CELEBRATE THE GOLDEN AGE OF AMERICAN RAILROADING – WHEN GIANT STEAM LOCOMOTIVES, COLORFUL DIESELS AND STEAMLINERS SHARED THE RAILS. CLASSIC TRAINS COVERS THE 1930’S THROUGH THE 1970’S WITH REMARKABLE PHOTOGRAPHY, DETAILED REPORTING AND FIRST-HAND ACCOUNTS FROM PEOPLE WHO WORKED THE GREAT PASSENGER AND FREIGHT TRAINS.
Lovable little lines
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Reviews
VISIT US ON THE WEB
Those long B&O tenders
Storybook short line • Nevada’s Virginia & Truckee had all the ingredients to be a classic of its genre
Prosperous New Jersey pike
Long effort to open B.C.’s interior • Launched in 1912, the province’s Pacific Great Eastern wouldn’t become “whole” for 44 years
Road-Switcher for the little guys • General Electric’s nimble 70-ton diesel was a popular choice for short lines seeking to modernize in the post-World War II era
Magma Arizona: The almost last day of steam • A rumor-based trek from Colorado to Arizona in July 1968 pays off
East Jordan & Southern mixed special • On March 25, 1961, this northern Michgan line put its Mogul and combine on the regular freight for railfans
Empire State variety • On a five-day auto trip from Detroit in August 1962, the nine little railroads we photographed differed widely
Photo Special
THE OBSCURE Ohio & Morenci • After succeeding the abandoned Toledo & Western interurban, this interstate freight-hauling short line lasted two decades
Southern hospitality • Little Birmingham & Southeastern was short on business but long on courtesy
LAST STEAM STANDING • In 1970, a little railroad in Alabama was the last practitioner of an unbroken tradition that spanned nearly 150 years
Train times at Pasadena • For a budding teenage railfan in 1946, Santa Fe’s depot was the classroom and its locomotive engineers the teachers
A Saturday morning at Croxton • HUNGRY FOR MORE THAN COMMUTER TRAINS AND SINGLE-UNIT LOCAL FREIGHTS, TWO FRIENDS SEEK OUT ERIE LACKAWANNA BIG DIESELS AND MAINLINE ACTION
Cinders a forgotten commodity • One railroad found some creative ways to dispose of tons of steam-locomotive waste
Good years in Providence • College in Rhode Island cemented my ties to the New Haven and laid a foundation for the future
Summer commuter on New York Central’s West Shore • Twice-daily train and ferry rides highlighted a high school boy’s weekdays in 1953
High speed run on IC’s Green Diamond • An engineer sees what a pair of E units can really do
Dad’s vacation train • Remembering when Kentucky’s Natural Bridge State Park hosted L&N Ten-Wheelers
Missed opportunity • Which would you choose: a Pennsy K4 or a Jersey Central diesel?
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Streetcars of St. Petersburg
“America’s Oldest Short Line” thrives in the 21st century • Pioneer tourist line Strasburg Rail Road embraces steam railroading heritage in a digital world
Gateway to Yosemite