Nevada Northern’s Mark Bassett answers questions from Trains

Steam locomotive hauling short freight train in an arid scene. Snowcapped mountains are in the background.

The Nevada Northern Railway Museum is one of the best-preserved standard gauge railroads in North America. The former copper hauling railroad exists much like it did until regular operations ended in the early 1980s. Since that time preservationists have made a bold stand in the high desert hundreds of miles away from heavily populated areas. […]

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Progress continues on Mark Twain Zephyr restoration

Man painting inside of passenger car

TREGO, Wis. — Wisconsin Great Northern continues to make progress in its effort to restore the Mark Twain Zephyr to operation. The railroad acquired the four-car articulated trainset, plus a spare car from the original Pioneer Zephyr, in 2020. Built in 1935, the train is the fourth of nine complete Zephyr trainsets built by the […]

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Digest: California, Illinois rail museums reopen

California State Railroad Museum logo

California State Railroad Museum reopens The California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento has reopened after being closed for most of the last year, with new measures in place to address the COVID-19 pandemic. KCRA-TV reports the museum is allowed to reopen at 25% of its usual capacity, meaning attendance is currently capped at 125. And […]

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Digest: Union files grievance over Honolulu rail agency layoffs

Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation logo

Hawaii union files grievance over layoffs by rail transit agency Hawaii’s largest labor union has filed a grievance over layoffs by the agency building Honolulu’s problem-plagued light rail system. The Associated Press reports the Hawaii Government Employees Association says the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation has laid off dozens of workers without providing 90 days’ […]

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Colebrookdale Railroad acquires a second steam locomotive

Colebrookdale Railroad Logo

BOYERTOWN, Pa. — In cooperation with the Maguire Family Foundation, tourist line Colebrookdale Railroad announced on March 27 that it has acquired former Rio Grande Scenic Railroad 2-8-0 No. 18. The engine was built for the Lake Superior & Ishpeming in Upper Michigan by Alco (Pittsburgh) in 1910. The acquisition comes after the railroad said […]

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Nashville Steam facility, museum damaged by violent storm

Building with part of wall missing, surrounded by debris

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A violent storm Thursday damaged the shop facility where the Nashville Steam Preservation Society is restoring Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis locomotive No. 576, as well as the Tennessee Central Railway Museum. Nashville Steam reports there were no injuries, but high winds and debris destroyed a portion of the structure housing No. […]

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Obituaries: Marvin Cohen, Pete Reimer

Man holding books

Steam Directory editor, heritage rail pioneer Marvin Cohen Marvin Cohen, editor of the Steam Directory from 1966 to 1989, passed away at home in Middletown, N.Y. on Dec. 10, 2020, at age 93. Mark Smith, Cohen’s successor, credited Cohen with an “incalculable contribution” to the heritage rail industry by creating the “bible of the industry.” […]

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