News photos: Conway Scenic 0-6-0 makes first appearances of 2022

Steam engine parked on track

CONWAY, N.H. — Conway Scenic Railroad’s 0-6-0 steam locomotive No. 7470, Dwight Smith, was on display under steam on Father’s Day, Sunday, June 19, as part of the preparations for resuming regularly scheduled passenger moves with the locomotive later in the 2022 season. The locomotive, built by Canada’s Grand Trunk Railway at its Point Saint Charles […]

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East Broad Top begins restoring main line south

Two men talking on bridge with work on rail line in background

SALTILLO, Pa. – The long-awaited restoration of the narrow gauge East Broad Top Railroad’s main line south – dormant for nearly seven decades – is under way. A three-pronged approach involves EBT Foundation, Inc., full-time staff; a volunteer track gang led by Gene Tucker of the Friends of the East Broad Top; and a crew […]

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Fire danger pushes back Cumbres & Toltec’s opening day

Two steam locomotives leading train through fall colors

The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad has pushed back the start of its excursion season by nearly three weeks due to extreme wildfire danger. The 64-mile steam-powered narrow gauge railroad, owned by the states of New Mexico and Colorado, now aims to begin its season on July 1 rather than the previously scheduled June 11 […]

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Work on East Broad Top 2-8-2 No. 16 nearing completion

Man inspecting portion of steam locomotive

ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pa. — Out of service for 66 years, East Broad Top narrow-gauge 2-8-2 Mikado steam locomotive No. 16 is getting close to operating again. Built for EBT by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1916, it’s one of six surviving BLW Mikados on the roster of the iconic short-line railroad in central Pennsylvania, which has […]

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Drone whirs through East Broad Top tunnels

Man in orange high-visibility clothing inspects drone on ground

ROCKY RIDGE, Pa. — Flying a 21st-century drone to plot the future of two 19th-century tunnels, the East Broad Top Railroad took a step forward Thursday, May 26, by revisiting its past. Specialists set up, calibrated, and flew a drone through the Ray’s Hill (some spell it Wray’s Hill) and Sideling Hill tunnels, nestled in […]

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Tornado damages Ontario tourist railway

Wooden train station building with broken glass and other visible damage

UXBRIDGE, Ontario — A tourist railway is among the locations sustaining severe damage from a May 21 tornado that struck the community of Uxbridge in south-central Ontario. The Uxbridge Times-Journal reports the York-Durham Heritage Railway sustained about C$750,000 in damage to its station, equipment, and grounds, and is closed until further notice. “After the railway […]

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East Broad Top team brings history to life: Analysis

When East Broad Top General Manager Brad Esposito was cleaning up rock salt in a shed at the railroad’s shop complex last year, he didn’t bat an eye when he realized he was standing on wooden crates marked “dynamite.” After all, the EBT stored just about anything in dynamite crates that had been emptied at […]

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