MINNEAPOLIS – The Friends of the 261, the non-profit organization that owns and operates Milwaukee Road S-3 class 4-8-4 No. 261, has launched a study to consider converting the locomotive from coal to oil firing. Friends of the 261 President and Chief Operating Officer Steve Sandberg said the group is conducting a feasibility study and […]
DULUTH, Minn. — Volunteers at the Lake Superior Railroad Museum have returned Northern Pacific SD45 No. 3617 to operating condition. The locomotive was started up and moved under its own power at the museum on Feb. 27, the first time it has operated in more than 14 years. The locomotive was donated to the museum […]
Steam in 2021 It’s too early to tell what will happen with certainty, given the grip the virus still holds on the nation. But it’s not too early to anticipate. As always with big steam, there are many dreams of excursions and plans for trips drawn up and ready to dust off. Every big steam […]
Introduction to the Durango & Silverton A trip to Colorado to see and ride a narrow gauge railroad is essential for anyone with an interest in great steam railroading in the Rocky Mountains. Colorado has several railroads worth visiting (in fact, we offer, in conjunction with Special Interest Tours, a week-long trip to visit them […]
The first of 12 Connecticut Department of Transportation P40 locomotives to be rebuilt by Amtrak at Beech Grove, Ind., is CDOT No. 6711, seen at North Haven, Conn., on March 8, 2021. The unit was built as Amtrak no. 820 in 1993, and later worked for NJ Transit in Atlantic City service, carrying NJT no. 4803. CDOT […]
MADISON, Wis. – The Madison-based Center for Railroad Photography & Art’s annual “Conversations” conference will be online again in 2021. The event, to be held April 10 from 9:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. Central, will be hosted on the Cisco Webex platform. Registration is free with an optional donation. Expected presenters include: Patrick Cashin, New […]
I decided to make history repeat itself in August 2000, when my son, Liam, was 4. I wanted Liam to experience a train ride that I took with my grandfather 50 years ago. My grandfather had taken me on passenger trains from the San Francisco Bay Area to the San Joaquin Valley town of Merced, […]
CORDELE, Ga. — An average of 80 trains a day cross the diamond in the south central Georgia community of Cordele, making it one of the busiest rail crossings in the Southeast. Norfolk Southern, CSX Transportation, and the Heart of Georgia Railroad, a Genesee & Wyoming short line, all use the crossing. “The activity rivals […]
ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pa. — The narrow gauge East Broad Top Railroad has announced details for a one-day revival of its “Winter Spectacular” on Saturday, Feb. 20. The Winter Spectacular was an annual railfan event in south-central Pennsylvania from 1966 to 1981, held each President’s Day weekend. It started with the 1927 gas-electric car No. M-1 […]
More Wednesday morning rail news: CP derailment knocks out power in Field, B.C. The community of Field, B.C., was at risk of running out of electricity Tuesday night after a Canadian Pacific grain train derailed earlier in the day, knocking out power. The CBC reports the train derailed about 1:40 a.m., taking out a power line. CP […]
MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — Winchester & Western, the 100-mile short line with trackage in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and New Jersey, was able to grow last year despite the pandemic. Traffic on the railroad, which short line holding company OmniTRAX acquired in September 2019, was up a shade over 9% last year. That was below railroad […]
MONTICELLO, Ill. — The Monticello Railway Museum is offering aa chance to operate its recently acquired former Chicago & Illinois Midland RS1325 No. 31, one of just two such locomotives built. The museum is selling tickets for an hour of throttle time, with participants running the locomotive under direction of a museum locomotive engineer. Those […]
