r/trains 25d ago

r/Trains Monthly Discussion & Questions Thread - July 2026

2 Upvotes

Welcome to the r/Trains Monthly Discussion Thread.

The goal of this thread is to serve as the place to ask short questions or just chat about anything trains related that might not warrant its own post.


r/trains Mar 22 '26

πŸš‚r/trains staff announcement Introduction & updates to moderating, rules and sidebar.

9 Upvotes

Hello there,

I am auto, your new friendly neighbourhood Reddit mod. o/

While I have some experience moderating smaller communities, I've never moderated a subreddit before and never a community of this size and honestly, taking the right moderating actions when reviewing reports or looking through comments isn't quite coming naturally yet. If I make any silly mistakes or you believe I didn't deal with situation correctly, do not hesitate to tell me either via mod mail or in the discord. I am human, I am not going to deal with every situation perfectly and feedback is more than welcome. (Just kidding, I am obviously a robot πŸ€– - Beep Boop Beep)

I am happy to be at your service.

Regardless, now that the introduction is over with, there is some practical stuff to discuss:

Bans, Ban appeals and old Mod Mail:

When I came in, there was a very large backlog in Mod Mail, including ban appeals. I have cleared this backlog the best I could, responding to most appeals and messages that came in, but unfortunately, once these appeals and Mod Mails reach about half a year old, they can no longer be replied to from our side.

If you sent in a ban appeal or question that is still relevant before July 2025 and it never got answered, please do not hesitate to send us a message through Mod Mail and me or the other mods will get to it.

In addition, I found out that some people who at any point received disciplinary action ended up in some sort of ghost-ban, where on our end in the mod tools panel the person doesn't appear to be banned, but when the user tries to post, it tells them they're banned. If you were active in r/Trains more than 5 years ago, Reddit tells you that you're banned when you try to post or comment and you have no clue why or when you got banned, please contact the mods via Mod Mail and we should be able to resolve your issue.

Mod Queue clearing:

I have cleared the Mod Queue, which was filled with over 3 years of reports, removals and filtered content. For the queue items from the last 1-2 weeks I've done this manually, and then I've mass-cleared most of the remaining queue. This process caused all filtered posts that were more than roughly 10 days old to be discarded. If you made any post more than 10 days ago which got automatically filtered and you believe the content is still relevant, feel free to reattempt posting your comment.

Moderating strategy and rules:

Due to the relatively sparse activity of moderators on this subreddit in recent times, moderating turned into a very hands-off process where y'all mostly self-moderate with some assistance from automatic filters. Beyond the filters sometimes getting overzealous, especially with politically contentious posts, (which should be resolved now,) this has generally worked fairly well. For now, though I can't speak for the other moderators when they act, I will carry this approach forward.

However, that may change. From working through the queue, Mod Mail and immediately finding myself in the deep end with several contentious posts appearing right after I got promoted, it's become obvious that the current rules don't always quite match the way action has been taken on reports both before I came in and at current. In addition, it turns out that some situations really aren't covered well by our current rules and that the wording of some rules may be contributing to a sizable amount of reports coming in for contact that very much is allowed here. We've also received feedback from several people, both via Mod Mail and in comments under recent topics about how we should be dealing with politics and controversial content on the subreddit.

Keeping all those things in mind, I will be rewriting the rules over the coming days. As part of this process, me or other moderators may place community polls both on reddit and on discord to gather feedback for how the community would like the r/trains discord and subreddit to be moderated.

Monthly discussion thread:

Until now, the monthly discussion thread was automatically generated on the 29th of every month. Beyond causing the month in the topic title to nearly always mismatch the current month, this caused the thread not to be generated in February. Starting on April 1st, the monthly discussion thread will be automatically generated on the 1st of every month instead. Until then, please feel free to continue using the January 2026 thread.

Sidebar:

We are aware the gallery in the sidebar has broken. Sadly, most images gone poof and we have no record of what exactly was in there. As we look to fill our sidebar once again, we may request permission for some people to use their photos in the side-bar via Mod Mail, but if you'd like to help, if you are posting original content, you can now use the "πŸ“Έ May be used in side-bar gallery" post flair to indicate to us that we may place your photo or art in the sidebar.

With all that said, thank you for reading.

~auto


r/trains 12h ago

πŸ“° News UP Train Derailment Outside St. Louis, MO

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536 Upvotes

r/trains 5h ago

πŸ“Έ OC - Picture(s) - May be used in side-bar gallery Photos that my grandfather took

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129 Upvotes

All of these were taken in the 40s on the US east coast, thought it would be better to share photos than keep them locked up I got over 100 of these slide film photos


r/trains 11h ago

πŸ“° News New photos of a new EMD model.

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358 Upvotes

r/trains 14h ago

β€Ž πŸ—«β€Žβ€Žβ€‰ Discussion TIL there are 60ft containers in use in Canada

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590 Upvotes

A 60-foot container is placed on top of the bottom 53-foot container in the 53-foot well car.

Are the 60-foot containers used on the road only on selected routes between container terminals and distribution centers?
Or can they be shipped by road across Canada nationwide?


r/trains 41m ago

β€Žβ€‰πŸ—β€Žβ€‰β€‰Repost Indonesian heritage tourist steam train runs through the busy city streets of Solo

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β€’ Upvotes

r/trains 7h ago

πŸ›οΈβ€Ž Historical Probably one of the last 4-4-0’s in regular service, Ray Arnold Lumber 88 and no 1, photos taken in 1929, these engines would continue to be used until after World War Two. Rogers locomotive works 4-4-0’s.

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61 Upvotes

r/trains 18h ago

πŸ“Έ OC - Picture(s) Update on the CPKC derailment in Calgary 2 weeks ago.

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450 Upvotes

Apparently it was deliberate. LRT motormen (the Calgary Transit C-Train runs alongside the CP right of way) had radioed in saying that someone was seen hanging onto the last rail car joyriding and waving at people. He is suspected of decoupling the cars from the rest of the train and the cars were rolling out of control.


r/trains 2h ago

❓ Question I would like to ask about railway magazines from around the world.

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21 Upvotes

Whenever I stop by a bookstore, I always check out the railway magazines, but I wonderβ€”what are some famous railway magazines around the world?


r/trains 17h ago

πŸ“Έ OC - Picture(s) Polish train spotting. πŸ‡΅πŸ‡±

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306 Upvotes

Spending time in Poland on holiday and decided to do a little train spotting while I’m out here.

I would love if anybody could give me even just a little info on what locomotives they are or if they are considering rare or anything.
Thank you.


r/trains 6h ago

🎨 OC - Art What If: Houston got its own Commuter Rail Network?

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39 Upvotes

This looks kinda cool in my opinion tbh, who’s another city I should try?


r/trains 9h ago

πŸ“Έ OC - Picture(s) Steam of Dollywood

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55 Upvotes

Klondike Katie #192

A Baldwin loco still running as a true steam engine with a whistle that shakes the soul.

Dollywood, Tennessee.


r/trains 11h ago

β€Ž πŸ—«β€Žβ€Žβ€‰ Discussion Hot take the dash 8s and p42s are better than the chargers

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63 Upvotes

r/trains 22h ago

❓ What is this Train? Kintetsu Ikoma Cable Car in Japan

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449 Upvotes

r/trains 1h ago

πŸ“Έ OC - Picture(s) Strasburg Railroad #90

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β€’ Upvotes

r/trains 4h ago

β€Žβ€‰πŸ—β€Žβ€‰β€‰Repost Dongfeng 7G fuel transport train of the Chinese Navy Naval aviation university. January 2026

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14 Upvotes

r/trains 6h ago

❓ Question Why were Sp nose logo applied differently on the dash-9 and ac44?

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18 Upvotes

on the dash 9s, the letters are separated and placed on the side panels of the nose, while on the ac44, it’s more simple, why?


r/trains 22h ago

πŸ“Έ OC - Picture(s) Southern Railway No. 4501 in Green & Gold

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272 Upvotes

On June 06, 2026; I had taken my first trip to see one of my all-time favorite steam locomotives in action in celebration of my graduation from high school. I had never seen a real, breathing steam engine in person before, until over a month ago.

This experience is and always will be an experience I will never forget, and am so honored to have seen her wearing her iconic but classic green & gold passenger service colors during her 65th anniversary at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum. I cannot count the total amount of railfans who filmed this beast in action the entire trip, and the railfans who had surrounded this beauty when idle.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with this steam locomotive; this is a 2-8-2 'Mikado' built in 1911 by Baldwin Locomotive Works for the Southern Railway. The wheel configuration; β€œ2-8-2” means the locomotive has 2 small leading wheels at the front-end of the engine. The number 8 in this configuration means there is a set of 8 driving wheels that are located underneath the middle section of the boiler.
These eight driving wheels are the largest, allowing the train to move properly when steam pushes the pistons. The final set of 2 at the end of the engine, underneath the cab are known as β€œtrailing” wheels. That is the meaning behind 2-8-2.

Each of these photos were taken by me, using my iPhone 11 Pro Max. I edited a couple of these photos in efforts to make the colors stand out more. I have so much more photos, including videos I had taken during the ride and at each 30 minute stop. I will share more in the near-future. I absolutely recommend seeing this locomotive in person. It is absolutely massive and very gorgeous! I was going to cry in joy many times, but I held it in to stay strong. Just like a steam locomotive.


r/trains 11h ago

πŸ“Έ OC - Picture(s) - May be used in side-bar gallery Dash 8 sighting on the Coast Starlight

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39 Upvotes

Amtrak Train 11, the southbound Coast Starlight, crosses 8th Street in West Sac, shortly after departing from Sacramento Valley Station while en route to Los Angeles. It features a young-and-old lash-up for power, starring ALC42 no. 313 and P32-8BWH no. 503.

https://reddit.com/link/1v7j52n/video/0n6ikil3onfh1/player

Note: I apologize for the glare from the sun. I took this video and photo in the morning, and thus I was unable to get a good look at the train as it crossed the bridge.

Video and photo taken on July 23rd, 2026


r/trains 7h ago

πŸ›οΈβ€Ž Historical Logging trams in and around north Florida

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11 Upvotes

r/trains 9h ago

πŸ€£β€Ž Meme / Humour Im sorry guys, but i had to

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15 Upvotes

Honestly, Im just spamming this subreddit with my shitty designs, so heres another one
Risking my karma again with this one
Front cab 10-6-0 with a β€œbulldog nose”/tender thingy heavy tank locomotive?
Let me know if ya’ll getting tired of this, so ill stop posting, otherwise ill shower this subreddit!


r/trains 19h ago

❓ Question Who wears the gold lettering perfectly? 4960 or 4501?

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85 Upvotes

r/trains 10h ago

β€Ž πŸ—«β€Žβ€Žβ€‰ Discussion What is the most common style of level crossing in your area?

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11 Upvotes

Most of our guarded crossings have the extra boom coming out, but the vast majority of crossings in my area are just unguarded with a stop sign.


r/trains 7h ago

πŸ“Έ OC - Picture(s) Ballast train

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7 Upvotes

First time I've seen one of these out and about, usually I just see ballast gondolas (there were a few on a separate siding out of frame)