Western Maryland Scenic’s Georges Creek Division Railroad impacted by flooding (updated)

Washed out track nexzt to flooded creek

WESTERNPORT, Md. — The Georges Creek Division Railroad took a devastating hit by Tuesday’s severe flooding to the western Maryland area. The short line, which ceased operations in 2019, was recently leased to the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad for passenger and potential freight opportunities [See “Western Maryland Scenic to expand through lease…,” Trains News Wire, […]

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Switzerland’s one-of-a-kind snowplow (with video)

Front of rotary snowplow with yellow blades and red housing

Editors note: For more on the Rhätishe Bahn and its heritage fleet, including Switzerland’s one-of-a-kind snowplow, see the July 2025 issue of Trains Magazine. PONTRESINA, Switzerland — Markus Zaugg, head of rolling stock for the Rhätische Bahn, is leading an informal tour of the railroad’s shop building in the mountain village of Pontresina. The town […]

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What happened to the great passenger trains?

Conductor uses a lantern to signal the engineer

By 1840, the nation had 2,800 miles of railroad track. In his book American Notes, novelist Charles Dickens captured the flavor of an 1842 trip on the Boston & Lowell Railroad. “On it whirls headlong, dives through the woods again, emerges in the light, clatters over frail arches, rumbles upon the heavy ground, shoots beneath […]

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Call the big hook!

A back steam crane at work in a railroad yard

In the old days, when an accident had a rail line shut down, it was time to call the big hook, rugged cranes built for the biggest chores in the rail industry. The driving wheels of a passenger-service steam locomotive can be taller than a grown man, a 3-foot section of rail can weigh 155 […]

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Robert Van Camp’s Great Scenic Railway Journey

Cameraman filming steam train from cliff

Since 1994, Great Scenic Railway Journeys (GSRJ) on PBS has captivated viewers tuning in to “see the world from the scenic railroad.” It has catapulted Show Creator, Producer and now Host Robert Van Camp to 20 Emmys and the Program Excellence award from American Public Television. But for the man behind the camera, you see […]

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Mount Washington Cog Railway delays 2025 steam season

steam train going down on steep tracks

MOUNT WASHINGTON, N.H. — The iconic coal-fired steam locomotives of the Mount Washington Cog Railway will see a temporary delay in their 2025 debuts.  A May 12 post on the tourist railroad’s Facebook page states: “Recent pre-season preparations revealed the need for reduced steam pressure in locomotives MW2 and MW9, conditions that would result in […]

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Flying Yankee recognized in state register of historic places

Streamlined passenger train in snow

CONCORD, N.H. — The Flying Yankee has been officially listed in the New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places, presented by the New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources (DHR).  In a press release sent to News Wire by the Flying Yankee Association (FYA), the recognition is seen as an honor to the articulated trainset’s historical […]

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Photographer, author J. Parker Lamb dies at 91

Man with mustache in white shirt under trees

AUSTIN, Texas – Among the daring practitioners who revolutionized railroad photography in the 1950s and early ’60s, none reached a more receptive audience or garnered more praise than J. Parker Lamb. A mechanical engineer by profession, he worked hard to have his photos tell a story about people and technology, especially if it involved diesel […]

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