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SECOND QUARTER 2026: Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Conrail as we look back at the creation of Big Blue from six bankrupt Northeastern railroads. In recognition of America’s 250th anniversary, we also revisit the patriotic Bicentennial red, white, and blue paint schemes that appeared on railroads from coast to coast. Mike Bednar takes us along for a ride aboard classic Reading Company Alcos. All this and more in the Second Quarter issue of Trains & Railroads of the Past!

Current Issue

Second Quarter 2026
Issue No. 45

Features

Conrail’s 50th Anniversary

Fifty Years since the Northeast’s 1976 Megamerger

Spirit of ‘76 Bicentennial Memories

Looking back at the celebration of our 200th!

Take a Ride on the Reading…with Alcos!

Alco Action on the Reading Lines • by Mike Bednar

 DEPARTMENTS

Antiques RailRoadshow — Legacy paint scheme sightings

Car Corner — Unique freight and passenger cars

E.O.T. — A humorous or unusual railroad photograph

Quiz — Test your knowledge

Write-of-Way — Our readers respond!

 PHOTO DEPARTMENTS

Close, But No Cigar! — A photograph that is almost perfect, except for…

Links to the Past — Moments long gone, live on through the lens of a camera

Odds & Endcabs — These are not your typical cookie-cutter locomotives and rolling stock

People — Lively additions to spice up rail photos

Sign Language — Interesting signage found along the right of way

The Scenic Route — Beautiful scenes from around the railroad world

Time Machine — Timeless views of your favorite railroads from long ago or yesterday

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Trains & Railroads of the Past, ©2015-2025 White River Productions. All rights reserved.
Trains & Railroads of the Past celebrates classic North American railroad heritage of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.