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The Cotton Belt’s Blue Streak rolls west of Mount Pleasant, Texas, on Oct. 1, 1931. The train is led by 4-6-0 No. 659, built by Baldwin in 1913. Formally known as the St. Louis Southwestern, the railroad began as the 3-foot-gauge Tyler Tap Railroad between Tyler and Big Sandy, Texas, in the 1870s. Harold K. Vollrath […]
ABILENE, Kan. — The Abilene & Smoky Valley Railroad has reactivated one of its vintage diesel locomotives for the first time in over 20 years. No. 34, a GE 44-ton center-cab switcher, was unveiled on Sunday (June 8, 2025) at the tourist railroad’s former Rock Island depot in Abilene. This comes after an extensive restoration […]
NACOGDOCHES, Texas — A Union Pacific employee was killed Monday (June 9) in an incident near a grade crossing, the Nacogdoches Police Department reports. KETK-TV reports that police responded to a report of an individual struck by a train about 3:28 p.m. Union Pacific, in a statement to the station, said, “We are saddened by […]
🚨 BREAKING: Train derailment in downtown Waxahachie 🚨 Happened just before midnight. 16 cars jumped tracks, 14 are tanker cars carrying ethanol. City officials confirm no leaks, no injuries, no immediate danger to the public. We’re live on scene on @NBCDFW with updates. pic.twitter.com/fh4uBv0CHT — Alanna Quillen (@AlannaNBC5) June 10, 2025 WAXAHACHIE, Texas — Sixteen […]
BURNET, Texas — An aggregates company’s proposal to build a 26.9-mile railroad to haul rock in Texas’ Hill Country is on hold in the wake of public opposition. Texas Materials Group had initiated the Surface Transportation Board’s environmental review process for construction of a new line in Burnet and Lampasas Counties to serve four quarries […]
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas lawmakers did not include funding for Amtrak’s Heartland Flyer in a budget bill passed last week, placing the future of the train between Fort Worth and Oklahoma City in jeopardy after a year that saw a 11% increase in ridership. The Texas Department of Transportation had sought $3.53 million for the […]
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Gov. Greg Abbot has signed into a law a bill creating funding to improve safety at railroad grade crossings, legislation sparked by the death of a Houston high school student late last year. Senate Bill 1555 passed the house by a 101-16 vote earlier this month, after passing the Senate by […]
Four red-and-white GP40s lead fast freight train 33, the Texas Special, into Valley Park, Mo., on Nov. 25, 1980, four days after merger with Burlington Northern. […]
HAVILAND, Kan. — A tornado is being blamed for the derailment of about 100 cars of a Union Pacific train late Sunday (May 18) in rural Kansas, the Hays Post reports. The incident occurred about 11 p.m. while the train was stopped near the town of Haviland after receiving a tornado warning, UP spokeswoman Robynn […]
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Metropolitan Council, which oversees transit and other governmental functions in the seven-county Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area, has approved a plan to lease surplus Northstar commuter rail equipment to Dallas Area Rapid Transit and Amtrak. The Minnesota Star Tribune reports that the council, at a May 14 meeting, agreed to lease […]
Texas & Pacific ended regular steam operations in 1952. When Red River flooding near Boyce, La., became too deep for diesels to wade through in 1957, T&P borrowed a 2-8-2 from the Fort Worth & Denver to haul trains in the high water. In January 1958, T&P bought a different FW&D Mike, No, 410, and […]
AUSTIN, Texas – Among the daring practitioners who revolutionized railroad photography in the 1950s and early ’60s, none reached a more receptive audience or garnered more praise than J. Parker Lamb. A mechanical engineer by profession, he worked hard to have his photos tell a story about people and technology, especially if it involved diesel […]
