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EXTREME RAILROADING
Freight on a 4-percent grade
www.TrainsMag.com • December 2016
p. 52
THE magazine of railroading
Is customer service
Railroading’s
new silver
bullet?
p. 38
Philly
commuter
struggles
p. 24
PLUS
Conrail
the split
that works
p. 32
Steam and street
running in 2016
p. 48
BNSF Railway
train roars up
Tehachapi Pass
in California.
BONUS
ONLINE
CONTENT
CODE PG. 4
Lens:
Sigma DG 150-600mm f5.0-6.3 Contemporary at 484mm
Shutter:1/1,250
sec
Aperture:
f10 ISO
Setting:
640
Photo: © William Beecher Jr., 2016.
All rights reserved.
THUNDER IN THE DESERT
Put yourself in Siberia, or Bagdad, or Klondike for a moment. Photographer William Beecher Jr.
counts these places among his favorite remote locations in California’s Mojave Desert, and he
counts the Sigma DG 150-600mm f5.0-6.3 Contemporary among his favorite lenses for shooting
trains there. It’s well suited for filling the frame with dramatic railroad action. With an incredible
range up to 600mm, this lens allows photographers to reach out to distant subjects, and visually
compress the image while blurring the background for creative effect.
Beecher is a fan of “in your face” telephoto action shots. He planted himself on Ash Hill recently and waited for the
action to come to him. Before long, three thundering high-horsepower units lugged BNSF train H-BELBAR3 around
the sweeping S-curve and up the 1.4% grade near the ghost town of Bagdad. Sigma’s responsive focus tracking
system kept the ET44AC sharp from start to finish. It doesn’t get more dramatic than this.
“The lens is surprisingly lightweight, allowing great mobility despite its size. It’s easy to use, even working all day
without a tripod. Thanks to Sigma’s optical stabilization system, I was able to use this lens handheld well into waning
available light. I’m impressed by the sharpness of the Sigma 150-600 Contemporary.” Beecher continued, “Quality
optics and coatings make for tack-sharp action shots. I can’t believe how sharp this lens is, even at 600mm!”
Since 1961, Sigma has developed technologies that enable photographers to capture perfect images. Today, Sigma
is a top choice for railfans worldwide. Put yourself in the action with Sigma’s 150-600mm f5.0-6.3 DG OS HSM
Contemporary lens.
SIGMA DG 150-600mm
F5.0-6.3 CONTEMPORARY
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• Hypersonic motor for fast, accurate
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one F-LD and three S-LD elements to
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improve contrast and color. 20 elements in
14 groups.
• Locking zoom ring for convenience and
security when travelling.
• Water- and dust-resistant lens coatings.
• 9.1 feet minimum focusing distance.
• Compact size and weight (4.2 pounds), with
removable tripod collar.
• Custom mode settings and focus
calibration using Sigma’s USB dock.
• Compatible with Sigma TC1401 and
TC2001 teleconverters.
This lens is available in Canon, Nikon, and Sigma mounts. Sigma lenses are covered under the Sigma
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See our entire line-up at
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SIGMA Corporation of America | 15 Fleetwood Court |
Ronkonkoma, NY 11779, U.S.A. | Tel: (631) 585-1144
Online Content Code: TRN1612
Enter this code at:
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december 2016
vol. 76, no. 12 news and features
COVER STORY
>>
FEATURES
www.TrainsMag.com
38
Fielding new
business
Customer service may
be railroading’s new
silver bullet
Justin Franz
ON THE
WEB
24
SEPTA transcending
Philadelphia’s frugal transit
system makes strides, but
needs more money
Steve Sweeney
30
‘We’re getting
soaked!’
A landmark moment in my
life was my irst 35mm frame
of ilm
Ron Flanary
32
The split that works
Conrail juggles serving two
Class I railroads, and its
employees enjoy being part
of the show
John Gruber
Mollibahn video
>>
Watch street-running action
on Germany’s narrow gauge
steam railway
48
A German preservation
railway ofers an amazing
combination
Jim Wrinn
52
A steep grade, shortline savvy,
and Jasper the donkey
Jim Wrinn
58
In My Own Words:
Memories of a
C&NW railroader
It was hard work, but I loved it
Ervin Niebur
Steam and the Baltic Freight on 4 percent
T
RAINS
blogs
>>
Check out what T
RAINS
’
contributors say about railroads
and train-watching.
Photo by
Chase Gunnoe
<<
ON THE COVER
An eastbound BNSF Railway
intermodal freight roars up a 2.2-percent grade on California’s
Tehachapi Pass on Sept. 4, 2008.
Photo by Steve Schmollinger
NEWS
7
12
16
18
20
22
News & Photos
Don Phillips
Fred W. Frailey
Locomotive
Technology
Passenger
Locomotive rosters
>>
Subscribers can view and
download PDFs of the latest
locomotive roster data for North
America’s seven Class I
railroads and Amtrak
DEPARTMENTS
5
6
61
62
64
70
24
Philly commuter system
32
Conrail: The split that
works
38
Railroading’s new
silver bullet?
48
Steam and street
running in 2016
52
Extreme railroading:
Freight on a 4-percent
grade
From the Editor
Railway Post Office
Ask
T
RAINS
Preservation
Hot Spots
Gallery
>>
Subscribers can access all
the latest news and updates to
stories daily on T
RAINS
News Wire
>>
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T
R AINS
Magazine (issn 0041-0934, usps 529-850) is published monthly by Kalmbach Publishing Co., 21027 Crossroads Circle, P.O. Box 1612, Waukesha, WI, 53187-1612. Periodicals postage paid
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FROM THE EDITOR
EDITOR
A RT DI RECTOR
PRODUCTION EDITOR
Jim Wrinn
Angela Pusztai-Pasternak
David Lassen
Steve Sweeney
Brian Schmidt
Scott Krall
homas G. Danneman
JIM WRINN
A S S O C I AT E E D I T O R
A S S O C I AT E E D I T O R
Time to ‘Wick it’ at Amtrak
Wick Moorman has been Amtrak’s CEO about two
months now. Employees, customers, and observers are
already anticipating what he will do, and I suspect that
we’ll start to see things soon, but I’m also of the opinion
that change and improvement will be evolutionary.
hat said, here are some hopes for Moor-
man’s time at Amtrak:
• Appropriate attention and funding to
the Northeast Corridor and the national sys-
tem. Corridor advocates champion it for
good reasons: It’s a vital part of transporta-
tion in one of the country’s most heavily
populated areas. It cries out for funds, ixes,
vision, and supervision. he national sys-
tem, about as bare bones of a railroad as you
can get with a few exceptions, has its own
issues across 46 states with an equal number
of decision-makers and constituents. Can
they both get what they need?
• An emphasis on the end product — a
safe, reliable transportation experience that
people will want to use. his means trains
that are clean, working, on time, and priced
for average Americans.
• An expectation that Amtrak will grow
outside the Northeast Corridor. One train a
day in each direction on long-distance
routes does not work. Passengers should
have more frequencies to choose from, and
while we’re at it, how about new coaches and
sleepers for the long-distance trains?
• Evolve middle-management culture to
emphasize revenue growth and downplay
cost-cutting pervasiveness and then defend
those decisions with Congressional micro-
managers. You seldom get the most revenue
by stripping down your product to the least
it can be. Coming from a for-proit organi-
zation, he has the credibility to make that
case internally and externally.
Lastly, there are a lot of Amtrak retirees
who care deeply about the company, who
want to see it succeed, and who would be
willing to be good advisors. heir past expe-
riences could be useful in plotting out the
long-term future. In the short term, I predict
that when an Amtrak employee comes up
with a good idea that can be implemented
with meaningful advances, it will get this
nickname: “Wick it.” It is much like the
Nike “Just do it” commercial and rolls of
the tongue. Try it.
A S S I S TA N T E D I T O R
E D I T O R I A L A S S I S TA N T
Diane Laska-Swanke
Drew Halverson
SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER
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homas Hofmann
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Fred W. Frailey, Don Phillips
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Chase Gunnoe, Chris Guss, Scott A. Hartley,
Bob Johnston, David Lester, David Lustig, Bill Stephens
C O N T R I B U T I N G I L L U S T R AT O R
Bill Metzger
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What’s ahead for Amtrak under new CEO Wick Moorman? We will soon find out. The
westbound
California Zephyr
crests the Sierras at Norden, Calif., in July.
T
R A I NS
: Jim Wrinn
www.TrainsMag.com
5

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