DURANGO, Colo. – Last weekend’s coal-fired photographer’s snow-train special marked the end of an era as the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad moves to complete its conversion to recycled motor oil as a fuel for its fleet of a half-dozen active steam locomotives. The all-day excursion was powered by 2-8-2 No. 481 (Baldwin Locomotive […]
CUMBERLAND, Md. — Gunnoe Media Group and the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad are collaborating to raise funds, coordinate special access, and host the first photo freight event on the Georges Creek Railway, the short line leased by the Western Maryland Scenic. Western Maryland Scenic announced in January it had signed a long-term lease to operate […]
CUMBERLAND, Md. — The Western Maryland Scenic Railroad has received a $200,000 state grant for track maintenance, the Cumberland Times-News reports. Funding will be used for tie replacement and ballast tamping on a segment of the railroad near Frostburg, Md., railroad CEO Wes Heinz told the newspaper. The railroad had been approved for $1.5 million […]
DULUTH, Minn. — Following successful test runs and a single excursion in autumn 2023, the Lake Superior Railroad Museum’s Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range 2-8-0 No. 332 will be pulling a number of trips in 2024. The museum announced the 2-8-0 will be under steam on four weekends during the upcoming season on the museum’s North […]
NORTH CONWAY, N.H. – Cruise-ship passengers will soon be riding Conway Scenic Railroad’s trains over its Mountain Division through picturesque Crawford Notch in New Hampshire’s 6,000-foot-high White Mountains. Service is expected to begin in June. The railroad will offer ship patrons another option for shore excursions when they debark at Portland, Maine, a popular port […]
ABILENE, Kan. — Santa Fe steam locomotive No. 3415 and its home, the Abilene & Smoky Valley Railroad, are in consideration for state recognition in Kansas. The locomotive has been out of service following the 2023 season for a federally mandated 1,472-day boiler inspection and overall rebuild, currently estimated at $600,000 [See “Santa Fe No. […]
DURANGO, Colo. — Passenger excursions are the meat and potatoes for the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad’s (D&SNGRR) overall business. However, logging has been another venture that has returned the former branch line of the Denver, Rio Grande & Western to its common carrier roots. Nearly six years after the 416 Fire [See “Fires […]
PITTSTON, Pa. — In response to a scrapping scheduled on January 22, a GoFundMe campaign was recently launched to save a historic SW1 diesel switcher, former Boston & Maine Railroad No. 1127. Organized by Connor Maher of the Danbury Railway Museum, $65,000 total must be raised to purchase the first-generation locomotive at $50,000 from current owner […]
ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pa. – Expanded tours of the East Broad Top Railroad shops, roundhouse, and archives will be offered for the first time in 2024, the non-profit EBT Foundation, Inc., has announced. The narrow-gauge central Pennsylvania steam preservation railroad, a National Historic Landmark, will open new opportunities besides its existing one-hour tour of its circa-1910 […]
CUMBERLAND, Md. — The Western Maryland Scenic Railroad has signed a long-term lease to acquire the Georges Creek Railway, a dormant short line in Maryland’s southwestern Allegany County, which the railroad plans to use for “passenger and potential freight opportunities,” according to a press release. The newly acquired line will be known as Western Maryland […]
Private cars, also called “private varnish”, represent a mode of passenger railroading that’s intriguing and seemingly elusive to most viewing trackside. Who’s in that car? Where is it going? How are they able to do that? All questions that Trains.com staffer Bryson Sleppy has also pondered…and can now help us answer! Follow video highlights of […]
GETTYSBURG, Pa. — Patriot Rail, a short line company that operates 32 railroads across the United States, is planning to revive passenger service on the Gettysburg & Northern Railroad in 2025, to capitalize on the millions of tourists who pour into this Civil War mecca each year. G&N will join two other active Patriot Rail […]
