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.
October 7, 2022
Kansas City Southern “White Knights”
Looking back at the era of Kansas City Southern “White Knights” in the 1970s and 1980s, where every locomotive was snow white with a large red “KCS” logo on the flank.
October 5, 2022
1972 and the “Usual Suspects” on the Lehigh Valley
Photographing the close friends we railfanned with were just as important as the trains we chased on the Lehigh Valley in 1972.
October 2, 2022
New York and New Jersey Area Freight Action
The New York and New Jersey metropolitan area was home to a variety of colorful freight operations on both sides of the Hudson River.
April 1, 2021
White River Productions Acquires Diesel Era Magazine
White River Productions has acquired Diesel Era from Withers Publishing, naming Tony Cook as the new editor of the quarterly publication.
August 31, 2020
Growing Up Grande
I became aware of the Denver & Rio Grande Western during my 15th summer, a relationship that would endure for the next 59-plus years. I also became a Missouri Pacific fan for its final 20 years of existence before being swallowed by Union Pacific, all of which played major roles in my hometown of Pueblo, Colorado.
January 28, 2020
White River Productions acquires Railpace Newsmagazine
White River Productions has added Railpace Newsmagazine to the company’s family of publications. The agreement between Railpace, Inc., and WRP was completed Monday, January 20, 2020.
January 8, 2019
Riding the Erie Lackawanna
I had the privilege of working as an extra-board tower operator on the EL New York Division during my college summer breaks from 1971 thru 1974, and I would try to catch cab rides on my days off. It was a summer day in August 1973, and I caught a ride on the CX-99 piggyback freight from Port Jervis to Hornell, N.Y., with a return on hotshot DN-90.
January 2, 2019
Helpers: With a Little Help From My Friends
There’s something electrifying about helper operations. They are often dramatic events because these engines frequently travel through beautiful scenery, with heavy trains crawling up steep grades.
November 15, 2018
Binghamton: A Railfan’s Perspective
My grandfather was a mechanical engineering professor, and near the top of his list were railroads. When I was about eight years old he started taking me train watching. One day in 1956, he announced that we were going to take a trip to Binghamton because that was a very busy place with no less than four different railroads.
May 8, 2018
1972 Western Railfanning Trip
I can’t believe it’s been 45 years since my infamous railfanning trip out west. A lot has happened in the last four-plus decades, but this was one of the most unique railfan events that I have had the good fortune to experience.
