Bill Purdie, Southern’s steam master, dies NEWSWIRE

Southern Railway’s master mechanic-steam occupies the engineer’s seat of Tennessee Valley 630 during a 1980s excursion. Jim Wrinn ATLANTA – Bill Purdie, the beloved master mechanic for Southern Railway’s extensive steam locomotive excursions in the 1960s and 1970s, died yesterday evening. He was 95. Purdie joined Southern Railway as a helper in 1936 and progressed […]

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Preservationist George Hart dies NEWSWIRE

George M. Hart Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania LEHIGHTON, Pa. – Legendary Pennsylvania railroad preservationist George Hart, who died Thursday in Lehighton at age 89, will remembered for his work with Reading’s steam fantrips, as the first director of the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, and as the indefatigable operator of Rail Tours Inc. excursions. He was […]

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Southern Pacific 2472 is test-fired NEWSWIRE

Alan Siegwarth SUNOL, Calif. – The Golden Gate Railroad Museum has announced that its Southern Pacific 4-6-2 No. 2472 has been successfully steam-tested as mandated by federal regulations under the 1,472-day inspection rules. Locomotive reassembly is continuing, and the group expects the locomotive to be complete in the near future. The Golden Gate Railroad Museum […]

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Great Northern “Hustle Muscle” SD45 repainted NEWSWIRE

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Great Northern Railway Historical Society recently completed a project to repaint Great Northern SD45 No. 400, the “Hustle Muscle.” Built in May 1966, No. 400 was the first production SD45 built by Electro-Motive Division; it received the Hustle Muscle moniker by GN when the company purchased the unit. It continued […]

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