NEW HAVEN, Ky. — The Kentucky Steam Heritage Corp. will host a 75th birthday party for former Chesapeake & Ohio 2-8-4 Kanawha No. 2716, which is under restoration by the steam group. The event will be held at the Kentucky Railway Museum in New Haven, where the engine is located, this Saturday, Dec. 15. The […]
Skookum, the Pacific Northwest 2-4-4-2 that has not run since 1955, was under steam Thursday and moving under its own power after repairs. Martin E. Hansen GARIBALDI, Ore. – A week of good shop work is worth everything for a locomotive that hasn’t run since 1955. That’s the story behind 2-4-4-2 No. 7 Skookum at […]
SP 2-8-2 No. 745 will run Dec. 15 in New Orleans. LASTA NEW ORLEANS, La. — On Dec. 15, Southern Pacific steam locomotive No. 745 will pull a Christmas train through some of New Orleans’ most historic neighborhoods. It is the second excursion in two years for the 2-8-2, which for many years prior was […]
Western Maryland Scenic 1309 wheels see work at Chattanooga. Diversified Rail Services RIDGELEY, W.Va. — The Beast of the East is about to get wheels. Diversified Rail Services, the contractor working on Western Maryland Scenic Railroad’s Chesapeake & Ohio 2-6-6-2 No. 1309, says the drivers are progressing through machine work at Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum’s […]
A conventional two-cylinder locomotive like this one exhausts four times per wheel revolution. This is thanks to the position of the valves. Library of Congress Q At low speed, the four “chuffs” a steam engine makes per wheel rotation all sound the same to me, but at higher speed I think I hear a four-beat […]
This California Heisler is returning to the area where it first worked. Mill Valley Historical Society MILL VALLEY, Calif. — The only remaining original equipment from the fabled Mount Tamalpais & Muir Woods Railroad in Marin County is on its way to a new home. No. 9, a 30-ton two-truck Heisler built in 1920, was […]
Iowa Interstate QJ 2-10-2s Nos. 6988 and 7081 doublehead in Iowa in 2011. Trains: Jim Wrinn MENLO, Iowa — In the first announcement of a scheduled big steam locomotive running on a regional railroad in 2019, Iowa Interstate officials Friday said that steam will operate to benefit a volunteer fire department in this community located […]
Big Boy No. 4014 will steam between Cheyenne, Wyo., and Ogden, Utah, in May 2019. CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Trains Magazine and Special Interest Tours will offer a multi-day Big Boy No. 4014 chase bus on the Union Pacific locomotive’s inaugural run in May 2019, promoters said Friday. The massive 4-8-8-4 will operate from its homebase […]
Lance Fritz, Union Pacific CEO Union Pacific NEW YORK — With major changes under way at Union Pacific, which is cutting costs and shifting to an operating plan based on Precision Scheduled Railroading, what does it mean for the railroad’s long-running steam program? “We’re not sure. But right now, nothing,” UP CEO Lance Fritz told […]
Even with its holiday adornments, No. 261 still proudly displays its Milwaukee Road heritage. Steve Glischinski ST. PAUL, Minn. – “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” is a popular Christmas song, but it’s theme can also apply to mainline steam operators who find the holiday season a way to bring in more revenue […]
Its cosmetic restoration complete, Northern Pacific No. 2435 poses outside the Lake Superior Railroad Museum. David C. Schauer NP No. 2435 inside the Lake Superior Railroad Museum shop where it was restored cosmetically. The six-year restoration is now complete. David C. Schauer DULUTH, Minn. – The Lake Superior Railroad Museum has completed the cosmetic restoration of […]
Pacific 208 leads Western Maryland’s daily passenger train between Elkins, W.Va., and Cumberland, Md., around one of the many sharp curves in Black Fork Gorge, a few miles west of Thomas, W.Va., circa 1950. Wayne Brumbaugh photo […]
