News photos: Latest Metro-North heritage unit honors New Haven (updated)

Olive green and yellow locomotive in shop building

NORTH WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Metro-North Railroad has completed the sixth in its series of locomotives honoring Metro-North’s 40th anniversary, this time honoring the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad. Dual-mode locomotive No. 222, a P32Ac-DM, sports the green-and-yellow design used on New Haven electric and diesel cab units until […]

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Metra donates F40C locomotive to Illinois Railway Museum

Blue and orange locomotive with steel side panels in rail yare

UNION, Ill. — Metra has donated F40C No. 614, one of just two such surviving locomotives, to the Illinois Railway Museum. IRM says in a press release that it hopes to restore the locomotive to operating condition. It had seen some cannibalization for parts during its final years in storage at Metra, and is missing […]

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Mike Eagleson was all about steam

Steam steam locomotives with passenger train on curve

The trend toward professional archival preservation of the work of major railroad photographers continues, lately with the news that the huge collection of negatives, slides, and films of the late Mike Eagleson has gone to the Industrial Archives & Library based in Bethlehem, Pa. This is a big “get” for the IAL, buttressing its mission […]

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UP announces locomotive honoring Abraham Lincoln

Side-view illustration of red, maroon, and gray locomotive.

OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific has marked Presidents Day by announcing plans for a locomotive to honor the nation’s 16th president, Abraham Lincoln, who signed the legislation authorizing construction of the Transcontinental Railroad, leading to UP’s creation. The paint scheme of locomotive No. 1616 will feature “the unique colors of Lincoln’s era,” UP said in […]

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Steamtown National Historic Site employees dismissed

Steam locomotive moving between buildings

SCRANTON, Pa. — Five employees at Steamtown National Historic Site have been dismissed as part of cuts to National Park Service employees by the Trump administration, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. David Fitzpatrick, an official with two locals of the American Federation of Government Employees, told the newspaper another five were dismissed at Gettysburg National Military […]

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Missouri Pacific locomotives remembered

Striped mid-cab diesel locomotive

Missouri Pacific locomotives, both steam and diesel, display a variety typical of their era.     The “MoPac,” as it was called, merged several railroads during the diesel era, notably the International-Great Northern and St. Louis, Brownsville & Mexico in 1956, the Texas & Pacific (which it had long controlled) and Chicago & Eastern Illinois […]

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Diesel arrives at East Broad Top from Durango & Silverton

ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pa. — West met East here Thursday morning (Feb. 13, 2025) as the East Broad Top Railroad took ownership of former Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad diesel unit No. 1203, an H.K. Porter six-axle locomotive built in Pittsburgh in 1946. After a week-long trip by heavy-haul truck from its last home in […]

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10 must-visit historic railroad towns

Passenger train with Chicago skyline in background

Visiting a railroad town can take you on a journey through not only the town itself, but also its railroading’s past, present, and even future. Whether you’re just passing through or have an opportunity to stay for an extended getaway, consider these 10 must-visit historic railroad towns that’ll range from the OG of railroad towns […]

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Flying Yankee Association sees funds to restore traction motors

Traction motor of streamlined trainset

NASHUA, N.H. — The Flying Yankee Association, which last year became owner of the Budd Co. streamliner built for the Boston & Maine in 1935, is launching a fundraiser its preservation and restoration efforts. Marking the 90th anniversary of the shovel-nosed, articulated trainset — a virtual duplicate of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy equipment that […]

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