WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to review the appeals court ruling blocking construction of the Uinta Basin Railway, the Associated Press reports. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia last year struck down Surface Transportation Board approval of the 88-mile rail project in a remote portion of eastern Utah. […]
Zone & Region: Mountain West
Rock slide blocks Durango & Silverton route
DURANGO, Colo. — Trips to Silverton, Colo., on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad could be disrupted until at least Wednesday, June 26, after a rock slide was discovered Saturday morning, the Durango Herald reports. The slide, near Milepost 486 north of Needleton, was reported at 7:30 a.m. Saturday. It occurred sometime after the […]
Nevada Northern Railway | Be the Engineer insights
Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to run a steam locomotive? Well, you can! Come with us as Trains.com visits the Nevada Northern Railway for their “Be the Engineer” program, where trained crews will teach you how to run a steam locomotive. This short clip is from our feature-length “Introduction to Steam Locomotives: How They Work” […]
Orders at Reverse
In about 1950, the operator at Reverse, Idaho, hands up orders to the engine crew of westbound freight 3-257. Two 2-8-8-0 pushers have been removed here after assisting the train up Medbury Hill. Henry R. Griffiths Jr. photo […]
Colorado’s San Luis Central shut down by washout
MONTE VISTA, Colo. — Short line San Luis Central Railroad embargoed its entire 13-mile line May 28 after its crossing of the Empire Irrigation Canal, one mile north of Monte Vista, collapsed. According to local farmers, the crossing, a series of culverts surrounded by cement walls, had been seeping water between the pipes for a […]
D&RGW Pacific at Pinecliff
Pacific 801 leads Rio Grande train 10, the local from Craig, Colo., to Denver, out of Tunnel 29 east of Pinecliff on Dec. 31, 1950. Otto Perry photo […]
Front Range Passenger project to wait until 2026 to take funding request to voters
DENVER — Colorado’s Front Range Passenger District will wait until 2026 to ask voters to approve sales-tax funding for the rail project in the district’s 13 counties, the district board decided on Friday (May 31). The decision by the full 20-member board to pursue further planning and service modeling for the planned Fort Collins-Pueblo passenger […]
Classic Trains Film Archive | Pacific Northwest and California, J. David Ingles Reel 103
Classic Trains Film Archive | Pacific Northwest and California, J. David Ingles Reel 103 – Through the lens of J. David Ingles, you’ll see the Canadian Pacific, Great Northern, Southern Pacific, Union Pacific; and other roads as he ventured into the Pacific Northwest and California too. Dave rides along Puget Sound with his sights set […]
Silverton
On June 18, 1950, the Denver & Rio Grande Western’s Silverton enters Animas Canyon near its namesake Colorado town. In 1981 the route became the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. R.W. Richardson photo […]
Young Guns in Preservation: Russell Heerdt
Railway preservation is important for museums and tourist railroads. But each non- and for-profit approaches this differently. For Special Events Coordinator Russell Heerdt of the for-profit Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, keeping the doors open, lights on, and wheels turning is a juxtaposition between individual organizations. How did you get involved in rail preservation? […]
Colorado voters unlikely to be asked to fund Front Range rail project this year
DENVER — It appears a ballot measure to fund Colorado’s Front Range Passenger Rail project will not go to voters until 2026. Colorado Public Radio reports that members of the Front Range Passenger District board said that a 2026 vote would be “the best course of action,” as it would allow the measure to go […]
Durango & Silverton two-day steam photo charter with ‘Trains’ Magazine set for October
DURANGO, Colo. — Join the editors of Trains Magazine this year aboard a private steam-powered two-day charter Oct. 18 and 19, on Colorado’s Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. The train will operate from Silverton to Durango the first day, with multiple photo stops en route. The train will overnight in Silverton, then return to […]