From The Field: Videos from Rail Sites Across the Country

This post marks the addition of a new element to this space: inclusion of video segments taken by RAIL Magazine staff during trips across the nation, and beyond. This summer, I was particularly busy visiting a slew of places around the nation. During most of these trips, I was able to shoot a quick video, sharing the scene in images with some basic narration. We hope you enjoy these quick looks at rail stations, facilities and services in communities of all kinds, and stay tuned for more...

Atmore, Ala.

Bemidji, Minn. Union Station 

International Falls, Minn. 

Duluth, Minn. Union Depot 

DC Streetcar Testing & Commissioning Facility Open House

DC Streetcar Interior

DC Streetcar In Motion

Winchester, Va.'s 1893 B&O Depot

Winchester & Western Railroad, Gore, Va. 

MARC Brunswick Line Departing Rockville, Md. 

RAIL Podcast: Napa Valley Wine Train's Anthony Giaccio

Last month, I spoke with Anthony Giacco, CEO & CFO of the Napa Valley Wine Train, which operates high-quality dinner train trips through the heart of California's most prestigious wine-producing region. The Wine Train recently debuted its Grappa Power Car, which provides head-end power to trains to maintain electric power as diesel locomotives are changed from one end of the train to the other – essential to a service where continuous power can make a difference in the quality of food and wine. Click here to see the full process of creating the Grappa Power car.

Click here to listen to the full podcast with Mr. Giacco.

Named Trains: #18 – Alouette

#18 – Alouette

Railroad(s): Boston & Maine 

Operated: ? – 1965

Route(s): Montreal – Boston

Surprisingly, we're nearly halfway through our list and have only had one train named after an animal (the Little Bear) and none named after a bird, in particular. Considering than animals of all kinds – but especially birds (Falcons, Eagles, Cardinals, Larks of various kinds) – were exceedingly common in train names throughout history, this had to change. Well, technically, the Alouette is a lark in french, which serves as nice background for a train serving Montreal since the French folk song of the same name carries special significance in Quebec. The city's Canadian Football League team is even known as the Alouettes. The Boston & Maine aptly captured the cultural relevance of the region while also signifying the graceful nature of the train itself.

NOTE: the Boston & Maine is also the first railroad to appear twice on this list besides Amtrak.

#19 – Coast Starlight
#20 – Broadway Limited
#21 – Scout
#22 – Gulf Coast Rebel
#23 – Acadian
#24 – Azalean
#25 – Mark Twain Zephyr
#26 – Little Bear
#27 – Land O'Corn
#28 – Minute Man
#29 – Fast Mail
#30 – Lake Shore Limited

#31 – Comet

Named Trains: #19 – Coast Starlight

#19 – Coast Starlight

Railroad(s): Amtrak

Operated: 1971 – present

Route(s): Seattle – Los Angeles

While previous train titles included on this list have reinforced concepts such as speed, grandeur and history, the first named train on this list germane to Amtrak highlights a different notion: spectral wonder. Of course, it's not quite accurate to credit Amtrak solely with the Coast Starlight moniker, as the Southern Pacific operated its own Coast Daylight as well as separate Starlight trips – with its iconic red, orange and black color scheme – on most of the same route plied by Amtrak's version from 1937 until the formation of Amtrak in 1971. Regardless of who gets ultimate credit or which temporal period is more distinctive, the name calls to mind the remarkable vistas illuminated either by daylight or twilight along the Pacific shores. Amtrak's 1,300-plus mile trip may not exactly be speedy, but its routinely noted as possessing among the best customer service and scenery in the entire national network. For those reasons, the delightfully-named Coast Starlight seems poised to deliver the same coastal views to travelers between the West Coast's largest metropolitan regions as other similarly-titled trains have done for three quarters of a century.

#20 – Broadway Limited
#21 – Scout
#22 – Gulf Coast Rebel
#23 – Acadian
#24 – Azalean
#25 – Mark Twain Zephyr
#26 – Little Bear
#27 – Land O'Corn
#28 – Minute Man
#29 – Fast Mail
#30 – Lake Shore Limited

#31 – Comet

Named Trains: #20 – Broadway Limited

#20 – Broadway Limited

Railroad(s): Pennsylvania, Amtrak 

Operated: 1912 - 1971; 1971 - 1995

Route(s): New York – Chicago

In the last post, we discussed the lack of true transcontinental routes, and that trains from Chicago to the West Coast were often branded as "transcontinentals" although they never came close to the East Coast. The counterparts of these trains were those traveling from the Eastern Seaboard to Chicago, which fed passengers in both directions to the western "transcontinentals." One of the most notable of these East Coast-to-Chicago runs was the signature train of the Pennsylvania Railroad, The Broadway Limited. As a direct competitor to one of the most famous named trains of all time – the New York Central's 20th Century Limited – the Broadway Limited utilized the Pennsylvania's mainline route through its namesake state's mountains and river valleys, but was not an express trip like the 20th Century, despite their shared Limited titles. This was rather odd since that although the Broadway Limited made a handful of stops, the only non-terminal major cities served at a downtown station were Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, bypassing nearby Cleveland, Columbus and Indianapolis in favor of places like Crestline, Lima and Ft. Wayne. Although the train did pass through the Philadelphia region, it stopped at North Philadelphia rather than the city's iconic 30th Street Station to reduce travel time. Also of note: while the train's name might seem to be an obvious reference to Manhattan's famous entertainment thoroughfare, the railroad actually intended it as a implicit nod to its own "broad way," the four-track mainline through most of Pennsylvania – infrastructure it believed to be superior to the Central's Water Level Route through upstate New York (see #30 on this list, the Lake Shore Limited for more on the Water Level Route). However, the Broadway Limited never beat the 20th Century's top 20-hour trip time, but did match it with the introduction of streamliner equipment in 1938.

After Amtrak assumed operation's of the nation's intercity passenger rail network in 1971, the system continued uninterupted service of the Broadway Limited on the same route until 1990, when Norfolk Southern – which had acquired much of the Pennsylvania's network from Conrail – abandoned portions of the route west of Pittsburg. Amtrak then shifted the train to the former Baltimore & Ohio route between Pittsburg and Chicago, but cut back the line to Pittsburgh in 1995 due to redundancy with the Capitol Limited and Lake Shore Limited routes – an ultimate insult to the Broadway Limited's legacy as a competitor to both trains. Although Amtrak briefly restored Chicago – Pittsburgh service with the Three Rivers until 2005, when the portion west of Pittsburg was cancelled and Pittsburg – New York trains replaced with the Pennsylvanian, which still connects with the Capitol Limited in Pittsburg today.

#21 – Scout
#22 – Gulf Coast Rebel
#23 – Acadian
#24 – Azalean
#25 – Mark Twain Zephyr
#26 – Little Bear
#27 – Land O'Corn
#28 – Minute Man
#29 – Fast Mail
#30 – Lake Shore Limited
#31 – Comet

Named Trains: #21 – Scout

#21 – Scout

Railroad(s): Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe 

Operated: 1916 – 1948

Route(s): Chicago – Los Angeles

As the first quasi-transcontinental route on our list (in actuality, true transcontinental passenger rail trips ever ran from the Atlantic to the Pacific, most only spanning from Chicago to the West Coast), the Scout is also the first in the AT&SF's (more commonly known as the Santa Fe) exceptional legacy in naming their passenger trains. Bearing the designators of trains #1 and #10 in the Santa Fe until the streamliner era, it could be argued the Scout was the railroad's flagship train for the bulk of the first half of the 20th Century. It made the roughly 2200-mile trip in 58 hours, 35 minutes heading eastbound, although Amtrak's Southwest Chief is scheduled to complete the journey on a similar (but not identical route) in under 48 hours when it's on time – a rare instance of a contemporary intercity train besting its historical counterpart on schedule. Nonetheless, the Scout brand is noteworthy – evoking a Southwestern explorer identity (see beautiful artwork above) that was less effacing to Native American peoples through the Southwest, a problem the railroad created with some of its other named trains.

#22 – Gulf Coast Rebel
#23 – Acadian
#24 – Azalean
#25 – Mark Twain Zephyr
#26 – Little Bear
#27 – Land O'Corn
#28 – Minute Man
#29 – Fast Mail
#30 – Lake Shore Limited
#31 – Comet

Named Trains: #22 – Gulf Coast Rebel

#22 – Gulf Coast Rebel

Railroad(s): Gulf, Mobile & Ohio

Operated: 1940 – 1958

Route(s): St. Louis – Mobile

Continuing our track of named trains through the South, the Gulf, Mobile & Ohio's signature streamliner evokes the history of the region without becoming overtly antagonistic to Civil War-era contraversies. Although the railroad operated other routes branded with the Rebel marker, the Gulf Coast version traveled its main route through nearly the railroad's entire territory. Although the train didn't survive the end of the streamliner era, the Gulf Coast Rebel nonetheless deserves a spot on this list for its strong regional identity and flagship status on the GM&O.

#23 – Acadian
#24 – Azalean
#25 – Mark Twain Zephyr
#26 – Little Bear
#27 – Land O'Corn
#28 – Minute Man
#29 – Fast Mail
#30 – Lake Shore Limited
#31 – Comet