Ronald C. “Ron” Hill, a prolific photographer of Western railroad subjects but also other forms of transportation, died Jan. 23, 2023, at age 85. His work constitutes “an incredible body of both color and black-and-white photography,” said Scott Lothes, executive director of the Center for Railroad Photography & Art, which had a close relationship with […]
Name: Soo Line locomotive 1003 Builder: American Locomotive Company (Alco) Wheel arrangement: 2-8-2 Mikado Build date: March 1913 Why it’s important: Built for the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railroad, commonly known as the Soo Line, the 1003 is both large (250 tons) and powerful (53,947 pounds starting tractive effort). A highly versatile locomotive […]
In November 2022, a special train left Cheyenne, Wyo., bound for the Railroading Heritage of Midwest America’s steam shops in Silvis, Ill. The move marked the end of one era and the beginning of a new one, as the Union Pacific, the only Class I railroad in North America with a steam program, decided to […]
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Work will begin in March to convert a former Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad bridge into an entertainment venue, the Kansas City Star reports. The bridge, built by the Rock Island in 1905, crosses the Kansas River in the city’s West Bottoms area. It has been idle since the 1970s […]
SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. — The Conrail Historical Society will open its $150,000 museum and archive center – housed here in a retired 86-foot hi-cube auto-parts boxcar – on April 1, the anniversary date of the railroad’s founding in 1976. A brief ceremony at noon that day will mark the culmination of several years of the society’s […]
CASS, W.Va. — Cass Scenic Railroad Shay No. 5 made the first trial steam run over the restored former C&O Greenbrier Division track between Cass and Durbin, W.Va., on Wednesday, operator Durbin & Greenbrier Valley Railroad has announced. The 30-mile round trip was the first for a steam locomotive since the Greenbrier River destroyed much […]
ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pa. — Steam-powered excursions will highlight the East Broad Top Railroad’s upcoming Winter Spectacular, the railroad said in a press release today (Thursday, Feb. 2), with the return of 2-8-2 No. 16 to operating condition. The railroad, which posted a video of the 1916 Baldwin-built locomotive on its Facebook page on Wednesday, confirmed […]
ELKINS, W.Va. — Durbin & Greenbrier Valley Railroad has announced plans to begin operation of a new train this spring between Cass and Durbin, W.Va. The Greenbrier Express will operate over 15 miles of the former Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad Greenbrier Subdivision. Cass Scenic Railroad operated excursions over this stretch until a calamitous 1985 flood […]
STRASBURG, Pa. – Personnel from the Strasburg Rail Road, Virginia Museum of Transportation, and Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania moved famed Norfolk & Western Railway 4-8-4 No. 611 from the Strasburg’s track across Pennsylvania Route 741 to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania for winter storage on January 31. The move was made to free up track […]
A group of rail non-profit organizations in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut are joining forces to restore to operation three GE 44-ton diesels, all produced in the mid-1940s. The locomotives — Middletown & New Jersey Railroad No. 2; Hoboken Manufacturers Railroad No. 7; and New Haven Railroad No. 0814 — are currently owned by […]
HOPKINSVILLE, Ky. — A former freight station built by the Louisville & Nashville Railroad in 1905 will be sold at public auction on Friday by a public agency that no longer needs the brick structure for storage. The Hoptown Chronicle reports the building is owned by the Hopkinsville Water Environment Authority, which has owned it […]
CONNERSVILLE, Ind. – After a 10-year restoration effort, the Whitewater Valley Railroad has fired up its rare Armco Lima-Hamilton A-3080/LS-1000 switcher No. 709. The last time the prime mover ran was in 2005. Whitewater Valley is a heritage railroad that operates between Connersville and Metamora in southeastern Indiana. The engine was moved on the railroad’s trackage in […]
