Extra Board
Welcome to Railfan & Railroad Extra Board, a monthly exploration of the passion for trains from many perspectives. Extra Board welcomes your submissions. We’re looking for about 1500 words accompanied by two or three photos. Each photo should be no smaller than 14 inches (or 1024 pixels) across at 72 dpi (no verticals, please). Brief caption information must accompany each photo. Please send your inquiries to the Webmaster for consideration.
July 19, 2024
50 Years of Conway Scenic
What began in 1974 as a seven-mile operation on the former Boston & Maine Conway Branch has since expanded to include the old Maine Central Mountain Division to Crawford Notch and beyond, with a roster of historic New England diesel locomotives.
July 15, 2024
Sunset on Silicon Valley’s Industrial Era
With San Jose’s transformation into the “Silicon Valley” in the 1970s, the dense network of freight customers once served by Southern Pacific and Western Pacific has dwindled down to just a few dozen switched out by various Union Pacific local crews.
June 19, 2024
Genesee & Wyoming at 125
What began as a lucrative salt mining enterprise in western New York has expanded in the last 40 years into the largest short line operator in the world.
June 19, 2024
From Maine Coast to Midcoast
Decades of change as several operators try to find success on the state-owned former Maine Central Rockland Branch, culminating in Finger Lakes Railway’s Midcoast Railservice.
June 18, 2024
Railfan & Railroad 50th Anniversary Celebration
All aboard! Join us November 8-10, 2024, for Railfan & Railroad’s 50th Anniversary Celebration in southern New Jersey!
June 11, 2024
Send Your Photos for the 2024 Center Spread Contest!
The deadline to submit to the 2024 Center Spread Contest is July 15.
May 14, 2024
Milwaukee Electrics: Fifty Years Gone
Milwaukee Road’s bold and pioneering effort to electrify its main line across the mountains and prairies couldn’t compete with the economic realities of railroading in the 1970s.
May 14, 2024
The Unexpected Fairbanks-Morse: Part 2
Wrapping up our two-part examination of Fairbanks-Morse diesels from coal mines to steel mills, from freight yards to experimental passenger trains, and even some foreign operations.
April 17, 2024
R.J. Corman Lines in Kentucky
After R.J. Corman purchased the former Louisville & Nashville ‘Old Road’ from CSX in 2003, clever trackage rights agreements allowed the short line to develop steady new business and thrive.
April 17, 2024
The Unexpected Fairbanks-Morse: Part 1
While domestic production of Fairbanks-Morse locomotives was brief, its beefy diesels turned up in ‘unexpected’ short line, main line, and industrial operations from coast to coast.
