TRAINS January 2004

Cover Story: Overrated/Underrated
Why does the engineer get all the attention? From presidents to paint schemes, our panel of experts weighs in on railroading’s winners, losers, heroes, and legends.

Chard Walker: My Life at Summit, Part 1
Steam, diesel, passenger trains, lovely mountain scenery: Who wouldn’t jump at the opportunity to see this at work every day. The catch? It’s in the middle of nowhere.

Risky Business
Freight cars once proudly bore the names of railroads. Today, they sport little more than a few initials. What changed? Everything.


Railroad Blueprint: Northumberland, Pa.1964-’68
The out-of-the way yard in the Pennsylvania Railroad’s home state was a last stop for mechnical curiosities.


Map of the Month: BNSF’s carload network
The hub-and-spoke system that routes airline passengers also is the most efficient way to sort carload freight, as our map shows.


Railroad Reading: Braking toward Bethlehem
No train gave a young engineer on Conrail’s east end as much anxiety as the Bethlehem ore trains. Ride along as one describes the trip, brake by brake, from South Philly to Bethlehem, Pa.

Plus expert analysis covering every aspect of railroading.


Railroad News & Photos CN makes a play for Missabe and Bessemer, Metra derailment investigation focuses on engineer


Don Phillips: A legislative delay to 2005 would make a huge difference to railroads.

Larry Kaufman: Captive shippers hope for rate relief, again, with another proposal for reregulation.

Locomotives: Contract rebuilding has become the norm for commuter locomotives.

Passenger Rail: Padding schedules won’t keep Amtrak on time.

City Rail: Increasingly, cities are discovering transit sisters—trolleys and light-rail vehicles—are good for tourism as well as transportation.

Preservation: 77-year South Shore veteran to be restored and placed on display in Indiana