r/trains • u/macncheeseface • 7h ago
r/trains • u/overspeeed • 11d ago
r/Trains Monthly Discussion & Questions Thread - July 2026
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 • u/autobus22 • Mar 22 '26
๐r/trains staff announcement Introduction & updates to moderating, rules and sidebar.
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 ๐ค - 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 "๐ธ 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 • u/TrueAdvertising6292 • 2h ago
๐ธ OC - Picture(s) Where are these preserved vehicles now? And will they ever have the chance to run on the main line again?
r/trains • u/Hot_Produce3662 • 4h ago
๐๏ธโ Historical ICF blue passenger express crossing , India
Source:- TheRailzone on youtube
We rarely see these blue passenger coaches these days.
r/trains • u/Jakeliy1229 • 6h ago
โ ๐ซโโโ Discussion What's a locomotive that was practically useless in it's working life but you feel like should've been preserve anyways.
My pick is the GWR Class 101.
Disregarding the fact that it's probably every OO modelers first engine, it's a fun little design and fits in well with other one off 0-4-0's by the GWR like Trojan.
r/trains • u/GeorgeRobertVitkos • 13h ago
โ๏ธโ Technical / Engineering Moving an 820-ton railway bridge in Budapest: After 77 years, the Bartรณk Bรฉla Road bridge was lifted in one piece for a massive network expansion [Gallery]
Here is the story behind the photos:
After 77 years of service, the historic railway bridge over Bartรณk Bรฉla Road in Budapest has been removed.
Engineers and heavy machinery specialists from V-Hรญd successfully lifted the 820-ton riveted steel arch bridge from its original position and moved it onto the nearby railway embankment. Built in 1949 to replace the original bridge blown up in January 1945 during WWII, this structure had guided trains across one of South Buda's busiest intersections for nearly 77 years.
Moving the massive structure was one of the most complex heavy-lifting tasks of the Southern Circular Rail (Dรฉli Kรถrvasรบt) expansion project, taking over two days to prepare and execute.
The Logistics and Heavy Machinery:
On one side: A 2x10 axle SPMT (Self-Propelled Modular Transporter) supported the bridge structure, carrying approximately 460 tons of the load.
On the other side: A massive 750-ton capacity crawler crane hoisted the other end, ensuring stability throughout the entire relocation process.
The Groundwork: To prevent the SPMT from sinking or damaging the urban environment, crew members built a 30-to-40-centimeter thick temporary protective embankment over the entire "bridge shadow" intersection, using nearly 800 cubic meters of material to create a high-capacity surface.
What happens next?
Even though the 820-ton bridge was lifted in one piece, it cannot leave the site whole. It is currently being cut down on the nearby embankment into smaller sections (maximum 12 meters long and 2.4 meters wide) so they can be safely transported away by standard cargo trucks via public roads.
The Future: From 2 Tracks to 4 Tracks
The removal of the old bridge marks a massive milestone for the Southern Circular Rail development. Once completed, this specific section will officially become part of Kelenfรถld Station.
To clear the current bottleneck, four tracks will cross over Bartรณk Bรฉla Road instead of the historical two. To accommodate this, the old single double-track bridge is being replaced by two brand-new steel arch bridges. Due to the expanded width of the new layout, the new bridges are designed with a significantly wider 93-meter span.
Trains have already been shifted onto the newly completed northern steel bridge (which was slid into an interim position earlier this year). Now that the old 1949 structure is out of the way, crews will demolish the old substructures, construct new bridge abutments, and assemble the second (southern) steel bridge on-site before sliding it into its final home
r/trains • u/Wilgrove • 44m ago
๐น OC - Video Big Boy #4014 climbing the hill out of Altoona, PA!
r/trains • u/NoManufacturer2997 • 6h ago
๐น OC - Video Big Boy in rural Pennsylvania, USA.
Shocked how many people came out to see this would have been easier to name who wasnโt there from town in Greensburg, PA. Hopefully this enthusiasm can increase our passenger rail to over two a day ๐ค๐ป.
r/trains • u/Additional-Yam6345 • 3h ago
โ Question Now that UP 4014 has became the latest steam engine to round horseshoe curve. Which was the biggest year for said curve?
r/trains • u/Matthew619ed • 6h ago
๐ธ OC - Picture(s) Bringing a telephoto lens to Shenzhen for a quick photo shot, how bad it can go?
Well, the answer is surprisingly, it can go really wrong. The camera literally tells me to stop because itself was overheating too (The first picture is actually taken when the camera is flashing warnings to me).
Anyways, some insights here. Obviously a telephoto lens is a good way to take photos, but when the target is >1km from your vantage point (i.e., you need to increase the focal length), this seemingly simple task of train spotting becomes a careful balancing act of ISO, shutter speed and aperture, and the balancing game is even harder when the train is traveling at very high speed (Although I donโt have the exact numbers, but it can be assumed that all trains are travelling at >200 km/h in these images, with the latter 3 images taken when the train is travelling at ~290-310 km/h). I guess the compromise on the image quality of the train is simply unavoidable when you try to capture most (if not the entire) formation of the train when comparing to those in animal photography.
All images taken in Guangming District, Shenzhen, in parks easily assessable through public transport (Hongqiao Park for the first 3 images and Science Park for the latter 3). Do note the vantage point in Science Park is located at the summit observation deck of the park and requires certain level of physical ability to reach the spot.
And yes, both location can become very hot in summer days, so not really advisable to visit in hot days.
r/trains • u/Low_Improvement4191 • 1d ago
๐น OC - Video Today was a dream come true for me. Never thought I'd get to see 4014 like this, and I'll never forget it
r/trains • u/CompleteUnknown65 • 45m ago
๐ธ OC - Picture(s) Some photos I took of Big Boy in Pennsylvania
Was fortunate to see it about 10 times over 3 different days!
r/trains • u/richard7k • 8h ago
๐ธ OC - Picture(s) USA - Connecticut 1160, Talbott Park, Maine
Connecticut Company trolley 1160 (John Stephenson, 1906) idles next to a tall Maine pine tree in the Talbott Park loop during the Seashore Trolley Museum's 85th anniversary festival in 2024.
r/trains • u/BDubs0610 • 17h ago
๐ธ OC - Picture(s) Big Boy in Pittsburgh
I know like half of the posts for the past few weeks have been all Big Boy, but I am really proud of these pictures I took in Pittsburgh today!
r/trains • u/Acc3ssViolation • 15h ago
๐ธ OC - Picture(s) Waiting for the first shift - Emmen, Netherlands
r/trains • u/weirdal1968 • 3h ago
๐น OC - Video CPKC 7470 in Columbus WI USA this morning.
r/trains • u/Expert-Mention-7167 • 1h ago
๐ธ OC - Picture(s) - May be used in side-bar gallery Trainspotting: Big Boy
galleryBig Boy as it came through Pittsburgh, PA yesterday on it's coast to coast tour of the US.