September 2018

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Trains magazine covers the broad spectrum of railroading with authoritative content, dazzling photography, and a mix of content designed to appeal to everyone from the casual enthusiast to the seasoned professional railroader.

Trains offers something for everyone who has a spark for railroading: Railroad news, insight, and commentary on today's freight railroads, passenger service, transit, locomotives, technology, preservation, fan opportunities, and more. You'll also see images and read stories from railroading's glorious past, and explore the bright future of railroading. It's all in the pages of Trains magazine.

Features

Hurricane!

By Hayley Enoch

Railroads survive a perilous 2017 hurricane season

Dome car delight in the Ozarks

By Steve Smedley

Branson Scenic Railway provides a sweet ride

The Trains Map: Downtown Chicago, 1954

By Rick Johnson

When America’s railroad capital still boasted six intercity passenger stations

Amtrak stops where?

By Various Authors

The passenger carrier serves hundreds of cities. Here are some of its lesser-known stops

Hazy hues at Palmer Lake

By Jim Wrinn

This special place on the Joint Line, the summit between Denver and Pueblo, Colo., is not the same railroad today

Same time, same place, same power

By Don Morice and Mike Haper

59 years apart, Nickel Plate Road 2-8-4s stir emotions at Valparaiso

A workhorse, not a show horse

By Zach Pumphery

Columbia Terminal rides out troubled times

Tunneling through history

By Jim Wrinn

Every day 20-plus trains pass through the twin bores of the Big South Tunnel, built in 1859, near Gallatin, Tenn.

In My Own Words: Danger lurks in the darkness

By Bruce Battles

How first-day words of wisdom become so relevant for a Southern Pacific yard clerk

NEWS

News & Photos

Gateway to controversy
- New York City-area leaders say they – and the country – need new tunnels worth billions of dollars
Port authority surprise
- Agency finds a way to redirect federal money to tunnel
Battle lines drawn over ‘Chief’ proposal
- Amtrak CEO proposes bus bridge, doesn’t address negatives
The Trains interview: Courtney B. Wilson
- Museum leader talks about leaving an organization he loves
VIA, CN stretch ‘Canadian’ schedule
- Lengthening aims to improve reliability, if not scenery or utility
BNSF is closer to building second bridge at bottleneck
- Lake Pend Oreille remains choke point in Pacific Northwest

Fred W. Frailey

Leadership, then and now
- Why railroading needs someone a bit like William Jackson Palmer

Brian Solomon

Photographic failure or success? Just wait
- Why the photo you reject may be more interesting than the one you save

Locomotive

Diesel basics
- Pointing out the features of a modern locomotive

Technology

Air brakes 101
- The complicated, confusing, reliable, and indispensable way trains stop – introduced

Passenger

Amtrak debuts cold ‘contemporary’ meals
- ‘Lake Shore Limited’ finally gets Viewliner diner, but choices, service decrease

DEPARTMENTS

From the Editor

Epic struggle with nature | Of all of railroading’s foes, whether they may be competitors or traffic downturns, weather has, and always will be, among the most unpredictable and treacherous. Hayley Enoch points this out once more on pages 24-31 with her report on how railroads deal with hurricanes.

Preservation

Big Boy has new shoes | Wheel and boiler work mark the next chapter in No. 4014’s restoration

Hot Spots

Sweet Stevenson, Ala. | This little-remarked hot spot features CSX and Norfolk Southern in cooperation

Ask Trains

Largest F7 buyers | Mystery streamlined coach | Making Trains’ maps