The story of Mad Dog and the volcano starts on March 20, 1980. At 3:47 p.m. on that day, Mount St. Helens rumbled to life with an earthquake measuring 4.1 on the Richter scale. It was mostly unnoticed. Earthquakes often occur in Washington State, most are light enough not to be felt. Within a week […]
Harold Borovec, a significant figure in steam preservation in the Pacific Northwest, died June 10 at age 96. Borovec, born in 1927 in Chehalis, Wash., served as an engineer and mechanical officer for several steam tourist operations in Washington state, including the Puget Sound & Snoqualmie Railroad, the Camp 6 logging exhibit in Tacoma, the […]
THOMASTON, Conn. — The Railroad Museum of New England will host the “Night on the Naug” photo event on June 24, a fundraiser to repair damage to the museum’s Maine Central snowplow sustained during a recent vandalism incident. All proceeds will go to the museum. The event is scheduled to begin with an evening briefing […]
CSX Transportation CEO Joe Hinrichs showed off the railroad’s second heritage locomotive today on LinkedIn: ES44AH No. 1973, a salute to the Chessie System. “The Chessie Cat is back! Here is the CSX Chessie System locomotive #1973,” Hinrichs wrote. “Enjoy! Great job again by our Waycross team.” The locomotive was painted at CSX’s Waycross, Ga., […]
BALTIMORE — CSX Corp. has announced a $5 million gift to the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum, which will go toward the museum’s $30 million capital campaign as it prepares for the bicentennial of the B&O in 2027. The donation will be used to build the CSX Bicentennial Garden, an amphitheater and multiuse space that […]
BOULDER CITY, Nev. — The Nevada State Railroad Museum in Boulder City will receive more than $23 million to build a new visitor’s center as part of a capital bill passed this week by the state legislature. Assembly Bill 1, passed Tuesday in a special legislative session, includes almost $2 billion for capital projects ranging […]
The non-profit Western Maryland Rail Heritage Foundation is seeking donations to relocate the last remaining Western Maryland Railway Alco S2 locomotive, currently located in Capreol, Ontario. The foundation is partnering with a museum in Capreol to move the locomotive from its current location, a siding slated to be torn up, to the museum. The long-term […]
PORTOLA, Calif. — The Western Pacific Railroad Museum has received a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Fund for phase one construction of its Frederick Whitman Multi-Purpose Building. The grant, received with the assistance of U.S. Rep Doug LaMlfa (R-Richvale, Calif), will help fund construction of a 100-foot by 200-foot, […]
A former Bangor & Aroostook F3A, which became Canadian Pacific property with the purchase of the Central Maine & Quebec, is on its way to CPKC headquarters in Calgary. A CPKC spokesman confirmed the locomotive, shown in Galt, Ontario, on June 2, is en route to Calgary, but said he had no information on future […]
When we drove off Illinois Route 92 onto former Rock Island property recently at Silvis, I was singularly focused on seeing steam locomotives. Three of them, to be specific, including one very special engine, former Union Pacific 4-6-6-4 Challenger No. 3985. The Challenger was among equipment that made headlines last year as Railroading Heritage […]
The EMD BL20-2 locomotive had to be an engineer’s brainchild to improve the company’s share of the locomotive market. Just look at the concept. It was brilliant. Perceived as a win-win for both the manufacturer and railroad, EMD would remanufacture older, high-mileage GP9s with new guts at a cost far less than paying […]
Canada’s GMD1 diesel locomotive was the first to be completely designed by General Motors Diesel Ltd., Electro-Motive’s subsidiary at London, Ontario. GMD built 101 copies in two variants between 1958 and 1960. The locomotive was powered by a 12-cylinder, non-turbocharged 567 prime mover producing 1,200 hp. A news brief in Trains’ July 1959 issue called […]
