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.
November 20, 2024
UP 844 and the 4-8-4s
Eighty years after it was built and six decades after entering excursion service, Union Pacific 844 rolls on with no end in sight.
November 20, 2024
Big Boy Reconquers the West
The world’s largest operating steam locomotive continues to draw massive crowds of support as it tours the American West.
October 20, 2024
A Magazine for Railfans
How an avid reader from California was inspired to relocate to New Jersey and join the staff of Railfan & Railroad Magazine.
October 20, 2024
50 Years of Railfan
Tony Koester’s chance meeting with Hal Carstens in 1968 set forth the events that would lead to the launch of Railfan Magazine in 1974.
September 18, 2024
Arcade & Attica: Passing the Torch
New York’s Arcade & Attica has long been known for its fleet of General Electric switchers, but in 2023 it became an Alco road.
September 18, 2024
Alcos Mexicano
We head south for a look at the many Alco and MLW diesels that ran south of the border between 1944 and 1981.
August 15, 2024
MBTA Orange Line: A Total Transformation
What used to be an elderly elevated rapid transit line connecting the north and south sides of Boston was transformed in the 1970s and 1980s into a modern system with suburban extensions.
August 15, 2024
Oregon Trunk Chronicles
The attraction of this scenic and often lonely stretch of railroad through Oregon’s Deschutes River canyon is strong, with the results alternately frustrating and extremely gratifying
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.
