News photos: Metro-North unveils seventh heritage locomotive

Side view of the MTA Central locomotive

NORTH WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — The Metro-North Railroad has unveiled the seventh unit in its heritage locomotive series and the first to be repainted, rather than wrapped. The scheme on MN P32AC-DM 203 replicates the image applied to seven Conrail FL9s in 1980 when New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority funded their rebuild by General Electric […]

Read More…

Abilene & Smoky Valley dedicates restored diesel

Veteran standing in fromt of restored diesel

ABILENE, Kan. — The Abilene & Smoky Valley Railroad has reactivated one of its vintage diesel locomotives for the first time in over 20 years.  No. 34, a GE 44-ton center-cab switcher, was unveiled on Sunday (June 8, 2025) at the tourist railroad’s former Rock Island depot in Abilene. This comes after an extensive restoration […]

Read More…

UP’s Lincoln locomotive to be displayed in Omaha

Red, maroon, and gray locomotive in shop building

OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific’s Abraham Lincoln commemorative locomotive will be displayed at baseball’s College World Series, the railroad has announced. The locomotive, along with cars from the UP heritage fleet, will be on display at the railroad’s “Home Plate” location adjacent to Charles Schwab Field, site of the baseball tournament, from noon to 6 […]

Read More…

A 2025 Big Steam Summer

Big steam locomotive rounds curve during late summer

Spring has sprung some big highlights for big steam in 2025. After a two-week stay at the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, Nickel Plate Road No. 765 made a historic detour along the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway — plus three employee appreciation trips out of Brewster, Ohio, on May 10 — before heading to the […]

Read More…

Some of my favorite train stations

Sunlight lights the interior of a glass and steel arched train shed where three passenger trains await departure

Among the delights of railroad travel is departing and arriving at great stations. I have more than a few favorite stations, so I’ll limit today’s essay to active stations served by regularly scheduled trains. This excludes favorites that are gone but not forgotten, such as Philadelphia’s magnificent Broad Street Station; station buildings that survive but […]

Read More…

Southern Railway FP7 to celebrate 75th anniversary

Green streamlined diesel locomotive at night

SPENCER, N.C. — Former Southern Railway FP7 diesel No. 6133 is turning 75 in 2025, prompting multiple events throughout the year to mark the occasion.  The North Carolina Transportation Museum, owner of the vintage streamlined locomotive, initially offered “At the Throttle” sessions on June 7, 8, 21, and 28. Participants would have the opportunity to […]

Read More…

NRHS awards 2025 Railway Heritage Grants

Logo of National Railway Historical Society

MOORESTOWN, N.J. — Thirty-one organizations have received $150,000 in funding from the National Railway Historical Society’s 2025 Railway Heritage Grant program, the organization announced Wednesday, June 4. The funds go toward preservation of historic railroad artifacts and media. “The NRHS Heritage Grants program is a prolific and visible funder of restoration and preservation projects,” NRHS […]

Read More…