SOUDERTON, Pa. — The Railroad & Industrial Preservation Society continues to gain financial support for its restoration of the last surviving Lehigh & New England Railroad diesel locomotive. The society announced today (Jan. 23) that the Berkheimer Foundation has awarded a $5,000 grant to advance restoration of former L&NE Alco S2 No. 611. This follows […]
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BALTIMORE — The B&O Railroad Museum is beginning its full cosmetic restoration of American Freedom Train No. 1, the former Reading Co. 4-8-4 that pulled the train celebrating America’s Bicentennial, and expects to complete the work this year, in time to mark the nation’s 250th birthday in 2026. The museum had first announced plans for […]
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Three Southern Pacific F units lead a Los Angeles-bound piggyback train running as Extra 6368 East past Portrero Tower in San Francisco in 1956. Southern Pacific photo […]
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FORT WAYNE, Ind. — The Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society has purchased Pullman car Kitchi Gammi Club from the car’s owners and operators for more than three decades. The heavyweight car built by Pullman in 1923 and long assigned to Nickel Plate Road service, is already in use at the Indiana Rail Experience, the excursion […]
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Classic Trains Film Archive | Chicago Passenger Train Parade, Chicago, Illinois, J. David Ingles Reel 0137 – Join J. David Ingles for a tour of Chicagoland railroads in early 1971. You’ll see Burlington Northern, Illinois Central, Monon, Penn Central, Santa Fe, and more around the Windy City. Locations include, 21st Street diamond, 18th Street on […]
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Grand Trunk Western steam provided a last look for many Midwest railfans. Despite having a large population with sizeable cities, Michigan has hovered just above the nation’s busy paths of commerce. Except for Detroit, the state tends to be out of sight, out of mind — no offense to Grand Rapids, the state’s […]
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Prior to the time of the streamliners, North American passenger trains were not particularly colorful. Most sleeping cars were Pullman green, although there were exceptions; both the Pennsylvania and Canadian Pacific utilized shades of red on their passenger equipment, for example. With the arrival of streamlined lightweight equipment as of the late 1930s, […]
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CORINTH, N.Y. — The Delaware & Hudson Railway Historical Society, newly formed as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in the state of New York, has announced it has acquired for preservation former D&H Alco RS3 locomotive No. 4085. The group acquired the locomotive —currently located at the Erie Turntable in Port Jervis, N.Y. — on Nov. […]
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ALTOONA, Pa. – With the inspection, cleaning and conditioning of the drivers of former Pennsylvania Railroad Class K4s 4-6-2 steam engine No. 1361 by Strasburg Rail Road’s mechanical department, the locomotive’s $2.4 million restoration has moved symbolically past the halfway point, according to the engine’s owner, the Railroaders Memorial Museum. The six 80-inch drivers made […]
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MISSOULA, Mont. — An obscure but classic motion picture about logging in the Northwest, and the unique log-hauling locomotive that starred in it, are returning to the spotlight. In February 1955, “Timberjack” made its world premiere on the screens of the Roxy and Fox theaters in Missoula, not far from where the movie had been […]
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This 1949 view of the erecting floor at EMD shows a 567 diesel engine, generator (on the deck at the left of the engine), and electrical cabinet (far left) in place on an F7 frame. An FP7 is taking shape in the background. EMD photo […]
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It was my bittersweet duty last week to write an obituary for illustrator Bob Wegner, one of the all-time greats from the heyday of Kalmbach Publishing Co. He was a versatile illustrator and (best of all from my perspective) a railroad mapmaker extraordinaire. Bob put in more than 40 years at KPC, turning out hundreds […]
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