Extra Board
Welcome to Trains & Railroad of the Past’s Extra Board! We explore a different perspective of classic late era railroading every month. 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.
August 11, 2026
Short Lines of Oregon and Washington
Brothers Jeremy and Jonathan Plant explore Northwest short lines in the 1970s and ’80s, many dependent on forestry.
August 11, 2026
Toto Travels Northeast
Join Midwest native Carl Graves on four (brief) 1970s trips to the Northeast and railroad territory new to him.
August 11, 2026
A General Electric (GE) Sampler
Mike Bednar takes us along for testing and using General Electric diesel locomotives on the Anthracite Roads.
May 15, 2026
Conrail’s 50th Anniversary
Fifty years ago, six bankrupt Northeastern railroads were combined into one single system that would become Conrail.
December 15, 2025
San Francisco Scenes 1950-1975
Vintage scenes of railroading in and around San Francisco from 1950 through 1975, illustrated with images from the Lloyd Transportation Library.
December 15, 2025
Railfan Memories… Mostly Good! Part 2: 1971-1990
Writing this review brought back memories, mostly good, including trips with railfan friends as well as non-railfan friends and family.
December 15, 2025
“Paradise” “Rationalization” “AI” and the “Progress of Man”
Railroads once depended on a small army of employees to keep things moving smoothly, including tower operators, crossing watchmen, yard clerks, and more.
August 15, 2025
1970s Trips to Washington, D.C., and Harrisburg, Pa.
Trips to Washington, D.C., and Harrisburg, Pa., in the mid-1970s revealed a colorful variety of early Amtrak, Conrail, and Chessie System action.
August 15, 2025
JA Tower at Emmaus Junction
Visiting JA Tower in Emmaus, Pa., in the 1950s was an eye-opening experience for a young railfan taking some of his first railroad photographs.
May 13, 2025
Railfanning Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri
The first part in a series recalling memories of railfan adventures in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri, between 1971 and 1990.
