ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pa. – The Friends of the East Broad Top Railroad today is kicking off registration for a new teenage-volunteer program in an outreach to recruit and engage “the next generation” of preservationists for the historic Central Pennsylvania narrow gauge short line. Closed in 1956 and revived twice since then, the former coal-hauling railroad […]
Versatility is a single word that sums up the Mikado-type steam locomotive. This 2-8-2 wheel arrangement became the “one size fits all” in terms of mass usage across North America’s railroads. When it also came to bridging the gap in advanced steam technology at the turn of the 20th century, this locomotive type delivered. […]
Pere Marquette is the newest heritage unit to join the growing CSX fleet of locomotives honoring its predecessor railroads. “Here is our latest CSX Heritage Locomotive celebrating the Pere Marquette line,” CEO Joe Hinrichs wrote on LinkedIn Monday night. “Locomotive #1899 represents the three Michigan-based railroads that merged to form the Pere Marquette to serve […]
If history had played out differently, our motorcar ride this summer day in the wooded foothills of California’s Sierra Nevada would instead take place aboard Amtrak’s California Zephyr, instead of on Fairmont “track speeders.” The track would belong to Union Pacific, not a joint-powers authority. It’d be home to stack trains and AC engines. That’s […]
Amtrak Indianapolis services exhibit more than their share of tumult through Amtrak’s five decades. No single train has served the city during this time, and, in fact, the Hoosier State’s capital city had no Amtrak service from October 1979 to October 1980. Amtrak’s Indianapolis station is, and has been, located at 350 S. Illinois […]
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Santa Fe 4-8-4 No. 2926 will return to Tractor Brewing on May 4, marking the first anniversary of its first public trip, the New Mexico Steam Locomotive & Railroad Historical Society has announced. The locomotive built by Baldwin in 1944 will again make the half-mile trip from its restoration site at 1833 […]
Like some railfan contemporaries, in recent weeks I’ve been going through decades of railroad stuff, seeing what I can get rid of and what I simply can’t live without. Tough choices. In the “can’t live without” category, anything with David P. Morgan’s name on it, or anything labeled “New York Central” or “C&EI.” In the […]
In August 1958, Alco HH660 No. 409 rests on an outdoor turntable lead at Scranton, Pa. The track is now part of Steamtown. Railroad Avenue Enterprises, Bob Bahrs collection […]
The words “Be the Engineer!” drew my attention to a Nevada Northern Railway advertisement in Trains Magazine. I’m a veteran train museum patron. I’ve been to many, from Los Angeles to Scranton, and most are a lot more accessible than Ely, Nev. Ely is 3 hours and 42 minutes north of Las Vegas, a lonely […]
Milwaukee Road’s EMD SDL39 diesel locomotives came from the road’s desire to replace aging Alco RSC2 units in branchline service. The Milwaukee Road custom-ordered the lightweight SDL39 specifically for use on its light-rail branch lines. The railroad bought five of the locomotives in 1969, Nos. 581-585. It followed with an order for another […]
The assassination of Abraham Lincoln on April 15, 1865, sent a Civil War-battered country into 20 days of national mourning. At the center of it all was a black-draped train, slowly and sadly carrying the former commander in chief’s body from Washington, D.C. to his hometown of Springfield, Ill. The U.S. rail network is no […]
ABILENE, Kan. — Kansas now has an official state heritage railroad and a state steam locomotive. House Bill 2481, which bestows the railroad honor on the Abilene & Smoky Valley Railroad and the locomotive distinction on the railroad’s Santa Fe Pacific No. 3415, was one of seven bills signed into law on Thursday, April 18, […]
