I have a personal connection with a Budd-built Vista-Dome. In November 2018, my old friend and President and co-owner of New Hampshire’s Conway Scenic Railroad, Dave Swirk, called me, “Would you like to join me on a big adventure?” Before I realized what I was getting into, I said “Yes.” The railroad had just […]
FRESNO, Calif. — A Southern Pacific steam locomotive on display in a Fresno park for almost 70 years is about to receive a new home. SP No. 1238, a class S-10 Baldwin 0-6-0 built in 1918, is slated to be moved from Fresno’s Roeding Park to the city of Kingsburg, about 24 miles to the […]
GOLDEN, Colo. — The Rocky Mountain Railroad Club will merge with the Colorado Railroad Museum, the two organizations have announced, allowing the efforts of the club to continue even as it disbands after 87 years. “This merger will formally end the work of the Rocky Club, but our goal is to nurture the continuation of […]
Typical of their brethren everywhere, even a century after the fact many railroaders still called certain southern Michigan branchline segments “the Air Line.” But unlike many such monikers elsewhere for short-cuts or straight-track segments, this one had an ancestor with that actual name. The Michigan Air Line Railroad was planned to link the Canada […]
Forty years ago, there was a lot going on in “Train World.” New museums, mainline steam programs, railroad-specific historical societies, and innovative preservation projects spawned a sense that railroad heritage had entered a different, more mature, phase. There were conversations about the emerging “railway heritage movement.” In hindsight, that was a tad optimistic. It had […]
NORTH FREEDOM, Wis. — Dates in May have been set for the move returning Chicago & North Western 4-6-0 No. 1385 to the Mid-Continent Railway Museum. The locomotive, out of service for more than a quarter-century and away from the museum since 2013, is slated to be moved by truck from its current location in […]
Milwaukee Road’s Viroqua Patrol, with an Alco RSD5 in charge, crosses the Burlington Northern’s ex-Chicago, Burlington & Quincy main line at Grande Crossing in La Crosse, Wis., on Oct. 9, 1971. “Patrol” was the Milwaukee’s name for a local freight and Viroqua was a town on a branch located southeast of La Crosse. J. W. […]
The John Emery Rail Heritage Trust has selected 18 projects for its annual rail preservation grants, awards totaling $250,000. The Trust is the largest in the U.S. that makes 100% of its awards solely for rail restoration purposes It was established by John Emery, a long-time Chicago resident and rail enthusiast who wanted to help […]
The Lionel No. 773 4-6-4 Hudson steam engine and tender from 1950 did much to revive the passion dedicated O gauge modeler Walt Urban Jr. has for toy trains. He reminds us that hobbyists who grew up during the 1950s will remember the annual holiday shopping season as being particularly nostalgic. Like him, many of […]
CLEVELAND — The American Steam Railroad Preservation Association’s restoration of Reading Co. T-1 No. 2100 has reached a major milestone with successful steam tests of the locomotive. The tests of the boiler, piping, and water delivery systems took place April 3-4, with contractors on hand. They were made possible when the organization was able to […]
In 1931-32, Chief Mechanical Engineer Charles T. Ripley applied his European experience, along with his work on steam motorcar M-104 back in 1911, as he worked with Winton Engine Manufacturing Co., Electro-Motive Corp., and the Pullman Co. in the design, development, and introduction to service of a distillate-engine-powered motorcar, the M-190. The articulated M-190 […]
SALTILLO, Pa. — The Friends of the East Broad Top and EBT Foundation broke ground today (April 5, 2025) for a new station at Saltillo, which will be virtually identical to the structure built in 1892 and torn down in 2004 after nearly 50 years of disuse. The project is part of the two organizations’ […]
