A Southern Pacific 2-8-0 pulls a log train on the Cloudcroft branch near Alamogordo, N.Mex. This view is from 1946, three years before the line was abandoned. Henry Garcia photo […]
SP logging train
Train Topic: Narrow Gauge & Industrial
Prairie tanks for the Doughboys
At least eight 60-centimeter-guage 2-6-2Ts of the type used by the U.S. Army on temporary railways in France during World War I are visible in this scene at Fort Benning, Georgia, after the war. Baldwin, Davenport, and Vulcan built some 296 of the diminutive engines. Fort Benning’s 27-mile line moved men and material around the […]
Cumbres & Toltec to hold centennial celebration for K-36 locomotives
CHAMA, N.M. — The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic will host a five-day celebration Aug. 13-17 marking the 100th anniversary of the Denver & Rio Grande Western’s K-36 steam locomotives, delivered from Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1925. Nine of the 10 locomotives still exist; five are at the C&TSRR, with four still in regular operation. A […]
NTSB issues preliminary report on rail death at Alabama steel plant
WASHINGTON — A Fairfield Southern Co. employee involved in remote-control switching died from injuries suffered when he struck a railcar on an adjacent track, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report on the June 16, 2025, accident issued today (July 16, 2025). During switching work at the U.S. Steel Flintridge Yard in […]
Georgetown Loop
A Colorado & Southern train climbs toward Silver Plume, Colo., ducking under Devil’s Gate bridge on the Georgetown Loop shortly before the end of service in 1938. The bridge was restored for tourist trains in 1984. R. H. Kindig photo […]
Durango & Silverton loses land-use case at Colorado Supreme Court
DENVER — The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad has lost a land-use fight stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic before the Colorado Supreme Court. The court, in a group of decisions announced May 27, upheld a ruling that LaPlata County had the right to regulate the railroad, as the Colorado Public Utilities Commission had previously […]
Narrow gauge freight
A 70-car Rio Grande narrow gauge freight drops down Tanglefoot Curve east of Cumbres, Colo., on June 11, 1960. Power is K-36 2-8-2 No. 486. Robert F. Collins photo […]
Doug Tagsold’s Colorado & Southern in 1:72 scale
Doug Tagsold’s Colorado & Southern in 1:72 scale | Model Railroader Editor Eric White stops to visit with frequent MR contributor Doug Tagsold and his unique 40 x 52-foot 1:72 scale narrow gauge layout. The C&S Clear Creek District is a double-deck model railroad, set between Denver, Colo., and the Rocky Mountains during the 1920s. […]
Magma Arizona railfanning
There is always the story of the locomotive that got away. For years back in the late 1960s, whenever I was in southern Oregon (due to my Air Force status), I stopped by the McCloud Railway and, with camera in hand, one by one knocked off their diesel fleet and cars. Except Baldwin Locomotive […]
Mike Eagleson was all about steam
The trend toward professional archival preservation of the work of major railroad photographers continues, lately with the news that the huge collection of negatives, slides, and films of the late Mike Eagleson has gone to the Industrial Archives & Library based in Bethlehem, Pa. This is a big “get” for the IAL, buttressing its mission […]
Diesel arrives at East Broad Top from Durango & Silverton
ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pa. — West met East here Thursday morning (Feb. 13, 2025) as the East Broad Top Railroad took ownership of former Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad diesel unit No. 1203, an H.K. Porter six-axle locomotive built in Pittsburgh in 1946. After a week-long trip by heavy-haul truck from its last home in […]
News photo: Diesel from Durango & Silverton arrives at East Broad Top
ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pa. — A H.K. Porter diesel acquired from the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad has arrived at the East Broad Top Railroad to provide backup power for EBT operations and support expansion efforts. The 80-ton, 3-foot-gauge engine was built in 1946 and operated on US Gypsum’s railroad in Plaster City, Calif., until […]