COLUMBUS, Mont. — The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the death of a BNSF conductor struck by a train on Sunday (Oct. 19, 2025), the agency has announced. The fatality occurred about 9:40 a.m. in Columbus, KTVQ-TV reports. BNSF and Columbus police, as well as the Stillwater County Sheriff’s Office, were also investigating the […]
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DURANGO, Colo. — The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge has resumed trips to Silverton following repairs to flood-damaged tracks. The Durango Herald reports excursions over the full length over the 45.4-mile route resumed on Saturday (Oct. 18) after several days of abbreviated trips to Cascade Canyon, about 26 miles. Trips to Silverton had been suspended […]
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DURANGO, Colo. — Operation of the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad has been suspended because of flooding caused by recent record rainfall, but is expected to resume “shortly,” the railroad said. “We appreciate the understanding of guests who have been affected by service interruptions,” the D&SNG said in a Facebook post, “and plan to […]
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As trackworkers tend to a frozen switch, Northern Pacific 4-6-6-4 No. 5122 prepares to head east out of Livingston, Mont., with a freight sometime in the late 1940s. NP’s Livingston shops, still used by today’s Montana Rail Link, are visible at right. C. W. Jernstrom photo […]
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Two of Rio Grande’s Krauss-Maffei diesel-hydraulics spent almost three weeks testing on the New York Central in early 1963. Here crews on New York Central Advance BF-3 change at Bellefontaine, Ohio, on February 24, 1963. Photo by Si Herring […]
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CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Big Boy No. 4014’s 2025 season isn’t over yet! The Union Pacific Railroad announced to Steam Club members (Sept. 18) that the 4-8-8-4 will make another overnight visit to Denver in late September-early October. The locomotive is scheduled to travel from Cheyenne (11:00 a.m. departure) to Denver on Sept. 30, and return […]
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The Rio Grande passenger train named Royal Gorge paused for 10 minutes of sightseeing at the bottom of the chasm in the 1960s. Here we see the train running in its namesake Colorado gorge. Photo by Bob Borcherding […]
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In August 2025, my wife and I planned a trip to the Pacific Northwest to visit family and friends. While we frequently travel by air and rental car, and have taken shorter train trips in the U.S. and Europe, we’ve never done a long-distance rail experience. So, we decided to take Amtrak’s Empire Builder from […]
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When David Clune began work on his On3 Cascade County Narrow Gauge in 1985, he intended it to be a small model railroad. His initial plan was to have a freight railroad that ran between two small towns, incorporating enough rail-served industries to keep two operators busy for an evening. But before David knew it, […]
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SUMMIT, Montana — A BNSF derailment Saturday evening (Sept. 6, 2025) blocked the railroad’s main line on its Hi Line Subdivision, leading to the cancellation of Amtrak’s Empire Builder scheduled to depart today from Portland, Ore., and Seattle. An updated BNSF customer advisory says the derailment near Summit was reported about 6 p.m. local time. […]
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WASHINGTON — An incorrectly lined switch led to an Aug. 5 collision between a BNSF Railway train and standing railcars at Denver’s Globeville Yard, a collision that seriously injured the train’s conductor, according to a preliminary investigation report from the National Transportation Safety Board. The incident occurred about 12:11 a.m., when BNSF Train H-LINDEN1-02A, which […]
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The thunder of modern motive power and the rumble of long trains rolling through Colorado’s Rocky Mountain passes caught Bill Becker’s imagination years ago, and it remains the theme of his fictional N scale Colorado & Eastern RR. Working in this small scale makes it possible to capture the majesty of the Rocky Mountains with […]
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