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.

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Classic Trains

HeadEnd • A potpourri of railroad history, then and now

Genesee Valley Transportation’s PA locomotive makes debut • Restored diesel handles invitation-only excursion on Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad

C&NW No. 1385 returns to Mid-Continent museum • Homecoming leads toward home stretch to prep 4-6-0 for operations in 2026

Railroads that didn’t (initially) join Amtrak • Out of the 26 eligible U.S. railroads, a handful continued passenger operations

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NextIssue • WINTER ISSUE ON SALE Nov. 25, 2025

Admiration for the AC60 • It’s time to look ahead to the next generation of classics

Generosity on Caritas

Rush Hour at Kansas City Union Station

Finale for Illinois Central steam • Photographer Joe Collias caught steam’s last years on the Main Line of Mid-America

Catastrophe at Milepost 21 • HOW A FORMER INTERURBAN SURVIVED A TUMULTUOUS DECADE

DISPATCHING Santa Fe’s ARIZONA DIVISION • TRACKING OPERATIONS ON A BUSY MAIN LINE IN THE EARLY 1990s

Santa Fe Arizona Division • Santa Fe Arizona Division – Scheduled Trains - March 1990.

A Seventies USA Rail Pass ADVENTURE • A TRIP TO SEE PRR GG1 NO. 4935 YIELDED A BOUNTY OF EAST COAST TRANSIT AND PASSENGER SERVICE

The Evolution of the ‘Empire Builder’ • From heavyweights to Amtrak, Great Northern’s flagship kept changing

Superhighway for IRON ORE • THROUGHOUT THE FIRST HALF OF THE 20TH CENTURY, THE SANDUSKY LINE DID HEAVY LIFTING

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Classic Railroad Dome Cars • Riding on top of postwar passenger trains

In the care of conductors • Three stories of professional discretion riding the rails

Santa Fe … all the way