July 01, 2008
First, let me welcome you to Trackside, The Newsletter; a new part of the American-Rails.com website. I had thought long and hard about creating a newsletter to go with the website since American Rails first began but I could never decide what exactly to include in it. After much consideration, though, I finally decided that perhaps the best approach was to fill the newsletter with, well, news! More specifically, however, current news and events which will be broken down into categories such as Class Is, shortlines, Regionals, preservation, etc. keeping you up-to-date on the latest on-goings around the country. And, since I usually add these news pieces to the American-Rails.com sister site, the American Rails Forums (ARF), much of the information in Trackside will be linked to topics at ARF.
July means that summer has fully arrived and again, if you are looking for a quick vacation or just wanna get out this summer, you might want to consider visiting one of these places. Speaking of which, just as an FYI, I have added a new tourist railroad section to the website. While I only have twenty or so tourist railroads covered so far in time I plan to highlight many more. For a complete museum and tourist line guide please check out their section below.
CSX Transportation News:
Battle for the CSX board will soon be decided
Norfolk Southern News:
Proposal by NS, Pan Am Railways to co-own new railroad a minor transaction, STB says
NS's CEO Moorman: The renaissance is real
Union Pacific News:
UP: Leave us out of California high-speed plan
General Regional and shortline News
Tulare Valley Railroad offers to buy abandoned route
Floods devastate Iowa Northern Railway
Railroad Museum and Tourist Line Guide
General Tourist Railroads and Museums News Wire
Dinner train starts up on Chesapeake Bay
BNSF New Citizens For Rail Security Website
Phoenix weighs rules to silence downtown trains
Citizen helps stop theft of CSX locomotive horns
Court strikes down state-imposed speed limit on rail line
National Railway Museum defends plan to sell, scrap some artifacts
Former Northern Pacific depot to reopen
General State and Regional News Wire
NJ Transit to build station in Wood-Ridge
Hopewell, New York Depot Restoration
Rosedale Station Gets A Facelift
Third Train to Serve North Carolina
Charlotte, NC to study streetcars
B&O Steam at Fostoria, Ohio (YouTube Video)
Wheeling, WV Streetcar 639 Restored
Railroad photography exhibit opens in West Virginia depot
As Trackside moves forward I will look to include more topics and information within it. In any event, if you have any opinions, ideas, and/or general comments/suggestions for the newsletter please feel free to pass them my way. As with American-Rails.com I am always looking for ways to improve the newsletter to better benefit you, the reader.
For the railfans, now that good weather is here, happy hunting when trackside and stay safe out there! 
Best regards,
Adam Burns
P.S. By the way, have you ever been interested in a place to talk and discuss with others the hobby of railfanning? Likewise are you looking for a quick answer to a railroad or railroad-related question? The American Rails Forums were created basically for those very two reasons, to have fun and learn about our country’s railroads, from its history to today’s operations. Even if you do not have a serious interest in railroading the forums can be a great resource guide to find answers to any questions about trains and railroads that you may have. If you are perhaps interested in joining us please click here to visit the forums.