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MADISON, Wis. — The owner of the Wisconsin Great Northern, the heritage rail operation in Spooner, Wis., which gained significant attention for its efforts to restore the Mark Twain Zephyr, has been sentenced to a year and a day in prison for failure to pay employment taxes. Greg Vreeland, 55, of Springbrook, Wis., was sentenced […]
WILLIAMS, Ariz. — At age 123, the former Santa Fe branch between Williams and Grand Canyon National Park will not hesitate in challenging Grand Canyon Railway’s steam and diesel locomotives as they navigate the sharp curves and 3.5% grades. The fleet’s flagship, 2-8-2 No. 4960, was no exception on Sept. 21, 2024. Commemorating the first […]
COLESVILLE, Md. — A unique predecessor to the renowned hi-rail vehicle has recently hit the road for a renewal in its preservation odyssey. The National Capital Trolley Museum announced in a Sept. 17 post on Facebook and Instagram the acquisition of Evans Auto-Railer No. 109. The 1936-built vehicle was transported on Sept. 9 on a […]
This month, the Short Line Safety Institute enters its tenth year of operations, having marked 155 completed safety culture assessments, and numerous introductions of programs and resources to benefit the short line industry in continuously improving safety culture. Founded in response to the tragic 2013 Lac-Megantic rail accident in Quebec, Canada, on regional Montreal, Maine […]
ABILENE, Kan. — Nearly five years after the last run out of Baldwin City, six passenger cars of Bruce Eveland’s Kansas Belle dinner train have found a new owner and a temporary home. A Sept. 16, 2024, Facebook post by the Abilene & Smoky Valley Railroad (A&SV) announced the recent acquisition with American Heritage Railways […]
DULUTH, Minn. – The Lake Superior Railroad Museum has restored a former Erie Mining hi-rail car — a 1957 Pontiac — to service. The Pontiac Chieftain station wagon was put into service in 1957 on Erie Mining Co.’s 74-mile main line between Hoyt Lakes and Taconite Harbor. The vehicle traveled an estimated 110,000 […]
Sugar Express CLEWISTON, Fla. — U.S. Sugar’s Sugar Express train consist continues to grow in length, and its latest addition is an historic streamlined railcar with a strong Florida pedigree. Round-end observation lounge car Bay Biscayne arrived on U.S. Sugar’s Clewiston headquarters in July, and has been added to the Sugar Express 9-car excursion train […]
WILLIAMS, Ariz. — The 2024 summer season has concluded at Grand Canyon Railway and Hotel, yet its steam season presses on with 2-8-2 No. 4960. The Mikado-type was at the head end on Sept. 7 for its seventh “First Saturday” excursion of the year — between Williams and Grand Canyon National Park. “Overall, No. 4960 […]
BRANSON, Mo. — American Heritage Railways, owner of the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad and other properties, has acquired the Branson Scenic Railway, the tourist rail operation launched in 1993 on a former Missouri Pacific route. The new owners will take over operations this Sunday, Sept. 1. The purchase was prompted by the current […]
PENINSULA, Ohio — Larry Stevenson has been named the new president and CEO of the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, the heritage rail operation announced today. Stevenson was most recently CEO of the Island Corridor Foundation, the non-profit on British Columbia’s Vancouver Island overseeing the right-of-way of the former Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway. That organization has […]
CASS, W.Va — Cass Scenic Railroad State Park, the facility including the 11-mile heritage railroad and preserved lumber company town, will add its first campground as part of $13 million in improvements in the state park system announced by Gov. Jim Justice. The campground will feature 100 campsites with water and electrical connections, two bathhouses, […]
STEWARTSTOWN, Pa. — A rural, farm-to-market short line that struggled to survive through floods and legal challenges is getting ready to celebrate its 140th anniversary. Chartered in September 1884 and opened a year later, the 7.4-mile-long Stewartstown Railroad tourist carrier in south-central Pennsylvania is marking one of the longest-lived U.S. rail operations under its original […]
