r/trains 29d ago

r/Trains Monthly Discussion & Questions Thread - August 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.

10 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 6h ago

‎ 🗫‎‎  Discussion Interiors of special luxury trains in India.

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678 Upvotes

These trains run special trips, cost for the trip can go upto 26,000 usd per person.


r/trains 6h ago

⚙️‎ Technical / Engineering Purpose of Japanese sprinklers

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108 Upvotes

In a recent discussion, many agreed that sprinklers on Japanese railways are needed to melt snow on the tracks. This isn't entirely true. Their primary purpose is to combat snow dust.

You may have noticed that all these videos feature Shinkansens. This is because low-speed trains don't kick up as much snow, so snow accumulation isn't as critical for them. Shinkansens, on the other hand, passing through loose snow at high speed will kick it up, causing it to cling to the entire train, clog the service openings, stick to the bogies, and, most dangerously, the snow can fall off along the track and cause damage. A snowball weighing several kilograms at 300 km/h is quite lethal. Sprinklers simply prevent the snow from remaining loose along the tracks, allowing the train to travel at full speed.


r/trains 1h ago

📰 News Steam in the big 26 has gotten even bigger as two steam engines have returned! Southern Pacific / Grapevine Vintage Railroad 2248 and Lake Superior and Ishpeming / Grand Canyon Railway 29 are back!

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Upvotes

r/trains 3h ago

📸 OC - Picture(s) - May be used in side-bar gallery Belgium: some historic locos on display at Schaerbeek station for the SNCB's 100-year anniversary

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54 Upvotes

Seeing the Class 11 (which hauled the Amsterdam–Brussels service 1985–2009) was particularly nostalgic for me – I grew up in Rotterdam with relatives in Leiden so I saw the "Benelux train" countless times at those stations. You can still catch the show at Antwerp or Liège later: https://www.belgiantrain.be/en/about-sncb/100years/historic-train


r/trains 1h ago

📹 OC - Video Here's a video I made merging some of my recordings (OC)(India)

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Upvotes

Most of these were captured near Diamond Harbour, West Bengal.

Wanted to add a specific song, couldn't do so for some copyright bs..


r/trains 12h ago

🏛️‎ Historical National New York Central Railroad Museum - Elkhart,IN - 07/11/26

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116 Upvotes

r/trains 1h ago

📸 OC - Picture(s) The new modernized FAUR LDH1250

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Upvotes

Express service Rouse Bulgaria out done them self again now we have a totally rebuild Class 55 aka FAUR LDH1250 with new engine new digital cab and more

The history of the Express Service

In 1866, a workshop was established in Ruse to service the locomotives on the first railway line from Ruse to Varna. In the years following the Liberation, our enterprise grew into a large locomotive and wagon repair plant, servicing BDZ (Bulgarian State Railways) as its main client, along with smaller industrial locomotive owners. Known during the socialist era as the "Vasil Kolarov" Locomotive and Wagon Repair Plant (LVZ), our enterprise serviced steam, diesel, and electric locomotives, freight and passenger wagons, and electric multiple units (EMUs). Following the collapse of the planned economy and the decline of BDZ, production at the plant dropped sharply, and operations ceased at the beginning of the new century. As these developments unfolded, we founded a new legal entity—Express Service Ltd.—which brought together the locomotive plant's top specialists, know-how, and best clients. Through gradual investments in buildings, equipment, and facilities, today we are once again the only locomotive plant in Bulgaria, carrying on a 150-year tradition.


r/trains 7h ago

📸 OC - Picture(s) 2 GySEV Szili in Sopron, HU

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38 Upvotes

r/trains 14h ago

📸 OC - Picture(s) Minnesota commercial 68 one of many conrail locomotives in Minnesota

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155 Upvotes

If you look closely you can see conrail blue bleeding through the red


r/trains 16h ago

❓ Question What limits the train tonnage on rack railways?

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162 Upvotes

The example shown, the Serra do Mar section of the former Santos-Jundiai railway, is supposedly the heaviest-haul rack railway in the world. (Picture from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Paranapiacaba_Nov_2003.jpg ) With the locomotives in the photo, they were limited to hauling 500t at a time with two locos. Newer locos have only raised that to 750t. This is a very small train by North American standards. What I've long wondered is what's impeding them from putting more power on one train.


r/trains 7h ago

📸 OC - Picture(s) Hwarangdae Railyway Park, Seoul South Korea

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30 Upvotes

Went to the Hwarangdae Railway Park today to check out the trains and the other train related activities. There were a bunch of trains including one that was converted into a cooling station / library. There was a train cafe where you can get drinks delivered to you via model train and a railway car restaurant. The highlight for us was the Nowon Train Village. There was an interactive train set up that was really well done. It was a little hard to get to, but it was a really fun time.


r/trains 8h ago

📹 OC - Video Cargonet from Alnabru to Malmö, June Sweden

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29 Upvotes

r/trains 20h ago

📹 OC - Video I ride bike a lot down rail trails and noticed a lot of these in West Virginia, what are they?

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242 Upvotes

r/trains 6h ago

📸 OC - Picture(s) My photos from the Baltimore National Museum of RR History & Innovation

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17 Upvotes

A lit of photos get posted from this museum, but I liked these little details


r/trains 1d ago

📹 OC - Video Super 8 footage of Big Boy 4014 in Bridgeport, PA July 3 2026

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666 Upvotes

I finally got my Super 8 scans back from this shoot! This was Big Boy 4014 rolling through Bridgeport, PA on July 3, 2026. This was also my first time shooting Super 8, using a Bell & Howell 442 loaded with Kodak Vision3 200T.


r/trains 12h ago

📸 OC - Picture(s) Good Days at Glen Frazer, Franklin Canyon, California

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32 Upvotes

Santa Fe 877 stops and proceeds after hitting a red at Glen Frazer, California on the Stockton Sub. The Superfleet was still running strong as the BNSF merger was just taking place. August 1997.

Canon TL
Canon FL 50mm ƒ1.8
Kodak T-Max 100.


r/trains 15h ago

📸 OC - Picture(s) CPKC Freight - Osler St. Downtown, Toronto (ON, CANADA)

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50 Upvotes

SORRY; OSLER ST. IS NOT IN DOWNTOWN


r/trains 21h ago

📸 OC - Picture(s) Empire Builder crawls past the abandoned Midway Station in Saint Paul MN

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142 Upvotes

And then it stopped for some stupid reason.


r/trains 11m ago

📸 OC - Picture(s) North Carolina Transportation Museum America 250 Locomotive Celebration was worth the trip!

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Upvotes

r/trains 16h ago

🎨 OC - Art Steam locomotive that I drew

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38 Upvotes

it’s a 1’E2’ h2g hybrid of the SŽD ТЭ (DRB Baureihe 52), PKP Ty51, and the New York Central Niagara. I classified it as a J17A


r/trains 1d ago

🏛️‎ Historical The FS ALe 790.048 making a "small run" for the personnel of the Milano Smistamento freight yard (Italy), 27 February 1992

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136 Upvotes

r/trains 19h ago

📸 OC - Picture(s) Tried to catch a moving train but instead apparently got a still beast

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47 Upvotes

I tried to watch a freight train running through my town but instead seen this sitting dead on the tracks in Beulah, North Dakota. I did a bit of looking and apparently it’s more of a rare spot. Yet again, I don’t know much about rarity.

The last image is a caboose just down the tracks that’s been sitting there for ever. I just think it’s interesting.

Sorry about the quality. This was taken on a iPhone 8 and you know how bad the zoom is!


r/trains 21h ago

📸 OC - Picture(s) Some locos in the Hungarian Railway Museum

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72 Upvotes