CN 4-6-0 in Winnipeg

Canadian National Ten-Wheeler at Fort Rouge Yard

Canadian National Ten-Wheeler 1357, pulling an express reefer and heavyweight baggage car and coach, has just arrived at the Fort Rouge yard from the CN station in downtown Winnipeg in September 1958. Franklin A. King photo […]

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C&NW 4-4-2 on a suburban train

Steam Chicago & North Western locomotives with passenger train in snow

Chicago & North Western 4-4-2 1316, a high-wheeled class D from the first decade of the 20th century — is at Glen Ellyn, Ill., with a train for Chicago in February 1944. It’s 5 degrees below zero, making for a lively display of condensing steam. Robert Nicholls photo […]

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Friends’ work week brings more progress

Wooden framework for building

ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pa. – Friends of the East Broad Top volunteers wrapped up a week’s worth of labor on Friday, Sept. 23, the group’s second week of concentrated effort this year. The crew ranged between 10 and 20 people, working in close coordination with the railroad’s own full-time employees, according to Andy Van Scyoc, Friends […]

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Five mind-blowing East Broad Top Railroad facts

narrow-gauge steam locomotive on a turntable

Mind-blowing East Broad Top facts Tucked deep in the Allegheny Mountains, between Altoona and Harrisburg, is Rockhill, Pa. Today, Rockhill is home to a railroad time capsule called the East Broad Top Railroad, arguably one of the more famous and best-preserved U.S. narrow gauge lines. Built between 1872 and 1874, the EBT mostly lugged coal […]

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Nashville Steam raise more than $200,000 for restoration of No. 576

Steam engine being worked on in shop building

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Nashville Steam raised more than $200,000 toward restoration of Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis No. 576 during a matching-grant fund drive this summer, the organization has announced. Beginning in May, all donations of $250 or more toward work on the 4-8-4 built by Alco in 1942 were matched through a program sponsored by […]

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Frustration on Horseshoe Curve

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In position for a shot of Pennsylvania Railroad J1 2-10-4 No. 6427 climbing Horseshoe Curve with empty hopper cars in September 1955, photographer Phil Hastings had to settle for this view when a mixed freight overtook the Texas type on the outside track. Philip R. Hastings photo […]

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Realistic operations on a raised railroad

model trains in a downtown scene

Realistic operations on a raised railroad: In my first garden railroad, (see Garden Railways May-June 1990), The Great Lakes and Gazebo Railroad, the objective was to add interest to my garden, have fun around the pool, and engage my kids in a new way to play with Dad. My new chapter had to include a […]

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More fiction books about railroading and locomotive topics

two railway themed books

Fiction books about railroading and locomotive topics     The Necropolis Railway (A Jim Stringer mystery) By Andrew Martin Genre: Mystery/crime novel First published: 2002 It’s November 14, 1903, and young Jim Springer is traveling to London to start a job on the London & South Western Railway. He’s put to work cleaning engines No. […]

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The first Hudson comes to life

Brand-new New York Central J-1a 5200 — the first of the road’s famous fleet of Hudsons, and the first example of the 4-6-4 wheel arrangement in North America — steams through a ceremonial banner at Alco’s Schenectady plant on February 14, 1927. NYC photo […]

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Monticello museum hosts Railroad Days event (with video)

Blue, white, and gray streamlined diesel with passenger train

MONTICELLO, Ill. — The Monticello Railway Museum hosted its annual Railroad Days event Friday and Saturday, Sept. 17-18, 2022, drawing hundreds of people to the museum in central Illinois. The event featured Southern Railway Consolidation No. 401 pulling a coach passenger train; Wabash F7 No. 1189 pulling a three-car train; a caboose hop powered by […]

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