Railfan & Railroad Magazine August 2024

Features:

• 50 Years of Conway Scenic • by Rick Kfoury — What began in 1974 as a seven-mile operation on the former Boston & Maine Conway Branch has since expanded to include the old Maine Central Mountain Division to Crawford Notch and beyond, with a roster of historic New England diesel locomotives. 
• Final Spike Steam Tour • by Justin Franz — Returned to active service to commemorate the CPKC Railway merger, Canadian Pacific H1b 4-6-4 2816 embarked on an ambitious three-nation tour from Calgary to Mexico City and return in the spring and early summer of 2024.
• Sunset on Silicon Valley’s Industrial Era • by Eric Cortinas and Andrew Cox — With San Jose’s transformation into the “Silicon Valley” in the 1970s, the dense network of freight customers once served by Southern Pacific and Western Pacific has dwindled down to just a few dozen switched out by various Union Pacific local crews.

Departments:

• Departures — commentary: Alexander Benjamin Craghead
• Railnews — top news stories and photos from our readers
• Transit Currents — transit news: Bob Gallegos
• Railroadiana — new product, book, and video reviews
• Timetable — railroad event listings submitted by our readers
• Through My Lens — trackside memories: Kevin EuDaly
• Collector Corner — Collecting railroad antiques: Martin E. Hansen
   Collecting Locomotive Builder Plates Today
• Preservation Topics — Railway preservation: Jason Paul Sailer
   Maintaining Archives at Smaller Organizations
• Destinations — Detours and distractions: Justin Franz
   Tourist Rails in New Hampshire’s White Mountains
• Markers — Additional thoughts from your editors
• Parting Shot — Adam Weidenbach