And it’s 50 pages of railroad dining? (55 pages if you count the Coors article).
Hmmmm, what’s the latest on the European OA experience?
At least there’s a blurb about how six railroads are cooperating in an “Alphabet Route” coal routing.
Hmmm, 2 minutes 36 seconds. A new record for reading through TRAINS for me!
April, or May?[;)]
Just got mine too…didn’t get a chance to read it yet…I am going to take a couple day Railfanning trip out to the Altoona, Pa, area this week…I’ll take it along as some reading material at the hotel…
Ever since Mark Hemphill left the mag has really lacked good content. I don’t know about you but a whole issue pertaining to food, just not to interesting to me. What ever happened to trackside guides, the Chicago issue, or even the tower issue these are what really got me into reading this magazine. I would have to say that the last good issue that was interesting and worth reading was the merger puzzle edition. Please no more stories about hippie trains.
I liked the issue. To me a meal in the dining car was always the highlight of a fine train trip. Since I have not really enjoyed the experience for possibliy ten years, the nostalgia was wonderful. Some of the points reminded of personal experiences that I might have forgotton. Also, I found information that filled out gaps in my knowledge of dining car development. I also thought the treatment was fair. I am also a passenger car enthusiast, and found some of the details on the equipment interesting.
Admittadly, perhaps this should have been an issue of CLASSIC TRAINS?
But I can guess why it was in TRAINS.,
Let us all hope and pray that it has a positive effect on Congress.
I second that whole heartly. In fact I think the best was the pix pf the BNSF train @ Caliente on the back page. I will be going there soon & I will bring the magazine to see where they shot it. I think if it took me 5 monutes to go thru the entire magazine it was a lot.
It was just like in the last issue about Rt 66 there was no mention of the Rt66 museum @ Barstow just to name 1 omission . [:(!]
[quote]
Originally posted by Wooster25
[
Railroads cover a wide range of operations and interests. While I am personally not that interested in the dining car experience, there are a good number of readers who are, and I wouldn’t deny them the enjoyment. At any rate, I learned a few new things in this month’s issue, and not all of them were related to gen-set locomotives.
To FM: TRAINS is not strictly a news magazine, suggest you get a subscription to Railway Age or Progressive Railroading and/or their European equivalents.
…It did really arrive early {for my location}, this month…That’s the April issue. Really haven’t read a lot in it yet…Did one of the dining articles…My copy arrived on I believe it was the 26th…Early, on the average.
is the magazine in stores already?
this going to help me with my graduation project.
I would not go THAT far, but the point you are raising is not entirely without merit either.
While the new regime has had some really good content, they tend to have more of an “Oprah” style that is top heavy on the human interest angle, and unfortunately, that impacts the substance that we “Hemphill groupies” had gotten used to.
Sorta like the Olympics. Remember when you could tune in the Olympics and expect to see the “thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat”, nonstop? Now it’s boring becase the presentation is so chock full of “Oprah” style excelsior about the athlete’s personal lives, how the grandparents of the anchorperson on the speedskating relay team from Elbonia died trying to escape from the gulag etc etc. So the athlete has declared they are dedicating any medals they win in their memory yada yada…
Oprah can get away with that stuff ad nauseum because she has a specialized audience who actually thrives on that angle, so they tune in seeking that aspect… And there is a determined segment throughout the rest of the media intent upon riding her coatails, even if that means crashing hard into the ground…which is a shame.
If I wanted a heavy human interest reading experience, there are scads of magazines devoted to just that. Funny thing is, when I buy a magazine titled "Trains"by gosh I expect it to be predominantly about trains, not people. Guess I’m just weird that way.
I’ve not seen the April issue yet, but it sounds like what would happen if the dining car article from the christmas special turned into godzilla and swallowed an entire issue? [V] lordy!!
I beg to differ. Been reading Trains close to 30 years. More human interest stories during Hemphill’s reign than any other. One issue was totally dedicated to railroaders. Not saying it was a good thing or bad thing. That’s just how it was.
If in fact there were more HI based content in Mark Hemphill’s stand than the 30 years prior, how does that equate to even more being added under the new regime being (ahem) “better”?
Just being polite, but there is such a thing as “too much of a (ahem) good thing”…
Naturally I enjoyed the piece on how the New Haven set the standard for 1st Class dining.
I believe it was on page 30-something.
Anti-Gates: I did not suggest that more human interest would be “better.” Perhaps you’re referring to someone else’s comments.
I enjoyed reading this issue it was a bit of a change from the normal things. I also learned alot about dining in history and reading about the dinner trains makes me want to take a trip on one next time I get the chance.
An outstanding issue!
And to think just a year or two ago, I was about to let my subscription lapse.
I have been very pleased with the new editor.
For me it was breakfast in the dining car as we rolled through Missouri along the Arkansas along side the Spring River heading to Memphis from Springfield, on the Frisco, I can’t remember the train # now…too long back… Other memorable meals were on the Panama Ltd. ripping through MIssissippi at speed on double track Or riding bactk to Memphis from NOLA on the “City” meals to remember, cooked to perfection and served with class… What a shame others younger cannot have those experiences.
Sam
That is one reason why we need both TRAINS and CLASSIC TRAINS, so people will know both how it was and how many of us think it should be for the USA to be a really first-class nation. And don’t tell me it cannot come back. Look at the Williams Harvey House. What happened to that wonderful establishment should happen to all of North American Passenger railroading in my opinion. And indeed it is happening on some state-supported lines.
In addition to learning about gen-set locomotives (meaning my multi-tubine bringing steam power plant technology to railroading just got a little more practical), I was amazed to learn in two places in the mag about using fireboxes as cooking stoves. It is obvious, but it truly never ever had occured to me!
Yes sir, I’m already through with the April issue. I enjoyed reading the latest news section but, that was about it except for the Coors article which gave me some mixed feelings. For example, why truck grain from another elevator when the rest comes in by rail? Also, if the SW-8 switcher that they donated to the local railroad museum is so close to the Coors facility, why truck it over there? Obviously, the musuem does not have a rail connection. It does not make a lot of sense to me to have a railroad museum without an outside rail connection.
I feel a little better now that I have gotten that off my chest. Thank you.
Well cool, then we agree. [:)]