Prototype News

Land Rush Rail Corp., a division of Farmrail, will lease and run about 37 miles of track in Oklahoma and Kansas previously operated by the Blackwell Northern Gateway Railroad, according to filings with the U.S. Surface Transportation Board.

Owned by the Blackwell Industrial Authority and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, the line runs from Wellington, Kan., to Blackwell, Okla. The previous operator, Blackwell Northern, was shut down by the Federal Railroad Administration in early 2024 because of what the FRA called “a complete disregard for the safety of the public” involving a “pattern of gross negligence and willful failures to comply with federal safety regulations.” Rock Island Rail briefly operated the line last year as an emergency operator. —M.T. Burkhart

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Erie Turntable, the non-profit initiative to preserve Port Jervis, N.Y.’s railroad history, has announced its 2025 schedule. The initiative is a project of TOYX, Inc., a non-profit that maintains historic pieces of equipment and runs Operation Toy Train to gather toys for less-privileged children during the holiday season. TOYX has leased space in the city-owned rail yard since 2020. 

The Port Jervis yard exhibit, which centers around the former Erie Railroad turntable, will be open every weekend from May 11 until October 12, from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. Among the highlights will be the first-ever Orange County Transportation Festival on August 31 from noon to 4 p.m. The event will feature tours and equipment displays. 

Another highlight will come on May 10, when the Dining Car Society (previously the Erie Lackawanna Dining Car Society) will host a special meal on a 1949 dining car. 

Besides events, the group is also working on restoring a former Erie Railroad caboose. The “Dunmore” caboose will be repainted to look as it did when it was built in 1946.

For more information, visit ErieTurntable.org. 

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Watco announced on March 6 that it was acquiring Michigan’s Great Lakes Central Railroad. Based out of Owosso, Mich., Great Lakes Central operates approximately 400 miles of track in central and northern Michigan, including parts of the former Pennsylvania, New York Central, Grand Trunk Western, Pere Marquette, and Ann Arbor. 

The transaction must be approved by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board. Watco has been an equity investor in Great Lakes Central since 2013. 

“The Great Lakes Central Railroad has been a vital part of Michigan’s transportation network and both my father, Louis P. Ferris, Jr., and I have been deeply passionate about its role in connecting industries and communities,” said Jennifer Ferris, President and CEO of the Great Lakes Central Railroad. “Thanks to our tremendous team, GLC has experienced remarkable growth over the years, strengthening our service and expanding our capabilities. With Watco as a long-time partner since 2013, we are confident they will honor the legacy we have built while continuing to serve Michigan’s industries and communities with the same dedication and excellence.”

Great Lakes Central already interchanges with two other Watco operations, Grand Elk and Ann Arbor railroads.

“We are committed to honoring the history of the GLC and building upon our strong partnership with the Michigan Department of Transportation and our valued customers,” said Watco CEO Dan Smith. “This acquisition allows us to further support and grow our Michigan customer base, and we look forward to continuing the legacy of excellence that the Ferris family has established.” —Justin Franz 

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Amtrak is criticizing proposals to privatize passenger rail service in the United States. The railroad published a white paper on the subject shortly after billionaire and presidential advisor Elon Musk said the government should privatize the national passenger carrier. 

“If you go to China, you get epic bullet train rides. They’re amazing,” Musk said during a tech conference. “And you come back to America, and you’re like, ‘Amtrak is a sad situation.” 

Amtrak began operations in 1971 after most private freight railroads in the country had given up operating passenger services.

It’s unclear how serious Musk is about finding a private operator for Amtrak. And while the staff of his Department of Government Efficiency, or “DOGE,” has been going through many federal agencies looking to cut costs, Amtrak is its own quasi-public corporation. Any effort to privatize the railroad would legally have to go through Congress. 

Regardless, Amtrak appears to be taking the remarks seriously. In the six-page document, the passenger railroad noted that it has succeeded over the last half-century despite receiving what it called limited government funding. The railroad also noted that elsewhere in the world, most notably Great Britain, efforts to privatize passenger services have faltered (last year, Britain enacted legislation to end what was left of its franchise model and create a new government entity called “Great British Rail” to replace the private train operators). 

The paper also noted that past efforts in Congress to privatize the railroad have failed. In 2008 and 2017, the FRA solicited bids to take over parts of the Amtrak network, but there were no takers. In 2016, a similar solicitation resulted in just one non-Amtrak proposal from China’s government-owned railroad. That proposal also called for government funding. 

Presently, the only part of the Amtrak network that covers its operating costs is the Northeast Corridor between Washington D.C. and Boston. The remainder of the system (specifically the long-distance trains) relies on government funding. 

Amtrak also noted that while Brightline West, the high-speed route being built between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, initially stated it would be constructed with private capital, it has since received $3 billion in government grants. 

“It is not clear what proponents of Amtrak privatization expect it would accomplish,” Amtrak officials wrote. “A private entity would face the same constraints as Amtrak, but it would lack Amtrak’s essential statutory right to operate over the national rail network.” —Justin Franz

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The Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum has saved an Alco S-1 that spent its entire operating career in western New York. On March 7, the museum announced that it had purchased Bath & Hammondsport 5 from the Steuben County Industrial Development Agency with the help of the Livonia, Avon & Lakeville Railroad.

Built as New York Central 872 in March 1950, the 660-horsepower diesel switcher is one of 71 S-1 units built for the railroad. In January 1965, it was reassigned to the freight car manufacturing and repair facility known as Despatch Shops in East Rochester, N.Y., where it was renumbered 5. After the shops closed in 1970, the locomotive was sold to Steuben County for operation on the B&H.

The Bath & Hammondsport Railroad can trace its roots back to 1872, connecting Hammondsport at the south end of Keuka Lake with the Erie Railroad and Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad at Bath. By 1903, B&H had come under the control of the Erie Railroad, until a major flood in 1935 caused significant damage, ending service. Local businessmen purchased the railroad, made repairs, and resumed service in 1936. Thanks to the agreeable climate, a robust wine industry developed around the Finger Lakes, and many wineries were customers of the B&H, nicknamed “The Champagne Trail.” In 1976, B&H expanded when it became the operator of Steuben County-owned track between Bath and Wayland. In 1996, the county named Livonia, Avon & Lakeville as the new operator of the combined B&H lines, which included a 2001 expansion from Bath to a connection with Norfolk Southern at Painted Post.

S-1 5 worked at Despatch Shops, Inc., in East Rochester, N.Y., from 1965 until it closed in 1970. It was used to move freight cars in and out of the shop for repair or delivery, as well as move materials between different areas of the manufacturing plant. It was built in 1950 as New York Central 872. —Photo courtesy of East Rochester Village History.

As freight traffic increased on the B&H under LA&L in recent years, more powerful diesel locomotives were required, and S-1 5 was set aside. With the help of Buffalo, USA Foundation’s Flour-by-Rail Legacy Project, the unit was identified as a good candidate for preservation and offered to R&GV. The sale to the museum was completed in February.  

“We are excited to preserve this historic diesel locomotive and return it to Rochester,” said R&GV Museum Vice President Jackson Glozer. “Besides helping preserve the history of Bath & Hammondsport Railroad, this diesel also worked locally at Despatch Shops in East Rochester, replacing a steam locomotive of the same number which we also just added to our collection a few years ago.” The museum is currently soliciting funds to offset the cost of transportation to the museum. You can contribute to their GoFundMe Campaign here.

The Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum was established in 1971 and has since grown into the largest operating railroad museum in New York State, preserving more than 40 pieces of historic railroad equipment operating on a private demonstration railway on the museum grounds. For more information, please visit www.rgvrrm.org. —Railfan & Railroad Staff

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The Pennsylvania Trolley Museum has acquired the Philadelphia & West Chester Traction Company “Red Arrow” 83, a streetcar built in 1932 to connect Philadelphia with its western suburbs. This car, known as an “80 ca,” was built by the J.G. Brill Company mostly out of aluminum to save weight and had very comfortable seats in the company’s attempt to attract riders away from their automobiles.

The trolley ran from the company’s 69th Street Terminal in Philadelphia to West Chester, Media, Sharon Hill and Ardmore. P&WCT Co. was owned by the Taylor Family, who later rebranded their system with the Red Arrow Lines as part of the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Co. PST was sold to the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) in 1970, and SEPTA operated the car until 1982. It was briefly renumbered 86 toward the end of its service life.

The car was later sold to Wendell Dillinger, founder of the Middletown & Hummelstown Railroad. Dillinger passed away in 2023, and his family recently donated some cars to the Rockhill Trolley Museum. The Pennsylvania Trolley Museum plans to restore the car to operation. —Railfan & Railroad Staff

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The sale of Nickel Plate Road 2-8-2 587 has been halted. In January, Kentucky Steam Heritage Corp., announced that the 1918 built locomotive would be sold at auction after the owner failed to pay the non-profit storage fees. Bids were due on February 25, and the winning bidder was to be notified on March 3. But instead, the group announced that the sale had been withdrawn. 

“The sale of Nickel Plate 587 has been withdrawn as Kentucky Steam and the locomotive’s owner are in talks for resolution through a settlement agreement.  More details will be made available when a resolution is reached,” a message from Kentucky Steam read. 

No further details were released. 

This is not the first time the locomotive has been in limbo, an unfortunate situation for an engine that was leading excursions in the late 1980s and 1990s. In 2018, the locomotive’s owner, the Indiana Transportation Museum, was evicted from its long-time home in Noblesville, Indiana. The locomotive was purchased by an anonymous buyer and moved to Kentucky. In 2021, it was announced that the buyer was working with Jason Sobczynski, KSHC chief mechanical officer and CEO of Next Generation Rail Solutions, to come up with a restoration plan for the locomotive. Those plans never came to fruition and the owner has apparently not been paying their bills to keep the engine at KSHC. As a result, a judge ruled it would be auctioned off to pay for the storage fees.

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This summer, following an absence of more than two decades, rail excursions will operate out of historic Gettysburg, Pa. In January, Patriot Rail, operating under the name Gettysburg Scenic Railway, launched a website and began to renovate the 1884 depot on North Washington Street. The website noted that trips would start in “mid-2025” but did not say how long they would last or what motive power would be used. It did note that at least some of the passenger cars formerly worked for Ringling Brothers in circus train service. Theme trains are also planned.

Excursions have come and gone over the decades with a variety of owners and operators with power including steam and diesel locomotives. Gettysburg Railroad last ran excursions in 2004. The former Reading branch runs north to Mount Holly Springs, Pa. Patriot Rail operates other excursions, including Blue Ridge Scenic and Granite State Scenic (formerly Hobo Railroad in New Hampshire). —M.T. Burkhart

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Officials in California and Nevada said this month that they anticipated heavy construction work to begin on Brightline West in the spring. The $12 billion high-speed rail project between Los Angeles and Las Vegas will result in the nation’s first true high-speed passenger train that will reach speeds of 186 miles per hour. 

Much of the route will be built down the median of Interstate 15. The train’s eastern terminus will be just south of the Las Vegas Strip, while the Los Angeles area station will be in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.; there will also be a station in the Victorville area. Brightline broke ground on the Las Vegas station last year and has since been lining up funding to continue construction. —Justin Franz 

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