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.
October 15, 2017
Plaster City Alcos
You may not know it, but there are wide-nosed, narrow-gauge, Alco-designed, Bombardier-built, 35-year-old DL-535Es running right now in the California desert
October 10, 2016
Cartier Alcos: The Gang of Eight
Most Alco Centuries had long been consigned to the scrapyard in the late 1970s and early 1980s, especially six-axle units. In 2002, the surival of these diesels was nothing short of a miracle. Like a phoenix, this “Gang of Eight” rose again.
April 10, 2016
Wiseguys and Wayfreights: Conrail in North Jersey
Passing the same North Jersey landmarks that the fictional Tony Soprano made famous in the opening credits of the cable series “The Sopranos,” Conrail’s never-ending procession of trains would work their way through the crown jewel of their near-monopoly of rail service in the New York metropolitan region.
March 4, 2016
The Ironton Run
What Ironton lacks as an industrial complex it makes up for by being a picturesque residential river town, and what the DT&I lacks as a heavy duty main line it makes up for by being a very photogenic hill country branch.
March 1, 2016
Lima: Too Little, Too Late
Smallest of the major builders of steam locomotives and last to enter the diesel-electric field, Lima Locomotive Works built a mere 174 units in its short career as Lima-Hamilton Corporation.
February 9, 2015
Steam in the Snow
The sun was just peeking over the tops the White Mountains as four adventurous young men from Long Island completed a grueling seven hour journey. We weren’t sure what to expect, but as we took in the sights, sounds, and smells of steam railroading, we knew we were about to take part in something special.
January 1, 2015
Orbisonia Obsession
The East Broad Top seemed immobile in time while the rest of the railroad world around it was changing. Geeps and Alcos were still far away from Orbisonia, and the coal trains down from Robertsdale still carried a combine and looked like the mixeds of a few years before. The yard and shop facility at Orbisonia looked like it hadn’t changed a bit in fifty years.
July 15, 2014
Restoration and Conservation
What happens when an artifact has deteriorated to the point where it is no longer appropriate for public display or regular use? Sometimes the answers are not readily apparent, and all railroad restoration and conservation efforts are not the same.
June 9, 2014
Cotton Belt No. 819
Cotton Belt 4-8-4 No. 819 is the classic example of a steam locomotive all dressed up with no place to go. Thanks to a combined effort of historical society volunteers and railroad employees, the 819 was slowly brought back to life and returned to excursion service in 1986.
May 15, 2014
Death of an FL9
The 1950s were the era of the streamlined diesel, with the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors producing perhaps the most famous face of the era — the bulldog nose found on its E- and F-series units. Though many have been saved, it’s a bit noteworthy when one of these survivors succumbs to the scrapper’s torch.
