At 8:20 a.m. the morning of September 1, 2003, Burlington Northern Santa Fe’s V KCMPTL 29 blows by the mile 207.2 semaphores at Donlan, Montana. In the left seat of this former Santa Fe GP50 is... (more)

Union Pacific and Missouri Pacific locomotives are gathered at Yard Center at Dolton on December 3, 1988. MP was merged into UP on December 22, 1982, and initially it was to remain separate in nam... (more)

An eastbound Burlington Northern Santa Fe freight crosses Cedar Creek Trestle east od Superio, Montana, on July 3, 2001. Leading the train is recently-repainted SD60M No. 9299 (former BN “Desert... (more)

BNSF’s Sandpoint local zips through Algoma, near Sagle, Idaho, on the return trip from Sandpoint to Spokane, on February 7, 2023.

Shining in the afternoon sun
A Wisconsin Central trackmobile has tugged newly-painted boxcar No. 47675 out onto the transfer table between shop buildings at North Fond du Lac, Wisconsin,... (more)

A thin layer of water on top of the ice reflects an eastbound BNSF coal empty crossing Bridge 55 at Trout Creek, Montana, on February 6, 2023.

Burlington Northern EMD E9 No. 9903 pulls a four-car commuter train into the station stop of Highlands, Illinois, on February 9, 1991. Highlands ended up being a great place to observe BN action w... (more)

A CSX transfer freight, led by EMD GP30 No. 4219, makes its way south on the IHB/B&OCT main line through Bridgeview, Illinois, on a gray March 11, 1989.

Blue thunder
One of the visceral treats of Montana Rail Link’s route over Mullan Pass is listening to a heavy unit grain or coal train assault the hill from a location near the top of... (more)

An electrician carefully checks a circuit board from Union Pacific GE ES44AC No. 7682 on Track 5 inside the Diesel House at Union Pacific’s Burnham Shops on December 16, 2015. These former Rio G... (more)

Union Pacific UPY 577 has maintenance work done on Track 2 in the Diesel House at the railroad’s former Rio Grande Burnham Shops in Denver, Colorado, on December 8, 2015.

Santa Fe’s 199 train operating from Chicago to Richmond, California, begins its journey on March 11, 1989, as it roars around the curve past milepost 12 at McCook, Illinois.

A Conrail freight rumbles eastbound between Otis and Pinola, Indiana, on the railroad’s busy Chicago to Elkhart main line on the morning of February 11, 1995.

Another winter day in Montana comes to a close with the Clark Fork River Valley turning cold and blue from the dimming sky and snow. A setting sun flirts momentarily with the clouds to the west wi... (more)

California’s Tehachapi Mountains are dressed in spring green, as an eastbound BNSF steel coil train exits Tunnel 1 and slogs up the grade between Caliente and Bealville on February 27, 2016.