Every year, Railfan & Railroad asks its readers and contributors to share a few of their favorite images from the last 12 months. This year was no exception and we were flooded with hundreds of fantastic images, many of which appear in the March 2021 issue, on newsstands now.
As you can see from this selection, 2020 was a colorful, albeit unique, year for railroading in North America. Here’s a selection of just a few of the images included in this year’s Along the Line photo gallery and be sure to see the entire lineup in the March 2021 issue.
Want to see your own photos in print? Keep an eye out for the 2021 Along the Line photocall in the pages of Railfan & Railroad Magazine early next year!
South Shore Freight — Mike Raia
A South Shore Freight train led by locomotive 2009 crosses Michigan Central and Monon in Michigan City, Ind., on December 20, 2020. The street running at Michigan City is one of the highlights of this unique operation.
Subway Riders — Dennis A. Livsey
Oblivious to the surrounding mechanical mayhem, New Yorkers play with their phones while riding the city’s ubiquitous subway on October 9, 2020.
Desert Power Railway — Ryan Nicolay
Deseret Power Railway E60C 1 leads the morning coal loads to the Bonanza, Utah, power plant on a clear morning just south of Dinosaur, Colo., on June, 24, 2020.
Nevada Northern Railway — Ben Kletzer
Nevada Northern 2-8-0 93 storms up Robinson Canyon near Ely just ahead of the dark clouds of a blizzard on the afternoon of February 16, 2020. The scene was part of Nevada Northern Railway’s annual Winter Steam Spectacular.
IT at IRM — Jeff Terry
Illinois Terminal center-entrance interurban car 101, built in 1917, speeds past Johnson Siding at the Illinois Railroad Museum in Union on September 6. The car is running at less than half capacity due to COVID restrictions.
Port of Tucson — George S. Pitarys
Two GP-30s and a rare GP-28 are making a pull of a long string of boxcars at the Port of Tucson, Ariz., on April 6, 2020.
Iowa Interstate — Matt Schumann
Paying homage to its Rock Island roots, the Iowa Interstate’s Rock Island heritage unit leads a string of ethanol tank cars over the Cal-Sag Channel in Blue Island, Ill., on November 28, 2020.