The evolution of miniature locomotives has been long and steady for more than a century. The beginning, of course, involved using electricity to enable them to move without being touched. Next came the introduction of functioning lights to models of steam and electric engines as well as to trolley and motorized units. Everything that had […]
Hoosier Valley obtains builder’s plate for 2-8-4, seeks National Register status for locomotive The Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum in North Judson, Ind., has acquired the builder’s plate for Chesapeake & Ohio 2-8-4 No. 2789, reuniting the plate with the locomotive decades after the two were separated. The acquisition comes as the museum launches an effort […]
SUNOL, Calif. — The Pacific Locomotive Association and the Niles Canyon Railway will host a railfan photographers’ special on Saturday, May 1, featuring Columbia River Belt Line No. 7, the 2-4-4-2 known as the Skookum. The event, to benefit the restoration of recently acquired Southern Pacific M-6 locomotive No. 1744, will feature the Skookum pulling […]
Super Power premier The era of modern steam power dates to Lima’s development of Super Power and the Boston & Albany Berkshire (2-8-4), which hauled freight through its namesake mountains. But the B&A locomotive’s small (63-inch-diameter) drivers failed to take advantage of its boiler to generate steam fast enough for high-speed service. Number 1421 is […]
Some of today’s short-wheelbase locomotives have issues with the prototypical switches and narrow-angle crossings that make an O gauge railroad look realistic. Here’s a quick fix that will allow any locomotive - even this economical Bethlehem Steel saddle tanker from Lionel – to perform reliably over the troublesome trackwork. THIS IS A PHOTO FEATURE. CLICK […]
BOYERTOWN, Pa. — In cooperation with the Maguire Family Foundation, tourist line Colebrookdale Railroad announced on March 27 that it has acquired former Rio Grande Scenic Railroad 2-8-0 No. 18. The engine was built for the Lake Superior & Ishpeming in Upper Michigan by Alco (Pittsburgh) in 1910. The acquisition comes after the railroad said […]
All through March 2021, Classic Trains editors are celebrating the stylish passenger trains, gritty freights, history, and now, hard-working locomotives of the Seaboard Air Line. Please enjoy this photo gallery of SAL images selected from Kalmbach Media’s David P. Morgan Library. Only from Classic Trains! […]
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A violent storm Thursday damaged the shop facility where the Nashville Steam Preservation Society is restoring Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis locomotive No. 576, as well as the Tennessee Central Railway Museum. Nashville Steam reports there were no injuries, but high winds and debris destroyed a portion of the structure housing No. […]
Norfolk & Western K2 4-8-2 117, just in from Lynchburg with the Tennessean, is prepared for its next assignment in the lubritorium service building at Shaffers Crossing terminal outside Roanoke, Va., in 1954. A. Akin Jr. […]
Western Maryland Scenic says No. 1309 is being prepared for FRA inspection Western Maryland Scenic Railroad officials say C&O 2-6-6-2 No. 1309 is “100% operational” and believe the locomotive will be operating this summer, although it awaits a few parts and must address “a few leaks” before receiving its Federal Railroad Administration inspection. The Cumberland […]
Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad to resume operation May 1 Ohio’s Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad will resume operation May 1 with National Park Scenic rides operating through Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Trains will operate three days a week (Friday through Sunday) in May and five days a week (Wednesday through Sunday) beginning in June. “We look […]
In the only known photo of legendary engineer John Luther “Casey” Jones at the throttle of a locomotive, Jones and fireman J. W. McKinnie are ready to take Illinois Central 2-8-0 638 out for a break-in run after a shopping at Water Valley in summer 1898. Less than two years later, Jones perished in a […]
