Classic Trains Fall 2018

Rambling on the Reading
By Karl Zimmermann
Between 1959 and '64, surplus 4-8-4s and idle commuter coaches criss-crossed southeastern Pennsylvania on a series of remarkable excursions

Rolling Laboratory
By James E. Dierks
The American Steel Foundries' test train helped advance the science of running-gear design

Amtrak's Early Years from the Inside
By Denny Hamilton
After hiring on in 1974, I witnessed many changes, highlighted by the company's first new cars and locomotives

What's in a Photograph? Western Pacific Freight on Altamont Pass
By Jerry A. Pinkepank
A USRA heavy Mikado labors toward a famous California summit, circa late 1940s

EMD's Mighty Mite
By J. David Ingles
Unique in profile and sound, this switcher model found many buyers during its 15 years of production

The Great Ancona Standoff
By Robert Nicholson
How mismanagement froze up Santa Fe's main line during a 1978 Illinois blizzard

Getting My Kicks in 1966
By Ken Hojnacki
A transcontinental train trip was the perfect graduation present

Last Hurrah for the Great Steel Fleet
By Geoffrey H. Doughty
In the late 1950s, New York Central looked to high-capacity sleeping cars in a final effort to bolster its fast-fading long-haul passenger trade

The Best of Everything: At Last, Working on the Railroad
By Chris Burger
A move to New York Central territory widened my horizons and led to employment on the "Road to the Future"