For Snow Week 2024, let’s head west to view operations at two tourist railroads running 2-8-2 Mikado-type steam locomotives during the winter. We’ll begin at the Sumpter Valley Railroad in McEwen, Oregon, before jumping to Nevada to chase the Virginia and Truckee Railroad. Want to see and learn more about this class of steam locomotive? […]
CLEVELAND — The American Steam Railroad Preservation Association has reached a milestone in restoration of Reading Co. T-1 4-8-4 No. 2100, conducting the first hydrostatic test on the locomotive, the 501c3 non-profit organization reports. The locomotive is also known as AFT 250 because of plans for it to wear an American Freedom Train paint scheme […]
BOYERTOWN, Pa. — The former private car of steel magnate Charles Schwab, the 1917 Pullman-built solarium-sleeper Loretto, arrived Wednesday, Jan. 31, at its new home, the Colebrookdale Railroad in southeastern Pennsylvania. It concluded a circuitous 2-day, 250-mile highway journey from the Railroaders Memorial Museum in Altoona, Pa., which had owned it for 48 years. The […]
DULUTH, Minn. — Following successful test runs and a single excursion in autumn 2023, the Lake Superior Railroad Museum’s Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range 2-8-0 No. 332 will be pulling a number of trips in 2024. The museum announced the 2-8-0 will be under steam on four weekends during the upcoming season on the museum’s North […]
DETROIT — The landmark Michigan Central Station, undergoing revival by the Ford Motor Co. as a technology hub, could also become the home of a hotel, the Detroit Free Press reports. A spokesman for the Ford subsidiary overseeing the station’s redevelopment said Monday that the company is seeking a zoning change from the current heavy […]
ABILENE, Kan. — Santa Fe steam locomotive No. 3415 and its home, the Abilene & Smoky Valley Railroad, are in consideration for state recognition in Kansas. The locomotive has been out of service following the 2023 season for a federally mandated 1,472-day boiler inspection and overall rebuild, currently estimated at $600,000 [See “Santa Fe No. […]
PERRIS, Calif. – After sitting dormant for more than 30 years, a rare Fairbanks Morse H12-44 switcher made its public debut on Saturday, Jan. 20, following a multi-year restoration at the Southern California Railway Museum. Built in 1956, ATSF No. 560 was part of an order of six H12-44s built for the Santa Fe. They […]
DURANGO, Colo. — Passenger excursions are the meat and potatoes for the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad’s (D&SNGRR) overall business. However, logging has been another venture that has returned the former branch line of the Denver, Rio Grande & Western to its common carrier roots. Nearly six years after the 416 Fire [See “Fires […]
SALT LAKE CITY – Southeast Farmers Coop has donated former Denver & Rio Grande Western SW1200 No. 133 to the Promontory Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society, according to the Facebook post by Derrick Klarr, Promontory Chapter preservation officer. The South Dakota-based D&I railroad assisted in the donation. Rio Grande No. 133 was built in […]
LINCOLN, N.H. — White Mountain Central Railroad, operated by Clark’s Bears (formerly Clark’s Trading Post), announced that front power-truck issues, which sidelined its two-truck Climax No. 6 last season have been repaired. The locomotive is scheduled to operate during July and August 2024. No. 6 is one of only four Climax geared locomotives still operating […]
PITTSTON, Pa. — In response to a scrapping scheduled on January 22, a GoFundMe campaign was recently launched to save a historic SW1 diesel switcher, former Boston & Maine Railroad No. 1127. Organized by Connor Maher of the Danbury Railway Museum, $65,000 total must be raised to purchase the first-generation locomotive at $50,000 from current owner […]
ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pa. – Expanded tours of the East Broad Top Railroad shops, roundhouse, and archives will be offered for the first time in 2024, the non-profit EBT Foundation, Inc., has announced. The narrow-gauge central Pennsylvania steam preservation railroad, a National Historic Landmark, will open new opportunities besides its existing one-hour tour of its circa-1910 […]
