CUMBERLAND, Md. — The Western Maryland Scenic Railroad has announced plans for the 2025 edition of RailFest, its event celebrating heritage railroading, community, and mountain adventure. RailFest 2025: A Return to the Rails, is set for Sept. 12-14. Planned events include: — A “Sunset on the Mountains” train departing Friday, Sept. 12, at 7 p.m. […]
UNION, Ill. — The first U.S. production AC-traction locomotive, BNSF Railway SD70MAC No. 9400, has been donated to the Illinois Railway Museum, IRM has announced. The 4,000-hp EMD locomotive was the first unit in an order for 350 locomotives built between November 1993 and mid-1996, following several years of testing of diesels with AC traction […]
BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Streetcar Museum has received $165,000 in city funding for its project to develop a new campus at a former Maryland & Pennsylvania roundhouse near its current location. The museum said in a Facebook post that the money, in fiscal 2026 and 2027 from the City of Baltimore Cultural Spaces Capital Support […]
CHICAGO — The owner of the Aberdeen Carolina & Western Railway has donated a 1928 Pullman car to the Historic Pullman Foundation for preservation and display at the Pullman National Historical Park and State Historic Site. The Glen Ayr, an all-steel Pullman heavyweight sleeper, has donated by Robert Menzies from the railway’s collection of historic […]
On July 22, 2025, Chicago Union Station in Downtown, Chicago, Ill., hosted a centennial celebration of the site’s official dedication in 1925. As referenced in the companion Trains.com article, notable city, regional, state, and federal officials staged near the Great Hall to recognize the station’s quintessential role, longevity, and impactful renovations aimed to keep it […]
SHILTON, England — Officials in the United Kingdom have announced a new feature for the 200th anniversary of the first modern steam railway in September: A newly restored replica of the Stockton & Darlington Railways original locomotive, Locomotion No. 1, will operate on sections of the original railway on Sept. 26-28, part of a weeklong […]
ROANOKE, Va. — Norfolk Southern Corp. has awarded a $40,000 grant to the Virginia Museum of Transportation as part of its Thriving Communities Grant Program, according to a July 23 post on the Norfolk & Western Class J No. 611 social media pages. This funding will support the museum’s Rail Heritage Initiatives: Education, Engagement, and […]
CHICAGO — You only celebrate a 100th birthday once, and Amtrak made sure that the milestone for Chicago Union Station did not go unnoticed. Officials including Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker were on hand today for ceremonies today (July 22, 2025) marking the centennial of the station’s dedication, held July 23, 1925, although — as Amtrak’s […]
SACKETS HARBOR N.Y. — As he approached his final days in recent weeks, Ross E. Rowland could look back secure in the knowledge that U.S. steam — indeed even the entire rail preservation scene— owes him a substantial debt. From his Golden Spike exhibition train of 1969 to the American Freedom Train of 1975-76 to […]
BROOKS, Ore. — The Oregon Electric Railway Museum has added one of the first MAX light rail vehicles to its collection, a donation from Portland-area transit agency TriMet. MAX LRV No. 101 was part of the original set of equipment used to launch TriMet’s light rail service on Sept. 5, 1986, reviving a form of […]
Mid-Continent Railway Museum in North Freedom, Wisconsin, is celebrating the return of Chicago & North Western 4-6-0 steam locomotive No. 1385 after more than a ten-year restoration effort. Trains.com staff writer Lucas Iverson was there to witness and capture No. 1385 as it arrived back at the museum on July 18, 2025, to the excitement […]
Come along with Trains.com staff writer Lucas Iverson, as he visits The East Troy Electric Railroad in the summer of 2025. Located in East Troy, Wis., the railroad (completed in 1907) was originally part of The Milwaukee Electric Railroad and Light Company (TMER&L). When the company planned to abandon the line in 1939, East Troy […]
