Classic Trains’ new 100-page special issue covers the fan-favorite regional railroad Wisconsin Central. Hear about the railroad from the people who started it as chronicled by leading railroad journalists. You’ll get insight into how the industry works and the life cycle of a railroad from birth through growth and sale.
Wisconsin Central: We Can!
Fallen Flags: Wisconsin Central Remembered
Wisconsin Central timeline, 1986 to present
Acting like a CLASS I, but not always thinking like one • ON THE LARGEST NEW REGIONAL, WC ALSO MEANS “WE CAN”
WC mileage: ups and downs
A hub- and spoke system for trains • WATCH FOR THOSE RUSH HOURS AT POINT AND SHOPS YARD!
Exploring the Northwoods • BY DOMELINER TO REMOTE AND EXOTIC LOCATIONS
A TIME OF transformation • SOO LINE’S PURCHASE OF MILWAUKEE ROAD AND SPINOFF OF WC WERE JUST THE PRELUDE
Cooling the fever • THE FOX RIVER VALLEY WAS ALMOST MISSED
Green Bay & Western: more than Alcos • BOATS, BRIDGE TRAFFIC, AND PAPER ALL FACTORED INTO THE SEVERAL LIVES OF THIS BADGER STATE RAILROAD
A death in the family • ON THE GREEN BAY & WESTERN, “RAILROAD FAMILY” WAS MORE THAN JUST A PHRASE
Tracks of the Black Bear • ALGOMA CENTRAL, WITH MINING ORIGINS, SERVED A REMOTE REGION OF ONTARIO
Riding on the Algoma Central • A 1951 JOURNEY ACROSS THE ONTARIO TUNDRA YIELDS SOME SURPRISES FOR TRAINS’ FOUNDER
How to buy a used diesel • ACCORDING TO WISCONSIN CENTRAL GURU JIM FISK, “IT TAKES A PRACTICED EYE, AND SOME LUCK, AND IT’S NOT EASY.”
In Wisconsin, more trains mean more tracks • CHRONICLING WC CAPACITY IMPROVEMENTS THROUGH THE 1990S
Britain’s rail freight revolution • ABANDONED BY GOVERNMENT, BRITISH RAIL’S FREIGHT OPERATION WITHERED IN THE RUN-UP TO PRIVATIZATION. THEN WISCONSIN CENTRAL’S ED BURKHARDT RODE INTO TOWN…
BR GLOSSARY • Britain and America are two countries divided by a common language — at least according to the old joke — so here’s a glossary of Anglo-American railway terminology:
UPS AND DOWNS OF BRITISH FREIGHT
Tightening the IRON LARIAT • HOW CANADIAN NATIONAL CREATED A NEW BACK-DOOR ENTRY TO THE US
Wisconsin Central Locomotives Preserved • ELEVEN UNITS IN THREE STATES HIGHLIGHT THE HISTORY OF THE WC AND ITS PREDECESSORS
1937 THE GOLDEN 50 2023 LAKE SUPERIOR RAILROAD MUSEUM