Kitbash an inexpensive flag stop station

red and green model station on a table

Kitbash an inexpensive flag stop station: I stopped by a garage sale last year that had children’s toys piled up on a table. I found several items I thought I could use, including what looked to be a horse stable building. The seller was asking 50 cents for it and the other items I picked […]

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Soo Line No. 1003 Photo Special

In coordination with the Kalmbach Media sponsored TrainFest hobby show in Milwaukee, Wisc., the Steam Locomotive Heritage Association used the opportunity to fire up their 1913-built American Locomotive Company, Class L-1 2-8-2 steam engine, Soo Line No. 1003. This photo special routed over the tracks of regional railroad Wisconsin & Southern — all to the […]

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EBT No. 16 limbers up for Winter Spectacular

Steam locomotive at edge of turntable with red shop buildings in background. East Broad Top expanded tours

ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pa. – East Broad Top’s 1916 Baldwin 2-8-2 Mikado steam locomotive, under restoration for nearly three years, stretched its legs Thursday (Feb. 9) in preparation for the narrow gauge railroad’s annual Winter Spectacular railfan weekend. Expanded to a two-day event this year, it is scheduled for Feb. 18-19. The 81-ton engine has created […]

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Early Texas type

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Texas & Pacific was the first road to adopt the 2-10-4 type, hence the name “Texas” for the wheel arrangement. T&P amassed a fleet of 70 nearly identical 2-10-4s, Nos. 600–669, built by Lima between 1925 and 1929. Classic Trains coll. […]

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Soo Line locomotive 1003 is a mammoth Mikado

Restored Soo Line Mikado-type steam engine rolls under a rusty railroad overpass

Name: Soo Line locomotive 1003 Builder: American Locomotive Company (Alco) Wheel arrangement: 2-8-2 Mikado Build date: March 1913 Why it’s important: Built for the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railroad, commonly known as the Soo Line, the 1003 is both large (250 tons) and powerful (53,947 pounds starting tractive effort). A highly versatile locomotive […]

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President Grant on the march

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Seen from a troop train out of Fort Meade, Md., Baltimore & Ohio 4-6-2 5316, formerly named President Grant, hurries east with Cumberland–Baltimore passenger local No. 34 near Rockville, Md., in May 1953. Philip R. Hastings photo […]

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Union Pacific Silvis Donation Special

In November 2022, a special train left Cheyenne, Wyo., bound for the Railroading Heritage of Midwest America’s steam shops in Silvis, Ill. The move marked the end of one era and the beginning of a new one, as the Union Pacific, the only Class I railroad in North America with a steam program, decided to […]

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East Broad Top No. 16 set to operate at Winter Spectacular (updated)

Steam locomotive on turntable

ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pa. — Steam-powered excursions will highlight the East Broad Top Railroad’s upcoming Winter Spectacular, the railroad said in a press release today (Thursday, Feb. 2), with the return of 2-8-2 No. 16 to operating condition. The railroad, which posted a video of the 1916 Baldwin-built locomotive on its Facebook page on Wednesday, confirmed […]

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