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Wood-burning steam locomotive event in 2021 Wood-burning steam locomotive trains were the highlight of a September 2021 celebration of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad that is automatically a step back in time to the 1920s. With the inclusion of the older locomotives, the clock turned back further, to about 1900. The COVID-19 pandemic pushed […]
OSIER, Colo. — Steam excursion trains of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic turned back early today after a fire in the lunch hall at the mid-point of the railroad in Osier, Colo. C&TS Interim President Scott Gibbs says that damage was confined to the bakery portion of the kitchen. He says the railroad turned Thursday’s […]
HARBOR SPRINGS, Mich. — An important piece of American steam locomotive logging history is being relocated from its display site of more than 50 years in Texas to an appropriate place in Michigan. In the town of Harbor Springs, a Shay locomotive will be restored and displayed in the town where inventor Ephiram Shay came […]
Oil-fired narrow gauge steam locomotives are relatively rare. But they are making a come-back in the world of preservation. Recently the Durango & Silverton tourist railroad, prompted by a disastrous wildfire allegedly caused by one of its trains, began converting some of its steam locomotives from coal to oil fuel. Like the rest of the […]
PORTLAND, Maine – Looking to the future, the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Co. and Museum plans to restore two more of its 2-foot gauge steam locomotives to operating condition, in addition to two currently in service. The announcement was made at the Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum’s summer picnic earlier this month, where two […]
Geared for success Brimstone’s 3-truck Shay No. 35 pulls coal in Tennessee. Lumber railroads were the primary users, but a few coal-haulers used Shays and/or the two other popular geared locomotives in North America, Heislers and Climaxes. Dwight Smith, Jim Wrinn collection […]
ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pa. — Progress on the rebirth of the East Broad Top Railroad continues on multiple fronts as part of ongoing efforts since the narrow gauge railroad was acquired by the non-profit EBT Foundation in February 2020. Some updates: — Work continues on restoring 2-8-2 steam locomotive No. 16 (Baldwin, 1916) to service, possibly […]
ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pa. – The East Broad Top Railroad reached one of its preservation goals Thursday, Aug. 19, with the arrival of a period standard-gauge, 40-foot steel boxcar to illustrate how the historic common-carrier narrow gauge line once hauled larger cars on interchange trucks. Loaded on a flatbed trailer on Wednesday at the Kiski Junction […]
Company service Texas Electric Utilities E25B No. 2304, southbound with coal for Monticello, Texas, in May 1984, represents the first generation of motive power on the power plant railroad. Alex Mayes photo […]
ANTONITO, Colo. — Rio Grande Southern 4-6-0 No. 20, visiting the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad from Colorado Railroad Museum, will pull freight cars and historic passenger cars on a Trains Magazine photographer’s jaunt between Antonito and Big Horn on Sept. 5. This will be the first solo trip for the 1899 steam locomotive, which […]
ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pa. – The East Broad Top Railroad has hired an archivist to begin organizing and cataloging hundreds of cubic feet of the historic narrow gauge line’s company records. Julie K. Rockwell of nearby Huntingdon, Pa., is leading efforts to sift through a vast collection of material documenting the operations of the 33-mile central […]
DURANGO, Colo. — The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad is suing La Plata County, Colo., over an effort to stop the railroad’s increased use of its Rockwood Station location. The Durango Herald reports that, in response to a warning from the county that the railroad faced fines or other penalties unless it addressed land-use […]
