Facts & features Name: The Eastern Loggers Scale: HO (1:87) in standard, narrow (3-foot), and dual gauges Size: 10 x 20 feet Prototypes: Pennsylvania logging railroads Locale: mountains of Pennsylvania Era: summer, early 1920s Style: sectional Mainline run: 60 feet Minimum radius: 18″ Minimum turnout: no. 4 Maximum grade: 6 percent Benchwork: open grid Height: […]
Southern Railway 0-8-0 1868 works at Appalachia, Va., on May 27, 1952 — its final day of service. Ed Theisinger photo […]
KINGSPORT, Tenn. — The CSX Santa Train will run this year after all. In a reversal of an earlier decision, the Santa Train Facebook page announced this morning (Tuesday, Sept. 27) that the train will mark its 80th anniversary year by running on Saturday, Nov. 19. “Feedback and community support, in addition to positive developments […]
Mind-blowing East Broad Top facts Tucked deep in the Allegheny Mountains, between Altoona and Harrisburg, is Rockhill, Pa. Today, Rockhill is home to a railroad time capsule called the East Broad Top Railroad, arguably one of the more famous and best-preserved U.S. narrow gauge lines. Built between 1872 and 1874, the EBT mostly lugged coal […]
In position for a shot of Pennsylvania Railroad J1 2-10-4 No. 6427 climbing Horseshoe Curve with empty hopper cars in September 1955, photographer Phil Hastings had to settle for this view when a mixed freight overtook the Texas type on the outside track. Philip R. Hastings photo […]
WASHINGTON — CSX Transportation’s use of a weather alert system which did not sufficiently account for extreme rainfall was a contributing factor in a Feb. 13, 2020, derailment and fire caused by a mudslide in Draffin, Ky., the National Transportation Safety Board concluded in its final report on the incident. The report, completed in August, […]
Alco locomotives on NY shortline railroads Alco locomotives on NY shortline railroads: A drive along twisting mountain byways through freshly fallen snow, ears straining for the slightest hint of the groan from the horn atop an ALCO RS-3, camera at the ready for the first sign of a brightly colored locomotive is how my trip […]
WASHINGTON — The trade group representing coal mining operators has asked federal regulators to take action regarding erratic rail service, particularly in the east on CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern. Mines have had to curtail production due to poor rail service that’s only getting worse even as demand for coal rises, the National Mining Association […]
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Dr. Roy B. Clarkson, a well-known botanist and forest biologist at West Virginia University and author of two books dealing with West Virginia lumber railroads, died Sept. 12, 2022. He was 95. Clarkson, originally from Cass, W.Va., published many books, articles, and papers during his career in science, but is known in […]
CUMBERLAND, Md. — Western Maryland Scenic Railroad’s locomotive roster continues to diversify with the unveiling of a Western Maryland-painted GE B32-8, NIWX No. 558. The nearly 33-year-old General Electric four-axle Dash 8 locomotive now sports Western Maryland’s black-and-yellow fireball paint scheme. It arrived at the railroad earlier this year with former Norfolk Southern paint and […]
CUMBERLAND, Md. — Western Maryland Scenic Railroad excursions have been cancelled through Sept. 11 because of track damage caused by recent heavy rains, the Cumberland Times-News reports. Damage was confined to about 250 feet of track near the railroad’s shop and yard in Ridgeley, W.Va., on the West Virginia side of the North Branch Potomac […]
ALEXANDER, W.Va. — West Virginia’s Beech Mountain Railroad, operated by United Coal subsidiary Carter-Roag Coal Co., is still hauling Sewell coal, despite the loss of the usual destination for its coal because of the war in Ukraine. United Coal supplies the mammoth Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, Ukraine, but the plant was devastated by Russian […]
