Winter in northern Illinois doesn’t always mean lots of snow, but it can bring fog and freezing drizzle. On the first day of winter in 1991, a westbound Chicago & North Western freight bangs over ... (more)

An eastbound Chicago Central & Pacific freight curves by the historic Galena depot on a rainy August 13, 1994. Galena is named after the natural mineral form of lead sulfide, and was mined here, a... (more)

On the morning of September 27, 2020, an eastbound Union Pacific train descends Peru Hill as it curves toward the bridge over the Green River and a crew change in the yard at Green River, Wyoming.

An eastbound BNSF unit oil train crosses Bridge 55 at Trout Creek, Montana, on February 5, 2021. The inlet of Trout Creek into the Clark Fork will soon freeze again with the arrival of another win... (more)

An eastbound BNSF Q-train snakes around the cliffs along the Missouri River at Lombard, Montana, on the morning of July 2, 2017. The train is passing Milwaukee Road’s Pacific Extension bridge over... (more)

A pair of Milwaukee Road SD10s pull a long train through La Grange Park as it approaches the Harding Avenue grade crossing while working southward on the Indiana Harbor Belt/B&OCT main line on Sep... (more)

The pastureland around Harrison, Montana, is still spring green on June 22, 2015. Montana Rail Link’s 844 local, powered by GP35 Nos. 403 and 406, brings 3 covered hoppers up the 2.2 percent grade... (more)

St. Maries River Railroad turn to Plummer, with eleven loads from the mills at St. Maries, trundles across a causeway along the backwaters of the St. Joe River west of St. Maries, Idaho, on the ea... (more)

Beginning its trek across the country to Seattle, Burlington Northern train 3 passes the old passenger station at Rochelle, Illinois, on the afternoon of May 16, 1992. BN EMD SD40-2 No. 7217 and a... (more)

An eastbound Union Pacific coal train drops downgrade into Rocky, Colorado, while heading east on the former Rio Grande Moffat Tunnel route on April 13, 2002.

On January 2, 2007, Kyle railroaders use all means available to thaw out frozen locomotives and clear covered tracks at Goodland, Kansas, after a 30 inch snowstorm blanketed the area during Decemb... (more)

Burlington Northern EMD E9 No. 9921 leads a westbound Metra commuter train out of Chicago on September 1, 1991. Dominating the background is 108-story, 1,450-foot Sears Tower. At completion in 197... (more)

On the afternoon of June 30, 2018, a westbound BNSF manifest freight train traces Missouri River into Lombard Canyon on Montana Rail Link’s Second Subdivision. On the right is the empty grade of M... (more)

A BNSF grain empty rolls eastbound over the Clark Fork between Belknap and Thompson Falls, Montana, running over Montana Rail Link’s Fourth Subdivision on October 1, 2020.

UP in the UP
After Union Pacific merged Chicago & North Western, it only had the Upper Peninsula of Michigan ore line for a short time before Wisconsin Central, and later Canadian Natio... (more)