, which organized the Spike 150 celebration…

New gold spike memorial recalls Transcontinental Railroad workers

Historic light towers preserved

FOR THE 1939-40 NEW YORK WORLD’S FAIR, at least four 100-foot-tall, art-deco-styled floodlight towers were constructed to illuminate the 17-acre railroad exhibit. After the fair, the towers were dismantled and reinstalled to light the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Altoona, Pa., freight yard. Through 80-plus years and several ownership changes — Penn Central, Conrail, and Norfolk Southern — the light towers stood in Altoona. A few years ago, a windstorm blew one down. Norfolk Southern then decided to remove the towers. Realizing the towers’ historic nature, local NS employees contacted Altoona’s Railroaders Memorial Museum, asking if it would like to have them. The museum accepted the towers and has stored them pending evaluation and fundraising. Joe DeFrancesco, museum executive director, says the plan is to rebuild one tower to illuminate the museum’s grounds, with…

Historic light towers preserved

Amtrak’s most unusual train

DIRK NADON IS A NEW HAMPSHIRE radio magnate who owns Lakes Media. He and I have worked together developing radio promotions for Conway Scenic Railroad. At one point he said to me, “You’ll like this! A few years ago, I took this great train ride called the Auto Train — do you know it?” He was brimming with enthusiasm over the experience. This radio connection reminded me to call my old friend Doug Riddell, also a Trains contributor, who was once a radio announcer for WREA in Richmond (among other stations) and is a retired locomotive engineer. Doug is part of the Auto Train story, having run both the original, privately owned Auto-Train and its Amtrak successor, and is the author of two books on the subject. This allowed me to…

Amtrak’s most unusual train

Cumbres & Toltec welcomes new general manager to the rails

IN OCTOBER 2023, the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad introduced Steven Butler as its new general manager. Butler takes over for Scott Gibbs, one of the railroad’s Colorado Commissioners, who had temporarily stepped in to run day-today operations. Jointly owned by the states of New Mexico and Colorado, and overseen by an interstate commission, the 64-mile C&TSRR bills itself as the longest, highest, and most authentic steam railroad in America. It runs between Antonito, Colo., and Chama, N.M. As a lifelong rail enthusiast with a passion for preserving 19th and 20th century steam trains, Butler has experience in many areas of running a steam-powered tourist railroad. He has been involved for 30 years, and has served as a general manager, a machinist, a fireman, an engineer, and a chief mechanical officer at various…

Cumbres & Toltec welcomes new general manager to the rails

In This Issue

Description

Details

Reviews

Recent Digital Issues Browse all

Recent Trains Digital Issues Browse all back issues

Trains (Digital) Subscription October 1st, 2024 Issue

Trains (Digital) October 2024: $7.99

Trains (Digital) Subscription September 1st, 2024 Issue

Trains (Digital) September 2024: $7.99

Trains (Digital) Subscription August 1st, 2024 Issue

Trains (Digital) August 2024: $7.99

Trains (Digital) Subscription July 1st, 2024 Issue

Trains (Digital) July 2024: $7.99

Trains (Digital) Subscription April 1st, 2025 Issue

Trains (Digital) April 2025: $7.99

Trains (Digital) Subscription March 1st, 2025 Issue

Trains (Digital) March 2025: $7.99

Trains (Digital) Subscription February 1st, 2025 Issue

Trains (Digital) February 2025: $7.99

Trains (Digital) Subscription January 1st, 2025 Issue

Trains (Digital) January 2025: $7.99

Trains (Digital) Subscription December 1st, 2024 Issue

Trains (Digital) December 2024: $7.99

Trains (Digital) Subscription November 1st, 2024 Issue

Trains (Digital) November 2024: $7.99

Trains (Digital) Subscription October 1st, 2024 Issue

Trains (Digital) October 2024: $7.99

Trains (Digital) Subscription September 1st, 2024 Issue

Trains (Digital) September 2024: $7.99

Trains (Digital) Subscription August 1st, 2024 Issue

Trains (Digital) August 2024: $7.99

Trains (Digital) Subscription July 1st, 2024 Issue

Trains (Digital) July 2024: $7.99

Trains (Digital) Subscription April 1st, 2025 Issue

Trains (Digital) April 2025: $7.99

Trains (Digital) Subscription March 1st, 2025 Issue

Trains (Digital) March 2025: $7.99

Trains (Digital) Subscription February 1st, 2025 Issue

Trains (Digital) February 2025: $7.99

Trains (Digital) Subscription January 1st, 2025 Issue

Trains (Digital) January 2025: $7.99

Customers Also Viewed

Classic Toy Trains Magazine (Digital) Subscription February 10th, 2025 Issue

Classic Toy Trains Magazine (Digital)

(6)

6 Issues: $39.99 ~~$77.94~~

Minecraft World (Digital) Subscription December 28th, 2023 Issue

Minecraft World (Digital)

(2)

Issue 113: $3.81

Ultimate guide to Google's Hidden Tools Magazine (Digital) Subscription October 2nd, 2013 Issue

Ultimate guide to Google's Hidden Tools Magazine (Digital)

(4)

Ultimate guide to Google's Hidden Tools: $3.11

Classic Trains Magazine Subscription February 14th, 2025 Issue

Classic Trains Magazine

(33)

4 Issues: $29.95

Trains Magazine (Digital) Subscription April 1st, 2025 Issue

Trains Magazine (Digital)

(96)

12 Issues: $44.99 ~~$95.88~~

Families and Electric Trains Magazine (Digital) Subscription October 20th, 2020 Issue

Families and Electric Trains Magazine (Digital)

Families and Electric Trains: $13.99

Model Railroader Magazine Subscription April 1st, 2025 Issue

Model Railroader Magazine

(9)

12 Issues: $49.97 ~~$66.00~~

Model Railroader Magazine (Digital) Subscription April 1st, 2025 Issue

Model Railroader Magazine (Digital)

(9)

12 Issues: $44.99 ~~$95.88~~

Classic Trains Magazine (Digital) Subscription February 14th, 2025 Issue

Classic Trains Magazine (Digital)

(33)

4 Issues: $26.99 ~~$39.96~~

Classic Toy Trains Magazine (Digital) Subscription February 10th, 2025 Issue

Classic Toy Trains Magazine (Digital)

(6)

6 Issues: $39.99 ~~$77.94~~

Minecraft World (Digital) Subscription December 28th, 2023 Issue

Minecraft World (Digital)

(2)

Issue 113: $3.81

Ultimate guide to Google's Hidden Tools Magazine (Digital) Subscription October 2nd, 2013 Issue

Ultimate guide to Google's Hidden Tools Magazine (Digital)

(4)

Ultimate guide to Google's Hidden Tools: $3.11

Classic Trains Magazine Subscription February 14th, 2025 Issue

Classic Trains Magazine

(33)

4 Issues: $29.95

Trains Magazine (Digital) Subscription April 1st, 2025 Issue

Trains Magazine (Digital)

(96)

12 Issues: $44.99 ~~$95.88~~

Families and Electric Trains Magazine (Digital) Subscription October 20th, 2020 Issue

Families and Electric Trains Magazine (Digital)

Families and Electric Trains: $13.99

Model Railroader Magazine Subscription April 1st, 2025 Issue

Model Railroader Magazine

(9)

12 Issues: $49.97 ~~$66.00~~

Model Railroader Magazine (Digital) Subscription April 1st, 2025 Issue

Model Railroader Magazine (Digital)

(9)

12 Issues: $44.99 ~~$95.88~~

Reviews