East Broad Top notebook: Work continues to restore steam locomotive, improve passenger-car fleet

Small diesel and flatcar on track under repair

ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pa. — Progress on the rebirth of the East Broad Top Railroad continues on multiple fronts as part of ongoing efforts since the narrow gauge railroad was acquired by the non-profit EBT Foundation in February 2020. Some updates: — Work continues on restoring 2-8-2 steam locomotive No. 16 (Baldwin, 1916) to service, possibly […]

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East Broad Top group acquires 1934 standard-gauge PRR boxcar

Boxcar being lowered by cranes

ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pa. – The East Broad Top Railroad reached one of its preservation goals Thursday, Aug. 19, with the arrival of a period standard-gauge, 40-foot steel boxcar to illustrate how the historic common-carrier narrow gauge line once hauled larger cars on interchange trucks. Loaded on a flatbed trailer on Wednesday at the Kiski Junction […]

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San Francisco Cable Car Free Ride

San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s (sfmta.com) iconic cable cars are up and running again. Even better, rides are free of charge in the month of August 2021! But if you want to skip the lines, watch this Trains.com slow-TV video of the ups, downs, and close calls on the notoriously steep downtown streets of San […]

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San Francisco Cable Car Free Ride

San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s (sfmta.com) iconic cable cars are up and running again. Even better, rides are free of charge in the month of August 2021! But if you want to skip the lines, watch this Trains.com slow-TV video of the ups, downs, and close calls on the notoriously steep downtown streets of San […]

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News Photos: RGS No. 20 arrives at Cumbres & Toltec

Smoke comes from stack of locomotive on trailer

ANTONITO, Colo. — The Colorado Railroad Museum’s Rio Grande Southern 4-6-0 No. 20 has arrived at the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad for its visit including a role in the upcoming Victorian Iron Horse Roundup. The locomotive, restored to operation in 2020,. arrived Sunday by truck from the museum in Golden, Colo. (The tender will […]

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Minnesota museum repairing firebox on DM&IR 2-8-0

Steam locomotive pulling vintage freight cars

DULUTH, Minn. — The Lake Superior Railroad Museum is moving ahead with repairs to return Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range 2-8-0 No. 332 to service. Repairs are being made to the firebox of the locomotive, where a crack had developed near an old weld. The museum plans to remove this and another existing weld in […]

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News photo: Erie paint for 75-year-old switcher

Black and yellow locomotive pulling passenger cars

GOWANDA, N.Y. — It’s new paint for an old locomotive. New York short line New York & Lake Erie shows off the paint scheme applied to 75-year old Alco S1 no. 308 as part of the unit’s rebuilding and return to service, at Gowanda, N.Y., on Aug. 8, 2021.  Built for Erie Railroad in November […]

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Tourist railroad cancels 2021 Polar Express trips because of pandemic

Durbin & Greenbrier Valley logo

ELKINS, W.Va. — With COVID-19 cases increasing, the Durbin & Greenbrier Valley Railroad has cancelled its Polar Express holiday trains for the second consecutive years. D&GV president John Smith told the Inter-Mountain newspaper, “The Polar Express is very up close and personal with children and it would be a disaster to try and put 280 […]

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Cumbres & Toltec restores full-route train ride option as of July 31

Cumbres_Toltec_Lassen

CHAMA, N.M. — The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad will resume full-length train rides on its 64-mile route between Chama and Antonito, Colo., as of Saturday, July 31, for the final portion of the 2021 season. For most of the season, COVID-19 restrictions have prevented the railroad from offering trips in which passengers ride the […]

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Mark Twain Zephyr restoration continues with dining-car work

Man works on side of stainless steel passenger car

TREGO, Wis. — The kitchen of the car Huckleberry Finn, being converted to a full dining car, is a focal point as work continues on the restoration of the Mark Twain Zephyr at the Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad. During work on Thursday, July 22, lead carpenter Bob Heil displayed a stainless steel butter knife found […]

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