Throughout the United States and Canada thousands of railcars, including both new and historic fallen flags, have been vandalized with graffiti over the past decade. Help stop this crime by reporting any suspicious trespassing to the railroad or local police. This "Call to Action" has begun appearing in "Model Railroad News", magazines from Kalmbach Publishing Co. and Carstens Publications and historical society publications (such as the Quarterly from the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society) and is well worth repeating, hence it's permanent appearance on this page.

Operation Lifesaver
Non-profit, international continuing public education program first established in 1972 to end collisions, deaths and injuries at places where roadways cross train tracks, and on railroad rights-of-way. Operation Lifesaver programs are sponsored cooperatively by federal, state, and local government agencies; highway safety organizations, and the nation’s railroads.

There are state coordinators for all 50 US states and the District of Columbia as well as programs in Canada, Mexico, England, Estonia and Argentina. We have links to all of the state coordinators that have web sites (not all of them do) on our International Railway Links - just put Lifesaver in the Search Engine box and click on the Search button. Contact information for all of the state coordinators is available on the Operation Lifesaver web site.

GoRail was formed in 2004 with the support of the nation's freight railroads to mobilize railroaders across the country in support of policies that will lead to a stronger freight rail industry and to defend against legislation that would harm railroads. This independent non-profit organization supports policies that benefit the rail industry as a whole and defends against policies that would harm the rail industry, railroad employees, and railroad retirees.

The National Corridors Initiative exists to further the rapid development of practical, attainable High-Speed Rail transportation and is a non-profit organization predicated upon the belief that High-Speed Rail transit offers an economically viable and environmentally desirable complement to air and automobile travel, and as an intermodal adjunct enhances the utility of those modes.

Make needlepoint drink coasters with adaptations of your favorite railroad heralds for friends and yourself. You can purchase (via PayPal) the PDF directions for one design or a CD containing the PDF directions for all 68 available designs.

STEEL TRAILS
Chasing Arizona Trains in the 1950s

(2008, J.R. Knoll, Paperback, 115 pages, 11" x 8.5")

From the copper railroads at Superior, to the rugged grades on Ramsgate Hill outside Prescott, to the tourist sleepers parked at the rim of the Grand Canyon, to the rush of Southern Pacific transcontinental traffic passing through the busy Tucson terminal, Knoll's black and white pictures capture the trains, the people and the times. A must have for railroad buffs and photo collectors alike.

The Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation (ORHF), a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization, must vacate its Brooklyn Yard Roundhouse in Portland, Oregon, by the end of 2011. That means that the SP 4449, the SP&S 700, and the OR&N 197 will be without a protective roof over their collective massive rustable iron bodies. That means that there will soon be no shop to restore and maintain these three civic treasures.

ORHF is in the middle of a fundraising campaign to build a permanent, publicly-accessible facility for the locomotives and other historic railroad pieces. Please join the effort.

Use your Paypal account, credit or debit card (Visa, Mastercard, Discover or American Express) to make a fast, free and secure donation into the PayPal account named "dorr@tadlane.com," which is our webmaster's corporate email address. Just click on the "Donate" button and your browser will open the PayPal "TrainNet.org Support" page.