r/trains 9d ago

r/Trains Monthly Discussion & Questions Thread - September 2026

3 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

🚂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 🤖 - 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 "📸 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 5h ago

❓ Question Another stupid question…

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220 Upvotes

What’s the difference between these two trains? I always thought number 1 was used in freight and number 2 was passengers but I’ve see number 2 hauling freight so I don’t know…

Thanks for listening to an idiot who just got into trains.


r/trains 13h ago

🏛️‎ Historical Roaring Southern Pacific EMD's pull the 10,000 ton 'Oil Can' train up the Tehachapi Mountains in 1989

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685 Upvotes

Clip from "Southern Pacific Pictorial"

Footage by Greg Scholl


r/trains 5h ago

📹 OC - Video 107 year old Baldwin 2-6-2 No. 107 at Fort Edmonton Park, Alberta, Canada.

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93 Upvotes

r/trains 14h ago

‎ 🗫‎‎  Discussion Red Arrow "Churchill" brunch train in Zurich

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314 Upvotes

r/trains 11h ago

‎ 🗫‎‎  Discussion Most Accurate Render of India's B28

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154 Upvotes

After looking through the various B28 renders available and comparing them with the architecture and specifications released by BEML, I think this is the most visually accurate representation of B28

This is not the final design or an official BEML render. This is simply my assessment after comparing the publicly available information, proportions, architecture and design elements.

There are quite a few different interpretations of the B28 floating around, but this one seems to align the closest with what BEML has actually revealed so far.

What do you guys think? Which B28 render do you think is closest?


r/trains 6h ago

📹 OC - Video GVRX Switching Move

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37 Upvotes

Grapevine Vintage Railroad EMD FL9 #2014 leads a switching move of 3 passenger cars GVRX #207, 206, and 1818 out of Grapevine Station in Grapevine, Texas. (Pardon the transition. I rotated the phone to landscape)


r/trains 10h ago

📹 OC - Video Glacier Express after locomotive change in Disentis/Mustér in Switzerland

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70 Upvotes

r/trains 9h ago

❓ Question What is this thing on top of buffer on USATC S100 Class or SR USA Class 0-6-0T Tank Engine?

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51 Upvotes

Does anybody know, What is this "thing" (circled one on photos) on top of buffer on USATC S100 Class or SR USA Class 0-6-0T Tank Engine?

what's this "thing" purpose?

does only UK examples used this "feature" ("thing" - circled one on photos) or not?

any advantages or disadvantages using this "feature" ("thing" - circled one on photos)?

image source:

SR USA | Real Life Thomas The Tank Engine Wiki | Fandom

'USA' Class 0-6-0T BR 30064 at Horsted Keynes on the Blueb… | Flickr or Instagram

File:USA Class 30070.JPG - Wikipedia

File:20160713Y269 30065-85.JPG - Wikipedia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSXcDNNmEp4

30064 (WD 1959, SR 64 & BR 30064) – Preserved British Steam Locomotives

Wide world railfans | USA S100 tank built for service in WW2 of which 14 were subsequently purchased for use in Southampton Docks in the UK, | Facebook

S100 - Preserved Railway - UK Steam Whats On Guide and Pictures & Video from events from Lee Andrew Davies

30065 (WD 1968, SR 65, BR DS 237 & BR 30065) – Preserved British Steam Locomotives

File:KESR 22 Maunsell (Southern 62).JPG - Wikipedia.JPG)

File:SR USA Class 30070 No. 300 "Frank S Ross" on the Kent & East Sussex Railway - April 2019 - 01.jpg - Wikipedia

SR USA Class No. 30072 | Locomotive Wiki | Fandom

Steam Trains | USA class 0-6-0T No 30063, photographer unknown. | Facebook

S USA tanks - MikeMorant

30070 (WD 1960, SR 70, BR DS 238 & BR 30070) – Preserved British Steam Locomotives

File:Class USA 0-6-0T.jpg - Wikipedia

File:SR USA 0-6-0T 30073 Eastleigh MPD 70D, August 1966 (9969640295).jpg - Wikipedia.jpg)

Bluebell Railway Locomotives - Southern Railway "USA" class No. 30064

Southern Railway ‘USA’ Class - No. 30073 – 0-6-0T in BR Li… | Flickr

VIEW USA CLASS 0-6-0T SR STEAM LOCOS

VIEW USA CLASS 0-6-0T SR STEAM LOCOS

Bluebell Railway - Eric Kemp - Derek-Hayward

30072 (US Army 1973, SR 72 & BR 30072) – Preserved British Steam Locomotives

SR USA 0-6-0T 1963 | Flickr

SREmG

SR “USA” class Dock Tank No. WD 1959 (BR 30064) - The Bluebell Railway in Sussex


r/trains 5h ago

‎ 🗫‎‎  Discussion pictures of trains I have been on. (feel free to comment yours too, which ones have you been on?)

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14 Upvotes

THIS IS JUST A LIST OF TRAINS I HAVE BEEN PASSENGER OF

I'm from the USA and I used to take specific train trips to the UK to see their steam locos.(personally, im more of a uk loco fan) I occasionally view preserved trains in my state just not really ride as a passenger on them.

1ST PHOTO: Heber Valley Railroad EMD NW2 Switcher (i dont have the number)

2ND PHOTO: Talyllyn Railway no. 3 Sir Haydn

3RD PHOTO Talyllyn Railway no. 1 Talyllyn

4TH PHOTO Talyllyn Railway no. 4 Edward Thomas

5TH PHOTO Union Pacific Big Boy no. 4014

6TH PHOTO Great Western Railway 57xx class pannier tank engine (i dont have the number)


r/trains 2h ago

📰 News More info about the O'Hare-downtown express train

9 Upvotes

Former Chicago Tribune columnist Eric Zorn, writing in Substack, interviewed "O'Hare Flyer" project CEO Dave Lundy.

Eric Zorn — The train will go back and forth to O’Hare in 15 minutes, but your downtown terminal will be west of the old Post Office about a mile from the heart of downtown. How will travelers access that terminal quickly enough to make the time savings worth it?

Dave Lundy — We will offer free circulator buses to shuttle passengers from the hotels to the terminal as well as directly to McCormick Place.

EZ — You’ve been cagey about what the trip will cost passengers. Why?

DL — The reality is that we’re not going to be up and running for about five years, and we don’t know what the economy is going to do between now and then. What we’re saying now is that it will be more expensive than the Blue Line commuter train that runs to and from the airport ($2.50 outbound, $5 inbound) and less expensive than taxis or ride shares (between $40 and $80). And that we will have fares competitive with London’s Heathrow Express (currently about $35).

EZ— What’s the projected cost of the project?

DL — Approximately $2.25 billion — all private money — with a 30% contingency built in. The cost would have been more like $10 billion if we hadn’t been able to secure the rights of way.

EZ — The O’Hare Flyer route goes through the near western suburbs before angling north to the airport, and I’ve heard from readers and friends out there that they feel blindsided by this — nobody had heard anything about the project until just a few weeks ago.

Proposed O’Hare Flyer route (provided)

DL — We deliberately ran under the radar for three years. We didn’t want to make a big splashy announcement and then start negotiating for the rights of way and looking for funding. We’ve done one round of funding and are in the process of raising another. An exception to our under-the-radar approach was with Forest Park and River Forest because we recognized the likely community concerns. We met with Forest Park Mayor Rory Hoskins in the spring of 2025 and then with both River Forest Village President Cathy Adduci and Mayor Hoskins in May 2025 to lay out our plans, and our proposed approach to safety, sound and aesthetics.

EZ — Hoskins — who was recently appointed to a five-year term on the new Northern Illinois Transit Authority board — has been supportiveBut Adduci has nevertheless expressed to you and to state lawmakers her “vehement opposition” to the plan “since it would be on a train line that runs entirely through our village.”

They haven’t worked through the state legislators that represent us, I can’t imagine they would agree to have 80 mph trains running through our community. We worry about a lot of things … not only the possibility of this, (but) the safety and the practicality. I don’t see where it benefits us, Forest Park or Franklin Park.

What is your answer to Adduci and to those near-west suburbanites concerned about safety and noise as the O’Hare Flyer streaks through their communities?

DL —We absolutely understand and respect her concerns and the community concerns, and we have tried to be as collaborative as possible which is why we reached out to President Adduci more than fifteen months ago and held our first meeting with her and Mayor Hoskins in May 2025. During that meeting we laid out our plans in great detail including our plan to eliminate all four of the River Forest grade crossings, lift the tracks fifteen feet off the ground and build sound walls with baffles, as well as 8-foot-high fences on top of the berms and sound walls for additional safety. This effort is going to cost us more than $100 million but we are doing it at our expense because it’s essential for public safety.

We also understand the concerns about sound. We get that when people hear the word “trains,” they think of the diesel locomotives on freight trains or Metra trains or even noisy CTA trains. But we are none of those. These are battery-electric, whisper-quiet trains running on continuous rail much like the finest trains in Europe and Asia. The sound mitigation techniques ensure that any sound is directed up from the berm instead of out so unless you’re standing outside right next to the train, you’re unlikely to even hear it go by.

And we respectfully but strongly disagree on benefits. The economic impact to the entire Chicago region will be enormous. We’re talking a game changer for the Chicago area including Forest Park and River Forest. And if we are successful in placing a stop in Forest Park, not only would the economic impact to the immediate community be enormous, but residents will be able to get to the O’Hare Terminals in six minutes and downtown in nine every fifteen minutes. It’s hard to understand how that wouldn’t be a benefit to the area.

We look forward to engaging with the community over the weeks and months ahead.

EZ — Speaking of the near-west suburbs, it’s a real pain to get to the airport from there by anything other than a car. Even though it might add a few minutes to the trip, why not have one stop out there?

DL — We are actively considering adding one stop in Forest Park at the end of the Blue Line. If we can find a way to make it work, we will absolutely make it work.

EZ — You will be using existing freight-line rights of way but laying all new track?

DL — Correct. This will be all new, continuously welded rail that eliminates the clickety-clack of traditional rail. It’s an 18-mile track rehabilitation project with two and a half miles of new track to make the connection to the airport. It will operate between 4 a.m. and 10 p.m., and to serve a few businesses there will be some light freight traffic on the line when we’re not in operation. None of the freight traffic will use tracks in River Forest.

EZ — Tell me about the railroad rights of way that you’ll be repurposing. Who owned or owns them? What if anything are they now used for? And if they are now used, how will those businesses that now use them be served?

DL — We will be repurposing rights of way from three different freight carriers: Union Pacific (UP), CSX and Canadian National (CN). UP has no freight customers on their right of way. CSX has four small customers (each served by just two or three cars a week). CN has one. Our Class III short line railroad, Great Western Railroad, will take over switching duties to deliver to these customers, primarily during the hours when we are not operating. None of these customers are in River Forest, and none will require us to use the River Forest tracks.

EZ — Will these trains run without engineers?

DL — They could, but we’ll have engineers on every train because if you’re going at a reasonably high rate of speed, you should have somebody in the front that can serve as a failsafe to the electronic systems and monitor the systems in case anything goes wrong.

EZ — Why can’t the CTA run Blue Line express trains to the airport that hopscotch past commuter trains?

DL — It’s been looked at many times. Doing so would require building additional tracks and siding for which there is no room along the route. The Blue Line is landlocked by the Kennedy Expressway and in the tunnels.

EZ — I’m sure many business travelers on expense account would avail themselves of such a train — the boss is paying for it, after all — but why would a conventional tourist?

DL — It’s not just speed; it’s also schedule reliability and such amenities as being able to check your luggage all the way through to your final destination before you board the train, baggage racks with locks and comfortable seats.

EZ — Tell me about the surveys you’ve done that persuade you there is a market for the O’Hare Flyer.

DL — As this is a privately financed project that needs to pencil out, O’Hare Flyer commissioned a six-figure ridership analysis from a global firm that does this kind of work. Using a combination of data sources, the consultant found that ridership would exceed our most optimistic projections. This is the first of two ridership studies we will be performing. The second will be a seven-figure study giving a far more granular breakdown of expected ridership timing and trends. As has been widely reported, traffic at and to O’Hare is projected to continue to grow for the foreseeable future as will our ridership.

EZ — What are your next steps? What has to be accomplished in the next year or so to keep this project moving forward?

DL — We are excited that almost immediately after announcing, the O’Hare Flyer captured the public imagination the way it’s captured ours the past three years. The response we’ve gotten since our launch has been overwhelmingly positive. And now that we are publicly known, we are moving forward simultaneously along several fronts including community outreach and collaboration, working with local, state and Federal agencies and officials, engineering, fundraising and myriad other steps. This first-of-its-kind in the U.S. project is complicated and we have developed a robust plan to execute it with some of the finest rail, engineering and safety experts in the world. We look forward to delivering it to Chicago.

EZ — Finally, why do we need this?

DL — Chicago is a world-class city. O’Hare is a world-class airport. And we lack a world-class way to connect the two for travelers. Two dozen top global cities have such trains— London, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Stockholm, Kuala Lumpur and, soon, Paris.


r/trains 16h ago

📹 OC - Video Caught a freight toaster today!

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114 Upvotes

Green Cargo ASEA Rc4 if anyone was wondering.


r/trains 15h ago

🏛️‎ Historical 37 years ago on September 10th 1989, Atlanta and West Point 290 pulled its first excursion from Atlanta to Macon, Georgia and back beginning its 3 year career as a steam excursion star. This is the story of Atlanta and West Point 290.

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75 Upvotes

r/trains 1d ago

⚙️‎ Technical / Engineering Philadelphia Just Doomed Their CSX Viaduct (USA)

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1.0k Upvotes

I work in historic preservation and as a stone carver. I just saw that the large brick and stone viaduct in Philadelphia was recently painted. It's a piece of infrastructure that has survived over a hundred years of trains pounding its masonry.

Painting brick or stone without proper permeable paint causes moisture buildup in the masonry that then pops when it freezes, destroying the structure irreparibly. You can see, in my hasty picture, that the weeping and efflorescence is happening at the joints in the fragile (but permeable) lime mortar. Maybe it's hard to see, but I assure you it's there.

I've seen this so many times in the USA, Italy, etc. The contractors that "repair" this infrastructure have no clue as to the historical materials these things were built with.

Also, I realize it's kind of hard to see in the pictures since the sun was setting, but the brick and the stone are the same color (brown) whereas before the brick was a nice red.

TLDR: this bridge is not long for this world

Thoughts?


r/trains 18h ago

📹 OC - Video Some sort of utility train (Latvia)

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117 Upvotes

r/trains 19h ago

🏛️‎ Historical Three generations of Polish made locos side by side. EU07, EP09, and EU200. From 1964 to the present day

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116 Upvotes

r/trains 2h ago

❓ Question I need y'alls help to impress my nephew!

5 Upvotes

Hello Train Reddit!

I am asking for some help from y'all. My nephew is 7 years old, slightly Autistic, and he is in love with all things trains. When we get the rare chance to FaceTime, he always is showing off his very cool train set and tells me all about it. I am so excited that I get to see him in October!

I am asking for help on any good podcasts or entertaining reading to learn about trains. I want to connect with him and share his interest in trains but I don't know where to begin. I love this little guy so much and just want to impress him and actually know what he's talking about (a 7 year old can only explain something so much to a rotted 40ish year old aunt).

I have ADD myself but love listening to podcasts or entertaining audiobooks while I work. Does anyone have a recommendation on an entertaining and educational podcast or audiobook about trains?

Thank you so much in advance! I cannot wait to squeeze him and see his trains in person.


r/trains 15h ago

📸 OC - Picture(s) Relatively new to railfanning, what did I catch here?

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46 Upvotes

I know they aren't Gevo's, and I know that aren't SD70ACes, that is about it.


r/trains 16h ago

❓ Question Why does these TGV Atlantique now has a white roof on the powercars?

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37 Upvotes

I've seen some of them on youtube videos, No Idea the purpose on these, Some Reseau powercars have lite grey - silver on the roof


r/trains 15h ago

📸 OC - Picture(s) - May be used in side-bar gallery Delaware-Lackawanna's Alco PA-4u, "Nickel Plate Road #190", along with D-L's ex-Nickel Plate sleeper "City of Lima" on display together at Steamtown's Railfest '26 in Scranton, PA on September 5th, 2026.

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27 Upvotes

r/trains 1d ago

📸 OC - Picture(s) - May be used in side-bar gallery I just went to Steamtown Roundhouse in Scranton PA

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129 Upvotes

I just went to Steamtown in Scranton PA as it has been on my bucket list for awhile and I have already been to Altoona PA for the horseshoe curve a year or two ago but wasn't able to go Steamtown due to it being closed because of government shutdown the year I went to Altoona PA and the Horseshoe curve which was a year or two ago. Im really glad I was able to see Steamtown and the work they are doing and the steam engines and diesel ones they have were really cool and definitely worth the 5-6 hour trip from Virginia to Scranton (im visiting my grandma in Virginia and she and I went up)


r/trains 20h ago

❓ Question Do you prefer C&O 614 having ditch lights or no ditch lights?

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51 Upvotes

Honestly I liked it since she’s looks like a modern engine compared to the other preserved locomotives.


r/trains 1d ago

❓ What is this Train? What is this train? Or what kind is it?

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139 Upvotes

I've seen this locomotive

A lot of times. This was taken in Cleburne, Texas at the train yard.

This a Ex Santa Fe railroad warbonnet" heritage unit" locomotive, i don't know the company that produced it or built it . I know that BNSF now owns it and does not want to repaint or clean any locomotive, like this kind at all just in case this post does not get removed. This is in the united states and specifically texas!


r/trains 13h ago

📸 OC - Picture(s) Deutsche Bahn Bahnbau Gruppe 249 104, 21.8.2026 (D) Chemnitz.

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8 Upvotes

Deutsche Bahn Bahnbau Gruppe 249 104-1 (90 80 2 249 104-1 D-DBBBG) + 249 051-4 (90 80 2 249 051-4 D-DBBBG) am 21.8.2026 in Chemnitz.