DINGMANS FERRY, Pa. — Operation Toy Train has announced the schedule for its 16th year collecting toy donations for the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation and other organizations that benefit underprivileged children. This year, the program has expanded to include Southern California and New York’s capitol region, joining previous operations in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, […]
NEW FREEDOM, Pa. — Northern Central Railway of York has added to its roster with purchase of a GE 80-ton locomotive that will be used in excursion service. “As part of our strategic growth plan, we have been considering buying another train for some time,” Ashley Zimmerman, the railroad’s executive director, said in a press […]
DUNCANSVILLE, Pa. — After a 10-month restoration, former Lehigh & New England office car No. 100 is ready to start carrying first-class passengers for its new owner, the Everett Railroad. After L&NE quit running in 1961, the car served as a restaurant annex near Philadelphia before trolley broker Ed Metka of Windber, Pa., bought it […]
ELBE, Wash. — The Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad has purchased three ex-Reading Co. passenger cars from the North Carolina Transportation for use in its steam heritage rail operations. Mt. Rainier Scenic said in a press release that the museum determined the cars, built between 1922 and 1927 by the Standard Steel Car Co. and Bethlehem […]
GRAND RAPIDS, Ohio — The Toledo, Lake Erie & Western Railway and Museum has received a grant to help restore its former Chesapeake & Ohio Alco S4, No. 5109, to operating condition, the organization has announced. The Anderson Foundation has awarded a $5,140 grant that the tourist railroad says in a Facebook post will be […]
MADISON, Wis. — The owner of the Wisconsin Great Northern, the heritage rail operation in Spooner, Wis., which gained significant attention for its efforts to restore the Mark Twain Zephyr, has been sentenced to a year and a day in prison for failure to pay employment taxes. Greg Vreeland, 55, of Springbrook, Wis., was sentenced […]
WILLIAMS, Ariz. — At age 123, the former Santa Fe branch between Williams and Grand Canyon National Park will not hesitate in challenging Grand Canyon Railway’s steam and diesel locomotives as they navigate the sharp curves and 3.5% grades. The fleet’s flagship, 2-8-2 No. 4960, was no exception on Sept. 21, 2024. Commemorating the first […]
COLESVILLE, Md. — A unique predecessor to the renowned hi-rail vehicle has recently hit the road for a renewal in its preservation odyssey. The National Capital Trolley Museum announced in a Sept. 17 post on Facebook and Instagram the acquisition of Evans Auto-Railer No. 109. The 1936-built vehicle was transported on Sept. 9 on a […]
This month, the Short Line Safety Institute enters its tenth year of operations, having marked 155 completed safety culture assessments, and numerous introductions of programs and resources to benefit the short line industry in continuously improving safety culture. Founded in response to the tragic 2013 Lac-Megantic rail accident in Quebec, Canada, on regional Montreal, Maine […]
ABILENE, Kan. — Nearly five years after the last run out of Baldwin City, six passenger cars of Bruce Eveland’s Kansas Belle dinner train have found a new owner and a temporary home. A Sept. 16, 2024, Facebook post by the Abilene & Smoky Valley Railroad (A&SV) announced the recent acquisition with American Heritage Railways […]
DULUTH, Minn. – The Lake Superior Railroad Museum has restored a former Erie Mining hi-rail car — a 1957 Pontiac — to service. The Pontiac Chieftain station wagon was put into service in 1957 on Erie Mining Co.’s 74-mile main line between Hoyt Lakes and Taconite Harbor. The vehicle traveled an estimated 110,000 […]
Sugar Express CLEWISTON, Fla. — U.S. Sugar’s Sugar Express train consist continues to grow in length, and its latest addition is an historic streamlined railcar with a strong Florida pedigree. Round-end observation lounge car Bay Biscayne arrived on U.S. Sugar’s Clewiston headquarters in July, and has been added to the Sugar Express 9-car excursion train […]
