In a 1957 view from a crossing watchman’s tower at Burlington, Ont., elderly Canadian National 2-8-0 2647 passes in heavy rain with a Hamilton–Toronto local freight. Philip R. Hastings photo […]
CN 2-8-0 in the rain
Tag: Steam Locomotive
EM-1 cresting Newburg Grade
Baltimore & Ohio class EM-1 2-8-8-4 7620 crests Newburg Grade in West Virginia with eastbound coal in 1948. William P. Price photo […]
Nevada Northern No. 81 fired … again
ELY, Nev. — On the night of Feb. 3, the Nevada Northern Railway Museum successfully fired No. 81, a 1917 Baldwin Locomotive Works 2-8-0. The locomotive had not been fired for more than two years due to ongoing repairs. For the firing, 1,000 pounds of coal was placed in the 5-foot-by-9-foot firebox, which had been […]
C&O No. 614’s restoration: A 2025 recap and 2026 resolution
STRASBURG, Pa. — A new year brings new resolutions. For RJD America LLC, a group of railroaders and businessmen who purchased Chesapeake & Ohio No. 614 in 2024, its 2026 resolution hopes to go above and beyond the ongoing restoration to return the Class J3a 4-8-4 to service. 2025 recap In an interview with Trains.com, […]
B&O “Dockside” 0-4-0T
Baltimore & Ohio No. 9 is one of four class C-16 0-4-0T switchers built in 1912 to work tight-radius street trackage along Baltimore harbor. Two were rebuilt as tender engines in the 1920s, but the other two worked as-built until several years after World War II. Their compact size made them a favorite among HO […]
Young Guns in Preservation: Nick Harding
Since 2023, 22-year-old Nick Harding has been an active part of the engine crew for the Norfolk & Western J-class 4-8-4 No. 611. The work involves much more than just having smoke rise from the cowled stack. It demands round-the-clock maintenance and repair between operations, ensuring the locomotive is ready for its next trips out […]
Southern Railway No. 4501 returns in classic green (updated)
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum announced that former Southern Railway No. 4501 will return from its annual inspection wearing the railroad’s classic passenger green paint scheme. The locomotive will appear as it did when it entered excursion service 60 years ago, in 1966. “In a year when we’re celebrating [the museum’s] 65th […]
Western corner of the B&O
Consolidation 2836 steams across a country road at Junction, Ill., with the every-other-day freight between Flora and Shawneetown in September 1954. Philip R. Hastings photo […]
Classic logging Mallet
The 2-6-6-2T Mallet, exemplified by Weyerhauser No. 9, was perhaps the ultimate development of the logging locomotive. Compact, powerful, and flexible, the type was ideally suited to pulling heavy loads over rough, sharply curved track. Geared locomotives like the Shay also possessed these traits, but could not make the speed of a rod engine. Baldwin […]
Rock Island 4-8-4 at Joliet
Rock Island class R-67 Northern 5114 has just passed Joliet (Ill.) Union Station and crossed the GM&O/ATSF diamond as it steams toward Chicago with an eastbound freight in fall 1951. Wallace W. Abbey photo […]
Reading Pacific on the PRSL
Characteristic of the indignities suffered by steam in its final years, Reading G-3 Pacific 215, built in 1948 as a top-flight passenger engine, loafs along with a single coach on the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines in September 1955. Philip R. Hastings photo […]
UP Big Boy 2026 tour to begin with trip to California
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Union Pacific’s Big Boy will return to California this spring in the first leg of its planned coast-to-coast trip for America’s 250th anniversary, the railroad has announced. The first segment of the trip will be a round trip from Cheyenne, Wyo., beginning March 29 and concluding April 24, with two major public […]
