Wisconsin Great Northern acquires steam locomotive (updated)

Side view of steam locomotive inside display shed

TREGO, Wis. – The Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad has added a steam locomotive to its expanding roster. Former Duluth & Northeastern 2-8-0 No. 27 will be moved from its display site at the Carlton County Fairgrounds in Barnum, Minn., where it has been displayed since 1968. Wisconsin Great Northern, known for its ongoing restoration of the […]

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British Columbia heritage rail operation sidelined for safety review

2-6-2 steam locomotive

FORT STEELE, British Columbia — A steam locomotive that has been a longtime attraction in southwestern British Columbia has been sidelined for a safety review, raising doubts about its future operation. Concerns over the age and increasing maintenance costs of 2-6-2 No. 1077, built in 1923 by Montreal Locomotive Works for Vancouver Island logging operations, […]

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East Broad Top 2-8-2 No. 16 out of service through summer

ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pa. – East Broad Top Railroad 2-8-2 engine No. 16 is out of service until the end of August due to a cracked driving-wheel center, the railroad announced today (Thursday, April 11). In its place, the narrow gauge EBT will substitute its General Electric 55-ton center-cab diesel switcher M-7, the same unit that […]

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Grand Canyon No. 4960 operates first of three April excursions

A black steam locomotive pulls passenger cars down a single-track line under a blue sky

WILLIAMS, Ariz. — In its second round trip of the 2024 season, Grand Canyon Railway No. 4960 performed well on Saturday, April 6, with its first of three April excursions. Along the rugged line between Williams and the South Rim, the 2-8-2 and F40 diesel-helper No. 4128 lugged the 16-car train with 900 passengers aboard, […]

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When Ringling Bros. rode the rails

For 146 years, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Train criss-crossed the nation as America’s longest passenger train.  With a mile-long train of passenger cars and container flats and housing about 300 performers and crew, the circus train was a regular sight on American railroads. The Ringling Bros. shut down operations in 2017 […]

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Big Boy’s ‘Westward Bound Tour’ to begin June 30

Map of planned train route between Cheyenne, Wyo., and Roseville, Calif., and return

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Evolving plans for this year’s tour by Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4014 now call for the locomotive to make what the railroad is calling its “Westward Bound Tour” beginning Sunday, June 30, traveling to Roseville, Calif., and returning to its home base in Cheyenne by the end of July. At this […]

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Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad to restore two locomotives to operation

Small steam locomotive surrounded by people

PORTLAND, Maine — Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Co. & Museum will partner with Maine Locomotive & Machine Works to restore a pair of 2-foot gauge engines, Monson Railroad No. 4, and Bridgton & Saco River Railroad No. 8, to operation, the museum announced Tuesday. Monson No. 4, an 0-4-4 tank engine, was built in 1918 […]

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Auxiliary water cars are replenishments for mainline steam excursions

Two, yellow auxiliary water cars riding behind a big steam locomotive.

From short lines to Class I railroads, you’ll likely come across a mainline steam excursion with one or more tenders/tank cars coupled right behind the locomotive’s main tender. Water is the primary commodity, all for the steam locomotive when out on the road. The use of an auxiliary water car, sometimes referred to as a […]

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Flying Yankee Association selected by New Hampshire to purchase Budd streamliner

Three-car stainless steel streamlined passenger train

NASHUA, N.H. — The Flying Yankee Association preservation group has been selected by the New Hampshire Department of Transportation as the purchaser of the historic Budd articulated streamliner Flying Yankee, the virtual duplicate of Burlington’s Pioneer Zephyr that has been owned by the state since 1996. The non-profit group announced its selection at its annual […]

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BART to offer final rides on original equipment on April 20

Black and white photo of rapid-transit equipment in underground station

OAKLAND, Calif. — Bay Area Rapid Transit, the 131-mile electrified rail network in the San Francisco Bay Area, is offering the public a last chance to ride the 1970s-era futuristic railcars that made up its original fleet. On Saturday, April 20, at 1 p.m. at the MacArthur station in Oakland, BART will commemorate the cars […]

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News photos: Homecoming for steam locomotive after departing Milwaukee County Zoo (updated)

The Little steam locomotive being unloaded from a trailer.

MILWAUKEE, Wis. — After 63 years operating at the Milwaukee County Zoo, steam locomotive No. 1916 Harry J. Grant went back home to the Riverside & Great Northern Railway in Wisconsin Dells. The Sandley Light Railway Equipment Works built the 15-inch gauge 4-4-2 at what is now the R&GN shops in 1960-61. Today, a crew […]

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