Classic Trains

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.

20/20 hindsight for our 20th

Classic Trains

HeadEnd

Reviews

New from Kalmbach

VISIT US ON THE WEB • ClassicTrainsMag.com

Forgotten no more • I was both happily surprised and somewhat chagrined to see mention of the “now-forgotten” Portland-Lewiston Interurban line in Walter F. Smith’s article about his father [page 28]. I work at Seashore Trolley Museum as the Restoration Shop Director, and we’re about halfway through a million-dollar restoration of PLI car 14, the Narcissus. More than 90 percent of the funding has already been raised, and we’re aiming for a roll-out in two to three years. So for me, and quite a number of donors, volunteers, grantors, and visitors, the Portland-Lewiston Interurban is very much front-page news.

A perplexing New England passenger car

Rushing reefers west • Sometime around 1950, Union Pacific 2-10-2 No. 5015 hurries along the road’s main line across Nebraska with a train of empty refrigerator cars, headed west for reloading. Chances are the reefers, part of the 38,000-strong Pacific Fruit Express fleet owned by Overland Route partners UP and Southern Pacific, are headed for California. PFE traffic peaked at 460,000 loads in 1946.

A Hall of Fame for the rails • A dedicated group in Illinois honors railroaders

Steam, diesels, and disruption • THE GREATEST CHANGE IN 20TH CENTURY RAILROADING HAD PROFOUND EFFECTS ON CARRIERS, SUPPLIERS, AND EMPLOYEES

Disappearing railroad blues • FROM A PEAK OF 254,000 MILES IN 1916, RAIL ROUTES FELL BY MORE THAN HALF

Cheaper by the thousands • A 1959 ICC DECISION LED TO MORE TRAFFIC, MOVED AT LOWER RATES

TEMPLES of TRAIN TRAVEL • GREAT STATIONS ROSE AS THE RAIL INDUSTRY NEARED ITS PEAK

Supersize loads • LARGE, SPECIALIZED FREIGHT CARS HELPED THE INDUSTRY WIN TRAFFIC AND CARRY RECORD TONNAGES

Stronger together • “MERGER MANIA” CHANGED THE LANDSCAPE OF THE INDUSTRY AFTER WORLD WAR II

Postwar merger mania

Remote-control railroading • HOW A 1920S INNOVATION BECAME PART OF RAILROADING’S BEDROCK

Constraining commerce • GOVERNMENT STIFLED COMPETITION —AND PROMOTED SAFETY — FOR ALMOST A CENTURY

Federal regulation

Fulfilling the promise of steam • HOW A SMALL LOCOMOTIVE BUILDER DEVELOPED A WINNING FORMULA FOR THE FUTURE

Black diamonds from the Great Plains • DEMAND FOR LOW-SULFUR COAL WAS A BONANZA FOR WESTERN RAILROADS

The long good-bye • RAILROADS SAW THEIR VIRTUAL MONOPOLY ON INTERCITY TRAVEL EVAPORATE IN THE FACE OF AUTOMOBILE AND AIRLINE COMPETITION

Trains + photography= • IN 1940, A NEW MAGAZINE EMERGED AS A FORUM FOR RAILFANS WHO TOOK PICTURES OF TRAINS

Strike of the century • A WIDESPREAD JOB ACTION LEFT A POSITIVE LEGACY

Colorful classıc • SANTA FE’S WARBONNET IS AN INDUSTRY ICON

Straighter, flatter, faster • RAILROADS UPGRADED THEIR 19TH CENTURY PLANT TO HANDLE 20TH CENTURY TRAFFIC

Partnering with the enemy • RAILROADS REGAINED TRAFFIC LOST TO TRUCKS BY HAULING TRAILERS AND CONTAINERS

UPSTAIRS, downstairs, and in between • INNOVATIVE CAR DESIGNS ADDED NEW DIMENSIONS TO RAIL TRAVEL

More freight, fewer people • AIDED BY TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES AND SENSIBLE WORK AGREEMENTS, GROWTH IN RAIL LABOR PRODUCTIVITY HAS BEEN CONTINUAL

Reversing course • WHAT AND WHO HELPED BRING BACK PASSENGER RAIL

Down by the station • ONCE THE CENTER OF SMALL...