SUNBURY, Pa. — After 27 years of running holiday passenger trains, fund-raising excursions, and shipper specials, owner Jeff Pontius of Penn Valley Railroad LLC has sold his fleet of seven passenger cars to the Reading & Northern Railroad. R&N announced that it would receive the cars today (Jan. 14, 2025) and outlined the planned move […]
PENINSULA, Ohio — Nickel Plate Road 2-8-4 No. 765 will return to the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad for six days in April and May as part of the “Steam in the Valley” series of excursions, the heritage railway has announced. The Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society’s 1944 Lima locomotive is set for excursions on April […]
Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Smoking is a habit that’s never appealed to me. No smoking for me. During my time as conductor for the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad, many of my engineers smoked. There was no choice for me but to grin and bear it. I never got used to it, but as long […]
In Washington State’s Cascade Tunnel, it’s time to reach for the air packs if the ventilation fails. It happened to me on one of the only times I recall running with mid-train Distributive Power (DPU’s). It was a call for the Everett to Spokane manifest or as we called it, HEVESPO. The “H” stood for […]
UNION, Ill. — The Illinois Railway Museum is currently auctioning off surplus items ranging from a former Chicago & North Western steam locomotive tender to a pickup truck to tools and artwork. A total of 112 items are available and are listed here. The auction ends Friday, Jan. 17, at 10 a.m. CT. Items are […]
Planning a visit to a heritage rail operation? You can avoid disappointment by researching your journey using readily available tools. While this may seem obvious, the specifics can elude even seasoned travelers. The internet and smartphones have changed travel. A wealth of up-to-the-minute information is available at your fingertips. This makes it much easier to […]
BIG STONE GAP, Va. – A three-week exhibition of railroad watercolors and photographs by author and Trains contributor Ron Flanary is scheduled to begin Jan. 17 on the campus of Mountain Empire Community College. Titled “The Tracks of my Years,” the display of 30 pieces consists of about two-thirds photos and one-third paintings, all made […]
PORT CLINTON, PA. — Almost 340,000 riders took part in Reading & Northern excursions in 2024, surpassing the previous mark of more than 322,000 in 2023 by 5%, the railroad has announced. The year included the opening of the new Nesquehoning Regional Railroad Station on the railroad’s Nesquehoning campus, which includes the railroad’s new shops […]
SOUDERTON, Pa. — Norfolk Southern has awarded a $10,000 grant to the Railroad & Industrial Preservation Society Inc. for its restoration of the last intact diesel from the Lehigh & New England Railroad. The funds will be used to rehabilitate the traction motors of Alco S2 No. 611, built in September 1948 and operated by […]
Office cars Prior to Amtrak, railroads had coupled company owned business and office cars to the rear of passenger trains for the convenience of executive and management personnel. The usually spotless and well maintained fleet of comfortably furnished cars also served as sales offices on wheels for the railroad’s industrial development and traffic departments, allowing […]
Bitten by the steam bug at an early age, Mitchell Johnson will seize any opportunity to go where operating steam locomotives are being worked on. On the mechanical side, the 19-year-old lends a hand in two 4-8-4 restoration projects: Reading Company T-1 No. 2100 of the American Steam Railroad Preservation Association, Inc., and Chesapeake & […]
Rotary snowplow I missed my fair share of calls in my railroad career, but I only remember one with a specific date. That would be Jan. 12, 1993. Only two times have I ever seen a rotary snowplow in action, both happened to be the same week in January of 1993 but on different railroads. […]
