BALTIMORE — The B&O Railroad Museum is beginning its full cosmetic restoration of American Freedom Train No. 1, the former Reading Co. 4-8-4 that pulled the train celebrating America’s Bicentennial, and expects to complete the work this year, in time to mark the nation’s 250th birthday in 2026. The museum had first announced plans for […]
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CUMBERLAND, Md. — Chesapeake & Ohio 2-6-6-2 No. 1309 is poised for reassembly after spending the 2024 season sidelined for planned maintenance work, Western Maryland Scenic Railroad officials say. The Mallet has undergone a laundry list of in-house projects and subcontracted work aimed at positioning the locomotive for long-term operation. The tourist railroad tapped D&G […]
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FORT WAYNE, Ind. — The Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society has purchased Pullman car Kitchi Gammi Club from the car’s owners and operators for more than three decades. The heavyweight car built by Pullman in 1923 and long assigned to Nickel Plate Road service, is already in use at the Indiana Rail Experience, the excursion […]
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CLEVELAND — The American Steam Railroad Preservation Association is aiming for an initial test firing of Reading Co. 4-8-4 No. 2100 within 60 days, as it continues a number of smaller projects after completing installation of firebox firebrick. The engine is being restored to operate as American Freedom Train No. 250. Forrest Nace, the organization’s […]
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RONKS, Pa. — The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has ordered the Strasburg Rail Road to reinstate an employee fired for refusing to issue locomotive and conductor licenses to an untrained, unqualified management official. The Department says OSHA investigated a whistleblower complaint by the employee, who claimed the firing came after […]
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CORINTH, N.Y. — The Delaware & Hudson Railway Historical Society, newly formed as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in the state of New York, has announced it has acquired for preservation former D&H Alco RS3 locomotive No. 4085. The group acquired the locomotive —currently located at the Erie Turntable in Port Jervis, N.Y. — on Nov. […]
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ALTOONA, Pa. – With the inspection, cleaning and conditioning of the drivers of former Pennsylvania Railroad Class K4s 4-6-2 steam engine No. 1361 by Strasburg Rail Road’s mechanical department, the locomotive’s $2.4 million restoration has moved symbolically past the halfway point, according to the engine’s owner, the Railroaders Memorial Museum. The six 80-inch drivers made […]
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EMDs SD90MAC Convertibles were a product of the mid-1990s, when EMD and GE were in a horsepower race to produce the first 6,000 hp AC locomotives. EMD would offer the SD90MAC model which would feature a four-stroke 265H engine, with Union Pacific being the first customer to commit to the model long before the first […]
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Most Alco fans head for the Northeast’s safe haven of Alco-operating short line railroads. But viewing Virginia’s only Alco short line requires a visit to Shenandoah Valley Railroad (SVRR). The SVRR is a 20.1-mile railroad between Staunton, Va., and Pleasant Valley, Va., along the intersection of Interstates 81 and 64 in the Commonwealth’s Shenandoah Valley. […]
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In every issue News, p. 6 CSX and Norfolk Southern hit hard by Hurricane Helene Bill Stephens, p. 10 Railroads should use steam to polish their images John Hankey, p. 12 The enduring connection between Christmas and trains Great Railfan Roads, p. 44 Rail action on both banks of the upper Mississippi River Brian Solomon, […]
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MISSOULA, Mont. — An obscure but classic motion picture about logging in the Northwest, and the unique log-hauling locomotive that starred in it, are returning to the spotlight. In February 1955, “Timberjack” made its world premiere on the screens of the Roxy and Fox theaters in Missoula, not far from where the movie had been […]
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