News photo: Saratoga Corinth & Hudson adds an Alco

Vintage black and yellow diesel next to current CPKC unit

CORINTH, N.Y. — The Saratoga Corinth & Hudson Railway, the heritage railway located on the former Delaware & Hudson Adirondack Branch, has added a third Alco RS3 with the arrival this week of No. 4085, a former D&H diesel long stored in Port Jervis, N.Y. The Delaware & Hudson Railway Historical Society announced the acquisition […]

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C&NW No. 1385 return to Mid-Continent museum postponed

Steam locomotive by concrete coaling tower

NORTH FREEDOM, Wis. — The move, scheduled to begin May 5, bringing Chicago & North Western 4-6-0 No. 1385 back to the Mid-Continent Railway Museum has been postponed, says Jeffrey Lentz, museum office manager. A statement from the museum indicates that the trucking firm slated to handle the road move withdrew its services “on short […]

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Woodstown Central steam locomotive sidelined (updated)

Black and gray steam locomotive with large smoke plume running in woods.

WOODSTOWN, N.J. — Woodstown Central Railroad steam locomotive No. 9, an Alco 0-6-0, suffered an overheated journal on its central axle during the 12 p.m. excursion on April 18. The railroad’s mechanical team determined the damage was beyond in-house repair capabilities at its South Woodstown, N.J., shop. The wheelset has been removed for repairs at […]

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Illinois Railway Museum’s Frisco 2-10-0 sidelined

Steam locomotive passing between signals

UNION, Ill. — A “mechanical issue” discovered during preparations for the 2025 season has led the Illinois Railway Museum to remove its Frisco 2-10-0, No. 1630, from service, IRM has announced. The museum will now begin the locomotive’s federally mandated 1,472-day inspection earlier than anticipated to address repairs and a return to service. The inspection […]

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Kansas City Union Station

A black and white vintage aerial photograph of Kansas City Union Station

  At the turn of the 20th century, the citizens and serving railroads of Kansas City, Mo., yearned to revamp how passengers arrived and disembarked from the growing gateway city along the Missouri River. The 1878-built Union Depot in the West Bottoms district couldn’t keep up with the thriving rail traffic and local desire to […]

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Steam veteran Wes Camp remembered

Man next to locomotive

DOVER, Del. — Dozens and dozens of steam locomotives have been revived over the past 60-plus years, and many bear the fingerprints, often literally, of Wesley “Wes” Camp, one of the guiding lights of steam engineering and practice, a man who dedicated his professional life to what many thought would be a lost art. That […]

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New Hampshire roundhouse group receives Webb preservation award

Wooden four-stall roundhouse with weathered green doors

ANDOVER, Mass. — New Hampshire’s Bartlett Roundhouse Preservation Society is the recipient of this year’s H. Albert Webb Memorial Railroad Preservation Award, the Massachusetts Bay Railroad Enthusiasts have announced. The Enthusiasts, who administer the grant created by member Leigh Webb, also have awarded $65,000 to 19 projects as part of their 2025 Railroad Preservation Grants […]

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Minnesota museum opens Northern Pacific steam exhibit

Two steam locomotives in museum roundhouse

ST. PAUL, Minn. — For the first time in decades, it’s possible to see three Northern Pacific steam locomotives gathered in a roundhouse, thanks to the efforts of the Minnesota Transportation Museum (MTM). The museum is exhibiting two NP 4-6-2s and a 4-6-0 at its former Great Northern Railway Jackson Street Roundhouse in St. Paul. […]

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South Dakota railroad historian Rick Mills dies

Smiling man in black shirt

HILL CITY, S.D.— If you had a question, needed a photo, or just wanted to chat about railroading in South Dakota, there was only one person to go to: Rick W. Mills. Mills, who wrote several books on South Dakota railroading and served as the curator of the South Dakota Railroad Museum, died unexpected April […]

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Big Steam and PTC: A Reset Stage

Steam locomotive rounds curve on a rainy day

The rumble of Canadian Pacific’s 4-6-4 Empress No. 2816 and Union Pacific’s 4-8-8-4 Big Boy No. 4014 echoed across thousands of miles in 2024. What made these journeys truly remarkable and deserving a brighter spotlight? Both locomotives were equipped with fully compliant, standalone Positive Train Control (PTC) systems. This means they can independently navigate their […]

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