Steam photographer Mike Eagleson dies

three men standing and posing with tracks in background

GLEN RIDGE, N.J. – Famed steam photographer Michael A. Eagleson, who traveled the world in search of steam power as it retreated from service, died of complications of COVID-19 Jan. 6. He was in his late 70s. Eagleson was famous in the railway and steam locomotive enthusiast community, having traveled worldwide to witness and photograph […]

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Cleburne, Texas, set to open expanded rail museum

Logo of the Cleburne Railroad Museum

CLEBURNE, Texas — The remodeled and expanded Cleburne Railroad Museum is set to open Jan. 13, the Cleburne Times-Review reports. The museum traces a railroading history that dates to 1881 and includes more than a century when the Santa Fe Railway was the community’s largest employer, thanks to a major shop facility. The expanded museum […]

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News Wire Top 10 Stories of 2021: The runners-up

Steam locomotive at speed with freight train while another train waits in the distance.

What has been railroading’s top story in 2021? Today, we begin the process of answering that question, as determined in balloting by the Trains editorial staff, Classic Trains editor Brian Schmidt (who spent most of the year on our staff), and key News Wire contributors. Balloting concluded on Dec. 10. We’ll be recapping stories each […]

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Future of 2-4-0 displayed in Georgia in limbo

Small steam locomotive in park

McDONOUGH, Ga. – The future of a 1934 H.K. Porter 2-4-0 steam locomotive on display at a local park 30 miles south of Atlanta is up in the air, according to its owners, the elected Board of Commissioners of Georgia’s Henry County. Wearing No. 7, the engine, acquired in 2003, has been displayed at the […]

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Effort to save 1870s Pennsylvania station receives $75,000 grant

Brown wooden train station

MERTZTOWN, Pa. — The Longswamp Township Historical Society has received a $75,000 grant for its project to relocate a circa-1875 railroad station in Mertztown. The funds from the Berks County Redevelopment Agency will go toward the Save Our Station-Mertztown Train Station Restoration Project. To date, more than $195,000 has been raised for the project, with […]

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Preservation effort mounted for New York’s Penn Station

Illustration showing station concourse under large glass ceiling

NEW YORK — The destruction of New York’s Penn Station — built in 1910, demolished in 1963 — is often cited as a seminal moment in the movement to preserve historic buildings. Now, the processes to protect historic structures may be used to prevent redevelopment of the current Penn Station, the crowded, confusing, and largely […]

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Western Maryland Scenic No. 1309 makes successful test run

Steam locomotive at station

CUMBERLAND, Md. — Western Maryland Scenic Railroad made a successful test run on Thursday over the tourist line’s 16-mile route between Cumberland and Frostburg, moving closer to its scheduled debut in Polar Express service. The Cumberland Times-News quotes Western Maryland Scenic general manager Wesley Heinz as saying the 2-6-6-2 “ran trouble free. There will be […]

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