Editors’ note: The author and photographers are graduates of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s rail engineering program. This is their first Trains byline. In North America, the days of steam railroading are a distant memory, and coal traffic is slowly headed the way of steam. In Europe and Japan, steam enthusiasts eagerly attend steam […]
DURANGO, Colo. — The Durango & Silverton is expanding its locomotive roster, adding four diesels with the potential to be tourist attractions in their own right. The D&S has announced it is acquiring four of the White Pass & Yukon Railway’s distinctive Montreal Locomotive Works DL535C diesels, 1,200-hp C-C locomotives built in 1969 and 1971. […]
Wick Moorman addresses the crowd gathered on Feb. 14. Joseph Kovalchick, whose family has been longtime owner of the line, is seated in the black overcoat. Rich Roberts Henry Posner III, left, discusses a matter with Bennett Levin. Rich Roberts ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pa. – Sixty years ago, that quote by East Broad Top Railroad owner […]
Privately-owned 4-4-0 Eureka from Nevada will guest star at Cumbres & Toltec’s 50th anniversary celebration. Trains: Jim Wrinn CHAMA, N.M. — Four narrow gauge locomotives built in the 19th century will take center stage at the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad this August for what will likely be one of the highlights of the year […]
ET&WNC 4-6-0 No. 12 pulls a flatcar for the first time along with a former East Broad Top coach to create Tweetsie Railroad’s first mixed train. Kevin Gilliam BOONE, N.C. — A little bit of history was made this weekend at the Tweetsie Railroad near Boone, N.C. For the first time since the early 1940s, […]
ALNA, Maine — Shipments of equipment from the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad & Museum have arrived at the Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum’s Sheepscot campus, over the past two weeks, moved by truck from Portland and unloaded via a recently built ramp track. First to arrive were Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Railroad “Rangeley,” […]
After several months of work in the shops in Durango, Colo., Southern Pacific No. 18, otherwise known as the Slim Princess, returned to service at the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad on July 18, pulling a loaded passenger train from Rockwood, Colo., to Cascade Canyon, Colo. On April 9, 2019, the steam engine, leased […]
STRASBURG, Pa. — At 11:23 a.m. on May 23, Rio Grande Southern Railroad No. 20, a legendary narrow gauge 4-6-0, made its first move under steam in 67 years. Under overhaul at the Strasburg Rail Road’s shops since 2006, the engine shoved the shop’s Plymouth switcher, which was also supplying braking power through the shop […]
The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad began its full season on May 4, 2019, with the first train from Durango, Colo., to Silverton, Colo. The first train was met with fanfare, including the Silverton Brass Band and folks dressed in 19th-century apparel. The Silverton Gunfighters performed a reenactment of a gunfight between the good […]
Southern Pacific 4-6-0 No. 18, which is being leased to the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad from the Carson & Colorado Railway, blew its right cylinder and shattered the piston during a run from Durango, Colo., to Cascade Canyon, Colo., on April 9, 2019. The “Slim Princess,” as it’s affectionately called, is a Baldwin […]
Dave Mull in the Carson & Colorado shop David Lustig DURANGO, Colo. – Southern Pacific narrow gauge 4-6-0 No. 18, normally a denizen of California’s Owens Valley, is having a ball right now. Temporarily working out of Durango on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, it’s burnishing the rails hauling passengers and photo freights, […]
Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes parlor Car No. 9 Rangeley, built by Jackson & Sharp of Wilmington, Del. in 1901, is the only two-foot gauge car of its type ever built. It is scheduled to be the first car moved to Sheepscot in May. MNGM Bridgton & Saco River Railroad No. 8, a 1924 Baldwin […]
