Trains Magazine, Western Maryland Scenic announce 1309 event

Large steam locomotive, shining after restoration

CUMBERLAND, Md. — Trains Magazine and Western Maryland Scenic Railroad are pleased to announce the first enthusiast event to celebrate return of newly restored 2-6-6-2 No. 1309, to be held Feb. 25-27, 2022. The three-day event will be limited to 100 participants and will include a night run on the legendary Western Maryland Railway main […]

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Cheseapeake & Ohio Historical society receives slides from J. David Ingles collection

two yellow and blue locomotives next to each other on tracks with silo in background

CLIFTON FORGE, Va. — The Chesapeake & Ohio Historical Society has received a collection of slides from the estate of J. David Ingles, the late senior editor of Classic Trains magazine and former editor of Trains magazine, the organization announced in a press release. The collection includes many slides from the 1960s and 1970s of […]

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NC Transportation Museum receives state funds to renovate Spencer Shops Powerhouse

one-story brick building with scaffolding in front of it

SPENCER, N.C. — The N.C. Transportation Museum will receive $10 million in state funding to complete the renovation of the Spencer Shops Powerhouse, the second oldest building on the shop complex that dates to 1896, and to restore the Car Shed to house the museum’s passenger cars. An additional $280,000 will go to replace lost […]

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Western Maryland Scenic 1309 receives FRA approval

steam locomotive outside shop

RIDGELEY, W.Va. — The Federal Railroad Administration Thursday approved Western Maryland Scenic Railroad 2-6-6-2 No. 1309 for service, officials of the Cumberland, Md.-based tourist railroad tell Trains News Wire. The last Baldwin built for domestic service in 1949 immediately becomes the world’s largest operating Mallet on a 17-mile mountain railroad that was once the Western […]

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Minnesota museum saves Soo Line caboose

red caboose resting inactive

MINNEAPOLIS – The Iron Horse Central Railroad Museum has acquired a 110-year-old Soo Line caboose that has been a landmark in Minneapolis for 46 years. The caboose was owned by the Broadway Bar Pizza Restaurant, and has stood at the intersection at Broadway Avenue and East River Road since 1975. In 2020, the pizza shop’s […]

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New England Museum offering autism-friendly holiday train excursion

White and red locomotive pulling holiday decorated train

THOMASTON, Conn. – For the sixth consecutive year, the Railroad Museum of New England and the Naugatuck Railroad are teaming up with Watertown, Conn.-based nonprofit Sun, Moon & Stars to offer a holiday train ride designed for children on the autism spectrum. Naugatuck Railroad is the operational branch of the Railroad Museum of New England, founded […]

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Friends of the 261 acquires private car ‘Caritas’

rear of train with orange passenger car with people seated on the rear

MINNEAPOLIS – The Friends of the 261, the nonprofit organization that owns and operates Milwaukee Road 4-8-4 No. 261, has purchased well-known private car Caritas, Friends of the 261 President and Chief Operating Officer Steve Sandberg tells Trains “News Wire.” Sandberg says the group acquired the car in a bankruptcy auction from the bankruptcy court […]

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The Trains Interview: Western Maryland Scenic’s Wesley Heinz, Part II

Man dressed for cold weather working on steam locomotive

Second of two parts CUMBERLAND, Md. — The conclusion of a Trains News Wire interview with with Wesley Heinz, executive director of the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad. Part I is available here. Q: Second to 1309, track infrastructure has been a recurring topic of discussion. How is the railroad addressing track needs to avoid another […]

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Trains photo charter in Oregon to feature Santa Maria Valley 2-6-2

Steam engine crossing roadway

LEBANON, Ore. — Santa Maria Valley No. 205, a recently restored 2-6-2 that had not steamed in 71 years, will make its photographer’s train debut in a Trains Magazine-sponsored event at the Albany & Eastern on March 18. The locomotive and two coaches will make multiple photo runbys on the railroad’s scenic Sweet Home Branch […]

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The Trains Interview: Western Maryland Scenic’s Wesley Heinz, Part I

Man in flannel shirt and knit cap working at front of steam locomotive

First of two parts CUMBERLAND, Md. – It’s been about five months since New England rail preservationist Wesley Heinz took the top spot as interim chief and then permanent executive director of the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad in Cumberland. Prior to migrating to Cumberland, Heinz was the executive director of the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad […]

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Winnipeg rail museum faces closure, relocation

Entry of Winnipeg Union Station

WINNIPEG, Manitoba — The Winnipeg Railway Museum, which has displayed a collection including a landmark steam locomotive at the city’s Union Station for 30 years, is facing closure and relocation from its longtime home. The CBC reports the museum has been told its location at the 110-year-old station requires significant work to be brought up […]

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Skip Lichter, steam locomotive owner, dies

Man sitting next to steam locomotive

GARIBALDI, Ore. — One of private preservation’s most effective individuals, steam locomotive owner Roland “Skip” Lichter, has died. The owner of Polson Lumber Co. 2-8-2 No. 2, long based in Wisconsin and relocated to Oregon in 2017, died Wednesday. Lichter bought the locomotive in 1982 and ran it at Wisconsin’s Mid-Continent Railway Museum until it […]

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