Historic photos, ceremonial spikes featured in transcontinental railroad anniversary exhibit NEWSWIRE

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Andrew J. Russell (American, 1830-1902), East and West Shaking Hands at Laying Last Rail, 1869, albumen print. The ceremony spotlighted Union Pacific locomotive No. 119 meeting Central Pacific locomotive Jupiter. From left, shaking hands, are Samuel S. Montague, chief engineer of the Central Pacific Railroad, and General Grenville M. Dodge, chief engineer of the Union […]

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British vs. U.S. practices

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A former London & North Eastern Class D49 4-4-0 displays the British-style method of securing the smokebox door and using buffers with couplers. Kenneth G. Williamson Q Why did British steam locomotives use a center-locking device on the smokebox and buffers with link and chain for car coupling? How did U.S. railroads do it differently? […]

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Amtrak adds hot-meal option on Lake Shore, Capitol NEWSWIRE

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Amtrak is adding a hot-meal option to the boxed lunch and dinner choices it offers on the Lake Shore Limited and Capitol Limited. Bob Johnston WASHINGTON — Amtrak is adding a hot-meal choice to lunch and dinner food service for sleeping-car passengers on the Lake Shore Limited and Capitol Limited. Beginning this week, slow-braised beef […]

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Durango & Silverton looks to oil firing, diesels NEWSWIRE

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Durango & Silverton No. 493 will be converted to burn oil as the popular tourist railroad works to lessen the potential fire hazard. Trains: Jim Wrinn DURANGO, Colo. — With coal-fired steam trains running again to Silverton, Colorado’s legendary Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad is looking forward to the future and how it can […]

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Work focuses on test fire preparations for C&O 1309 NEWSWIRE

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Work progresses on C&O 1309 at Western Maryland Scenic Railroad. Diversified Rail Services Trailing truck from C&O 1309. Diversified Rail Services Welder fabricates new ashpan on C&O 1309. Diversified Rail Services RIDGELEY, W.Va. — In a continuing update series of dispatches about the restoration of 2-6-6-2 No. 1309, Western Maryland Scenic Railroad and contractor Diversified […]

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B&O Railroad Museum names new executive director NEWSWIRE

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Kris Hoellen BALTIMORE – The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum has named Kris Hoellen as its new executive director. A senior vice president at the National Aquarium, she will assume her new position in September 2018. “To have the opportunity to help transform the museum into a showcase of history and innovation, and positively contribute […]

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Investigators question safety of Talgo equipment involved in fatal ‘Amtrak Cascades’ derailment NEWSWIRE

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Steve Carter WASHINGTON – Investigators in a two-day hearing covering two recent fatal Amtrak derailments are questioning the safety of Talgo trains involved in one of the derailments. The equipment operates under a Federal Railroad Administration waiver. The derailment in December 2017 killed three and injured more than 60. It occurred on the first Amtrak […]

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Narrow-gauge ‘Frisco’ 0-4-0 enters service in Missouri NEWSWIRE

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Silver Dollar City No. 504 Dalton Fischer, Silver Dollar City BRANSON, Mo. – After an extensive rebuilding a Czechoslovakia-built 0-4-0T has entered service at the Silver Dollar City theme park in Branson. “Frisco” 504 is a 2-foot gauge 0-4-0T built in 1941 by Czechoslovakia’s Ceskomoravska Kolben Danek. The engine was rebuilt at the shops of […]

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