Railnews from Railfan & Railroad Magazine

An 0-4-0T tank engine that spent decades switching tank cars at an oil refinery in Casper, Wyo., will return home to the Cowboy State thanks to the efforts of a local historian and two museums.

Standard Oil Company of Indiana locomotive No. 1 was built by the American Locomotive Company’s Cooke Works in Paterson, N.J., in 1920. It spent decades working at the refinery, one of the world’s largest, until it was retired in the early 1960s. In 1962, it was acquired by the Colorado Railroad Museum and put on display in Golden, Colo.

Over the past year, railroader, author and historian Con Trumbull — who also works as the archivist and assistant trainmaster at the Nevada Northern Railway Museum — has worked with the Fort Caspar Museum and the Colorado Railroad Museum to help bring the locomotive home to Wyoming. Plans call for the engine to be displayed near the museum entrance and incorporated into a larger exhibit about the city’s oil industry.

“We are excited about what this project means for Casper history, and Con’s dedication and persistence have been instrumental in moving this project forward,” said Steve Gainer, Fort Caspar Museum supervisor. “He recognized this locomotive’s historical importance to Casper years ago and has devoted an extraordinary amount of time and effort toward bringing it home. He is very committed to preserving our community’s history.”

Colorado Railroad Museum Executive Director Paul Hammond said the locomotive will have a better home in Wyoming, where it can be used to tell local stories.

“Through careful consideration and thoughtful deaccessioning — in cases where we either have artifacts unrelated to Colorado, or duplicates of other more significant objects — the Colorado Railroad Museum is working to place selected items with new owners. The goal is to better target our existing resources, including space, so the museum can continue to collect artifacts and rolling stock that focus on telling the rich railroad history and diverse stories of Colorado,” Hammond said in a press release.

The Fort Caspar Museum is launching a campaign to raise $15,000 to cover the transportation, cosmetic restoration and other costs associated with bringing the locomotive home. For more information, visit fortcaspar.org/standard-oil-locomotive.

—Justin Franz

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Norfolk & Western J Class 4-8-4 611 has received a patriotic makeover ahead of a series of excursions this summer on the Buckingham Branch’s Virginia Scenic Railway. The new livery honors the 250th anniversary of the United States and made its debut May 30 at the Virginia Museum of Transportation.

The red, white and blue paint takes inspiration from an artist’s rendering of N&W 611 that was created in the 1970s, when the locomotive was a possible candidate to lead the American Freedom Train. AFT organizers ultimately passed over the N&W engine, but it was later restored for the Norfolk Southern steam program in the early 1980s. The paint job was done in coordination with Sunset Models 3rd Rail.

“This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime event, and what better way to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary than with one of America’s greatest innovations — the iconic Norfolk & Western Class J No. 611,” said Zac McGinnis, steam operations manager for the Virginia Museum of Transportation. “Railroads helped link this country together, fueling industry, commerce and connection from coast to coast. Even today, railroads remain a lifeline for everyday life across America, and this project is a powerful reminder of that legacy. To have the opportunity to operate the 611 on these ‘Summer of Steam’ excursions — especially on the Fourth of July — in this historic red, white and blue livery is truly the icing on the cake and something we’ll never forget.”

Locomotive 611 is set to lead excursions for two weeks out of Staunton, Va., from June 12-21. Then it will move from Staunton to Louisa for another two weeks of trips, from June 26 to July 5. Visit the Virginia Scenic’s website for more information.

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The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad was supposed to begin its 2026 operating season over Memorial Day weekend, but has decided to push that start date back by at least two weeks due to extreme drought conditions across the Southwest.

“With deep respect for the land, forests, and communities where we operate, the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad Commission made the difficult decision to delay the start of our season,” said Mark Graybill, Colorado commissioner of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad Commission.

The commission held an emergency meeting a week before the railroad’s planned opening and voted to postpone it until at least June 9. The railroad will conduct a review on June 2 to determine if conditions have improved enough to safely operate.

Guests holding reservations for affected departures have been contacted directly by the railroad’s reservations department. Passengers may choose either a full refund or rebooking on a later departure.

As of late May, extreme drought conditions were persisting across northern New Mexico and southwestern Colorado. While in recent years the railroad has converted at least two of its locomotives to burn oil so that it can operate in dry conditions, management felt the conditions were too extreme even for an oil burner.

—Justin Franz

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Genesee Valley Transportation’s Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad unveiled a specially painted M-630 locomotive Wednesday to honor the 250th anniversary of the United States.

Locomotive 1776 wears a variation of the Delaware & Hudson’s bicentennial livery first released in the mid-1970s. The engine will look right at home on the DL, as part of its 88-mile system in northeastern Pennsylvania is former D&H trackage. Officials said the locomotive will be used in regular freight service on DL’s former Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Pocono Main. The engine will also be on display at Steamtown National Historic Site during Union Pacific “Big Boy” 4014’s upcoming visit. 

The locomotive was built by Montreal Locomotive Works and once worked for British Columbia Railway before being sold to General Electric and used as a test bed for its “Super 7” product. Prior to being renumbered 1776, the engine was numbered 3007.

—Photo by Otto Vondrak

The locomotive has two stars under the cab to signify Pennsylvania being the second state to ratify the Constitution. In addition, painstaking care was taken in painting the locomotive bell to replicate the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia.

The DL isn’t the only Northeastern railroad to take inspiration from the D&H’s two bicentennial units. Earlier this year, Connecticut’s Naugatuck Railroad painted a U23B in a D&H-like livery.

—Justin Franz 

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The U.S. Surface Transportation Board announced Wednesday that it had unanimously voted to accept Union Pacific’s application to acquire Norfolk Southern, although it said it still needed more information before it could fully consider the proposal.

The STB rejected UP and NS’s initial merger application in January, stating that it was “incomplete.” The board gave the railroads until April 30 to submit a revised application, which they did.

In the weeks since, Class I rivals including BNSF, CPKC and Canadian National have all railed against the proposal, saying a merger to create a 50,000-mile rail system in 43 states would be bad for competition. Opponents like BNSF urged the STB to again reject the application, alleging that UP had simply offered “cosmetic changes” to the original application.

But the STB disagreed and concluded that UP and NS had, for the most part, provided the federal regulator with the information it needed to evaluate the proposal, with a few additional pieces still required. Among the STB’s requests: more detail about enhanced competition, service assurance plans, car supplies and downstream merger impacts. UP-NS will have until July 27 to provide that information. The board also ruled that a full environmental impact study would need to be completed before the merger could proceed.

“The Board finds that there are several aspects of the revised application that are unclear or underdeveloped and require supplementation at this stage of the proceeding so that the Board may have the information necessary to thoroughly evaluate — and the public has an adequate opportunity to comment on — whether the transaction is in the public interest,” the regulator said in a statement.

The STB did not establish a procedural schedule, but with the board requesting more information, it is unlikely UP-NS will meet its target of completing the merger by early 2027.

—Justin Franz

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Southern Railway 2-8-2 4501 returned to service in late May, wearing its iconic green-and-gold livery for the first time in more than 30 years. The engine made its public debut May 23, leading the day-long Summerville Steam Special from Chattanooga, Tenn., to Summerville, Ga., and back.

SOU 4501 was built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1911 and was the first 2-8-2 the railroad ever owned. It worked for Southern until 1948, when it was sold to the Kentucky & Tennessee Railway. After the K&T dieselized, it was purchased by railfan Paul Merriman, who was also one of the founders of the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum. The engine was eventually donated to TVRM. In 1966, the engine was selected by Southern to lead steam excursions across its system, helping launch a steam program that would last for nearly 30 years. While the locomotive had worn black during its years of freight service, executive W. Graham Claytor Jr. requested that the engine be painted in the railroad’s green-and-gold passenger livery. The engine remained part of the Southern and later Norfolk Southern’s steam program until its conclusion in 1994. The engine continued to operate at TVRM until being taken out of service in 1998. In 2014, the engine was restored and has been operating at TVRM ever since in its traditional black livery.

To mark the 250th anniversary of the United States and the 65th anniversary of TVRM, the museum decided to paint the engine back into its green livery. The paint job, which is expected to last just this year, was made possible in part by a donation from Scale Trains.

—Justin Franz 

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The Railfan & Railroad Center Spread Contest will provide a skilled and/or lucky photographer the opportunity to see his or her photo grace the center spread of the September 2026 issue. We’ll award the Grand Prize winner a $100 cash prize, with $60 going to two Runners Up, and $30 going to several Honorable Mentions. Any rail subject, photographed at any time, qualifies for the contest. The only limitation is the image must be in a horizontal format.

The judges are strongly influenced by images that show creativity. So what is “creative”? Let’s just say that we can’t define it, but we know it when we see it. Composition, lighting, and a unique perspective will play a large role in how the judges view the shot.

The details: Each photographer may enter up to three photos, but we generally award only one prize per entrant. Photos can be of any railroad subject taken at any time. Photos must be submitted electronically via our FTP server. We will not accept submissions sent by email or snail mail. Please contact Editor Steve Barry at editor@railfan.com for upload instructions. Note: We use a different FTP server from what we use for general contributions — be sure to get the proper instructions before submitting your photos. Submissions can be digital originals or scanned slides in TIFF or uncompressed JPG format. Images can be adjusted for exposure, but otherwise should be unaltered. Before submitting your files, go into your photo editing software and check the physical dimensions of the photo. If your photo is less than 3,000 pixels horizontally, we can’t use it. Bigger is better.

File names need to include your first and last names so we can identify your entries. Please submit caption information for each file, and make sure each file name is with each caption. Captions should be submitted as a text or Word document and uploaded with your photos. Note that images with insufficient caption information may be disqualified. You will also be sent a photo release form to fill out when you receive the uploading instructions.

The contest deadline is July 14, 2026. We look forward to your entries. Good luck!

—Steve Barry

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After a successful debut season in 2025, where it moved more than 11,000 passengers, the Finger Lakes Rail Experience is back with an even bigger season in 2026. Traveling over the rails of the Finger Lakes Railway, the excursions highlight this scenic corner of upstate New York, with trips throughout the summer and fall.

The genesis for the excursions came from Finger Lakes Railway, which approached consultants FMW Solutions to help establish a new tourist rail operation in the region. Founded in 1995, FGLK operates freight service on a 167-mile system of former New York Central, Pennsylvania Railroad and Lehigh Valley tracks from its headquarters in Geneva. While the railroad has previously operated seasonal passenger excursions over the years, a shift in business priorities led to the end of charters and the sale of its excursion fleet in 2024. The new Finger Lakes Rail Experience uses vintage passenger cars leased from the United Railway Historical Society of NJ. The cars include observation-lounge Hickory Creek (Pullman, 1948, the tail car from New York Central’s famed 20th Century Limited), tavern-lounge NYC 43 (Budd, 1947) and sleeper-buffet-lounge Swift Stream (Budd, 1949).

The 2026 season features a wide variety of excursions, from family-focused foliage trips to wine trains and an adults-only evening club run. Holiday excursions are also planned for later in the year. Trips depart from Waterloo and generally last one to two hours. For more information and to see the full schedule, visit flxrailexperience.com.

—Railfan & Railroad Staff

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The first Amtrak Cascades Airo trainset arrived in the Pacific Northwest on May 16. The trainset will now undergo a final round of testing before entering service between Eugene, Ore., and Vancouver, B.C. The Siemens-built train was first tested in Pueblo, Colo., before being sent north for additional testing on the Northeast Corridor. 

Last week, the train was moved west to Chicago as a special movement before being added to the consist of the Empire Builder for movement to Seattle. Amtrak officials have said this train set will undergo a final round of testing before being placed into service this summer. The new trains will eventually replace the railroad’s aging Amfleet cars and locomotives on state-supported routes nationwide.

—Railfan & Railroad Staff

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Roger Harris, Amtrak President

Amtrak President Roger Harris will step down on July 31 and be replaced by Byl Herrmann while the railroad’s board of directors searches for a new permanent chief executive officer. 

The Harris departure comes a year after his predecessor, Stephen Gardner, was forced out by the Trump administration. Gardner said he wanted to step aside to ensure that the railroad “continues to enjoy the full faith and confidence” of the administration. Gardner’s surprise departure made way for Harris to claim the top spot, albeit briefly. 

While Harris has been the top executive for just over a year, it has been a notable period for the passenger railroad. Under Roger, Amtrak has seen record ridership and revenue, the launch of NextGen Acela and Mardi Gras service, and the advancement of major capital projects, such as the Portal North Bridge. 

Byl is a 27-year veteran of Amtrak, with a deep knowledge of many aspects of the company.

“As Interim President, Byl will work closely with the Board and executive leadership team to maintain continuity, support our workforce, and keep our focus on safe, reliable service, and delivering on our commitments to customers, partners, and the communities we serve,” Board Chair Tony Coscia said in a statement. 

—Justin Franz 

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A former Union Pacific SD40-2 that was painted in the 1990s to honor military members who served during Operation Desert Storm against Iraq has been donated to the American Heartland Railroad Society in Sioux City, Iowa.

UP 3593, built as No. 8084 in August 1979, was painted in a camouflage-like livery in February 1991. It included a panel with the names of 66 UP employees who served during the conflict. The engine was later sold to the Iowa, Chicago & Eastern and then the Rapid City, Pierre & Eastern, becoming that road’s No. 3422. RC&E is donating the locomotive to the nonprofit society. The locomotive is currently in Huron, S.D., but it is expected to be moved to Iowa in the coming months. American Heartland Railroad Society officials said they hope to have the locomotive painted in its “Desert Victory” livery by Veterans Day in November.

American Heartland Railroad Society has been involved with a number of preservation efforts, most notably the ongoing restoration of Great Northern Railway 4-6-2 1355.

—Justin Franz 

The former UP SD40-2 as it appears today on the Rapid City, Pierre & Eastern. Photo by Ross Heeren. 

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Service on the Long Island Rail Road came to a halt on May 16 after 3,500 workers walked off the job. It was the first strike on the railroad in more than 30 years and was sure to wreak havoc on the Monday morning commute if a resolution could not be found.

The Long Island Rail Road is America’s busiest commuter railroad, moving more than 300,000 passengers per day. But front-line employees, including locomotive engineers and signalmen, have been working without a new contract for years. While the Long Island Rail Road’s parent, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, has secured deals with unions at its other railroads, a compromise has been elusive on the LIRR.

“The LIRR owns this strike. Union workers have sacrificed so much for the railroad for years while consistently bargaining in good faith for a fair contract,” said Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien. “Hundreds of thousands of commuters rely on our members’ labor every day. The LIRR is stranding passengers while denying wages, benefits and respect to BLET Teamsters and other hardworking union members. All 1.3 million members of the Teamsters Union are standing with every worker on strike. We will win this fight and the LIRR will give these essential workers the contract they’ve earned.”

Media reported late Sunday that the National Mediation Board had summoned the railroad and unions for further talks in hopes of finding a solution.

—Justin Franz 

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by Nick Stewart/photos by the author

On May 9, 1868, the city of Reno, Nev., was founded following the completion of a new station on Central Pacific Railroad, which was pushing east from Sacramento, Calif., toward Utah. That same year, short line Virginia & Truckee Railroad was incorporated and began building track between Carson City and Virginia City, Nev., which was completed the following year.

Reno quickly became a vital hub along the new transcontinental route, as nearby communities such as Virginia City and Carson City could now ship freight to and from the mining districts — including supplies, lumber, and, most importantly, the gold and silver ore that made the region so prosperous in the mid-19th century. V&T capitalized on this connection, completing a line from Carson City to Reno in summer 1872.

ABOVE: A pair of Union Pacific SD70Ms and a GATX SD38-2 (downrated from an SD40-2) take the Fernley Flyer over the Truckee River on the Nevada Subdivision at Painted Rock, Nev., on October 8, 2025.

By the early 20th century, Reno was home to several rail operations. Southern Pacific, which had acquired Central Pacific in 1885, controlled the main line from Sacramento to Ogden, Utah. V&T, though past its peak, continued to handle freight and passengers and extended its reach with a line from Carson City to Minden, Nev., to serve agricultural traffic. Reno Traction Company, incorporated in 1904, operated streetcars until 1920, while Nevada Interurban leased its trackage to provide service along Plumas Street from 1909 to 1919. Meanwhile, the narrow gauge Nevada-California-Oregon Railway, organized in 1880 and headquartered in Reno, would become Western Pacific’s Reno Branch by 1918.

Western Pacific merged into Union Pacific in 1982, followed by Southern Pacific in 1996, leaving UP as the sole owner of the region’s three main lines; BNSF Railway gained trackage rights across northern Nevada following the 1996 merger. While Reno’s original passenger trains and streetcar systems are long gone, Amtrak’s California Zephyr still calls at Reno twice daily.

ABOVE: Union Pacific GP60 1109 and GP40N 1475 make a run down the Mina Subdivision with the Wabuska Local near Silver Springs on January 5, 2025. 

The original Virginia & Truckee declined steadily after the turn of the century and was abandoned in 1950. In the mid-1970s, steam-powered excursion trains returned to portions of the right-of-way following reconstruction. Today, the revived Virginia & Truckee operates both steam and diesel excursions between Mound House (Carson City Eastgate Station) and Virginia City, largely following the original route.

As is the case with many rail hubs in the U.S., Reno is not as diverse as it once was, but one can still find interesting rail operations in the area. It took me many years to appreciate my local operations. What opened my eyes was the work of photojournalist Ted Benson, who spent a lot of time photographing Nevada rail operations in the 1970s. After settling on journalism for my career, I became determined to document every rail operation that I have in my neighborhood.

ABOVE: Ex-McCloud River Railroad 18, a 2-8-2 Mikado built in 1914, passes the historic depot at Gold Hill, Nev., on the reconstructed Virginia & Truckee on October 20, 2024. Locomotive 18 was acquired by the V&T Railway Commission in 2005 and operates on select weekend excursions out of the railroad’s Carson City Eastgate Depot between May and October.

Sparks Yard
One of the most significant railroad towns in Nevada is Sparks — my hometown. We call ourselves the Rail City. Sparks was established in 1904 when SP relocated its yard and facilities from Wadsworth to new ground just east of Reno. Reno, of course, had already been a rail hub since Central Pacific completed the transcontinental line.

Southern Pacific built a roundhouse and shop complex here in addition to the yard. Those shop buildings remained part of the modern Sparks Yard until early 2025, though they had not been used by the railroad for decades. During the steam era, a wide range of power could be found here, from small 0-6-0 switchers to massive 4-8-8-2 cab-forwards.

ABOVE: Union Pacific C44ACM 9833, rebuilt from an ex-Chicago & North Western C44-9W, passes stored Bethlehem hoppers and ex-Western Pacific searchlight signals at Hawley, Calif., on the Winnemucca Subdivision on October 3, 2025.

Today, Sparks remains an important point on UP. It marks the transition between the Roseville Subdivision over Donner Pass and the Nevada Subdivision across the desert. The yard serves as a crew change point, and trains frequently set out and pick up cars. A little more than a dozen trains pass through daily, along with several locals that originate here. Yard jobs shuffle cars throughout the day, providing plenty of action for observers.

The west end of Sparks Yard is fairly accessible for railfans, and the towers of Nugget Casino Resort make a distinctive backdrop. Several industries near the main line are switched Monday through Friday. While GP38s and GP40s are common on these assignments, I was fortunate to catch a pair of SD40s and GP15s working the yard during a visit in late fall…

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by Paul B. Larsen/photos by the author

Nestled at the doorstep of Death Valley lies one of California’s most valuable mining operations. While not the kind of discovery to prompt a cry of “Eureka!,” the resources first identified by gold-seeker John Searles in the valley just east of Ridgecrest — later named in his honor — have proven far more valuable than the gold and silver that dominate California lore.

Since the late 1800s, extraction of soda ash, boric acid, and other minerals has fueled a largely prosperous run for the succession of companies that have worked these deposits. Of course, an operation of this scale depends on a reliable connection to the outside world — a role long filled by the railfan-favorite Trona Railway, which replaced the famed 20-mule teams that once hauled product to Southern Pacific at Mojave.

ABOVE: During summer months, sun angles often allowed for catching northbound trains in daylight as happened for this loaded coal train in late April 2023.

Trona Railway’s birth in 1914 coincided with the early stages of large-scale mining of trona ore (a naturally occurring mineral, sodium sesquicarbonate) in the Searles Valley by American Trona Company, primarily by extraction with water pumped in to draw out the minerals for subsequent processing. The purpose of the railway, lovingly referred to as the “Three Elephant Line” because they could arguably do the work of those 20 mules, has almost exclusively been to bring in supplies such as sulfuric acid for mineral extraction while taking out finished product for a connection with Southern Pacific — and more recently Union Pacific — at Searles Junction on the Lone Pine Subdivision.

Mixed in with the coming and going of covered hoppers that carry product to the outside world, until just recently the railway was also the conduit for a steady supply of coal to be used for generation of electricity for the energy-hungry drying kilns at the Argus facility, which is the main processing and distribution plant for Searles Valley Minerals and the location of Trona Railway’s headquarters, sorting yard, and shops.

ABOVE: Black Friday often produced unique photo opportunities, as on this day the railroad would make the run up to Searles Junction in the morning such as on November 26, 2021.

In prior years that represented a prolonged boom time, most days on the railroad were like any other. The day shift would sort cars at Argus and at an off-site processing plant known as Westend a few miles south, and the night shift often would make the 30-mile journey south to the UP connection to deliver loads, retrieve empties, and, as needed, hustle a coal train back into town. This all has been in conjunction with an intraplant switching operation, which is in part handled by one of the last “Kodachrome”-painted ex-SP locomotive in existence and is responsible for moving coal trains around, along with sorting covered hopper cars based on commodity grade and type to be stored until ready for shipping.

Rumblings of Change
As with any endeavor, good times are fleeting, and since 2019, the fortunes of both the railroad and the mining operation it supports have changed dramatically. Pressures have mounted to the point where both are now struggling.

ABOVE: On October 14, 2021, a long telephoto lens gives a unique perspective on a southbound Trona Railway train that has begun its climb up and out of the Searles Lake basin, seen in the distance at the foot of the now-shuttered Argus plant. In the midground is the Oxy yard, used for overflow car storage.

Across two days in early July 2019, the Ridgecrest and Searles Valley communities were rocked by a swarm of earthquakes and aftershocks, the largest measuring Mw 7.1 — one of the most powerful in California in the past 30 years, and strong enough to send residents fleeing outdoors. The damage was extensive, affecting the community, the plant, and the railroad. In places near the Trona Pinnacles, the track resembled a length of model railroad flex track that had been picked up and twisted.

To this day, parts of Searles Valley remain damaged, awaiting rebuilding that may never come. While the Argus plant suffered heavily, including the loss of a smokestack and other facilities, it was able to reopen. Likewise, in a testament to the determination of the railroad’s crews, the line to Searles Junction was rebuilt with remarkable speed, and service was soon restored.

Literal and figurative aftershocks have continued since for the mine and its railroad, the latter of which have nothing to do with fault slippage but instead are the result of difficult economic and regulatory headwinds. In the nearly seven years since the Ridgecrest earthquakes, the boom times have progressively become more dire to the point that the very existence of the mining and railroad operations is in question…

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A narrow gauge Denver & Rio Grande Western 2-8-0 that has spent the last 70 years at a California amusement park will run on “home rails” in early June following an extensive restoration at the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. After a brief series of trips into the Animas Canyon on the famed Silverton Branch, locomotive 340 will head home to Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park, Calif.

Locomotive 340 was built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1880 as Denver & Rio Grande Railway 400. The engine ran in Colorado until the early 1950s, when it was purchased by Walter Knott for his amusement park, along with another Colorado 2-8-0, Rio Grande Southern 41 (Baldwin, 1881).

In recent years, the D&SNG has contracted its locomotive repair services out, and recently completed a rebuild on RGS 41 in 2023. After that engine was rebuilt and sent back to California, Rio Grande 340 came east to Durango for its own rebuild. In early 2026, the rebuild was far enough along that the D&SNG announced it would be offering a series of excursions with the engine. On June 5 and 6, the engine will run to Cascade Canyon, and on June 7, it will lead a photographer’s special. For more information, visit DurangoTrain.com.

—Justin Franz 

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The great American photographer David Plowden has died at the age of 93.  Among the 22 books that he wrote, Railfan & Railroad readers probably know best Farewell to Steam (1966), A Time of Trains (1987), and Requiem for Steam (2010), but Plowden’s oeuvre also included definitive volumes on other subjects, including Lincoln and His America (1970) and Bridges: The Spans of North America (1974, reprinted ten years later).

Born in 1932, Plowden spent much of his childhood in New York City.  Throughout his youth, he rode trains in the New York area, in New England, and across the U.S., and he made friends with enginemen and train crews.  He reached adulthood and chose to make a living as a photographer in the 1950s, a decade defined in railroading by dieselization.  In the preface to his 1997 retrospective book Imprints, Plowden wrote, “I was born astride two eras.  The fact that the demise of the steam locomotive and the beginning of my career occurred simultaneously was a coincidence that determined the course of my life.  It was that initial sense of loss – and perhaps that my father died later the same year [1960] – that greatly influenced the way I view the world.  It also made me keenly aware of photography’s unmatched ability to preserve the moment and, thereby, to capture things on film before they disappeared.”

Plowden began his photography as a railfan: He made his very first photo, at age 11, of a steam locomotive leading a Boston & Maine passenger train into Putney, Vermont, near the summer house that his well-to-do parents had bought a few years earlier.  Capturing steam before it disappeared drove Plowden’s efforts for more than 15 years and even led him to apply for his first job after college as a management trainee on the Great Northern Railway.  Assigned as assistant to the trainmaster at Willmar, on the Minnesota prairie, the 22-year-old had a front-row seat over the winter of 1955-56 as O-8 2-8-2s worked freights through the snow-covered landscape, and Plowden made spectacular photos of them with his 2-1/4 camera.  More than thirty years later, he opened A Time of Trains with a 10,000-word essay about his January cabride aboard 4-8-2 No. 2505; without any accompanying photographs, Plowden takes the reader along, sitting behind the fireman, as old Brown the engineer coaxes the 31-year-old locomotive to 91 miles an hour through the freezing darkness – as riveting a tale of steam at speed as anyone has ever set down on paper.

Canadian Pacific P-1b 2-8-2 5145 at Montreal’s Angus Shops in March 1960. Photo by David Plowden. 

Before going out on his own, Plowden spent about four years studying photography and working for established professionals, first as O. Winston Link’s assistant in 1958-59; Plowden accompanied Link on a number of trips to document the Norfolk & Western.  He also spent time as a student of Minor White’s in Rochester, N.Y., and learned invaluable lessons that stayed with him throughout his later career.  In an interview for the afterword to David Plowden’s Iowa (2012), he said, “I never saw such prints as Minor made.  And I can remember Ansel [Adams] came . . . and the two of them were in the darkroom together one day . . . .  There was great rivalry there.  I felt that I was in the darkroom with Poseidon and Zeus.  One was throwing tridents, and the other was throwing thunderbolts.  They were arguing the points of order.  And here were these two great, great printers – some of the greatest printers who ever lived – arguing.  Imagine being in the corner listening to this.”

With the steam era effectively over, Plowden realized that his work as a photographer had just begun.  Continuing in the Imprints preface, he wrote, “It began to dawn on me that I hadn’t simply been documenting steam locomotives in their final hour.  I was witnessing something of far greater consequence: the transformation of a culture.  In this light, the body of my work depicts an America almost unrecognizable from the one that I began photographing 40 years ago.  The urgency to record has become ever more imperative as I have tried vainly to stay one step ahead of the wrecking ball.”

Plowden’s subjects over time came to include steamboats, bridges, barns, steel mills, and all aspects of the rural Midwest, including its people and their homes.  After tens of thousands of miles of traveling by car from coast to coast while researching and photographing for Lincoln and Bridges, Plowden moved from Long Island, New York, to suburban Chicago in 1978, and he taught at the Illinois Institute of Technology for a few years, then for a few more at the University of Iowa’s School of Journalism.  Plowden loved Iowa, and all of the Great Plains.  “I think I have more pictures of Iowa than any place.  Quite seriously,” he said in Iowa.  From 1988 to 2007, Plowden served as a visiting professor at Grand Valley State University in Michigan.

Central Vermont Railway Extra 464 North meeting Extra 472 South at Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1954. Photo by David Plowden. 

Although not a “railfan photographer” in the same mold as his contemporaries Phil Hastings (born in 1925), Richard Steinheimer (1929), Jim Shaughnessy (1933), and J. Parker Lamb (1933), Plowden maintained close ties to Train World.  A friend of Center for Railroad Photography & Art founder John Gruber (born in 1936), he presented at a number of the CRP&A’s Conversations conferences, including the first one, and the Center has a traveling exhibition of prints that Plowden donated to the organization; entitled “Requiem for Steam,” it has visited almost a dozen venues from California to Connecticut since 2010.  More than 40 years after graduating from Yale University, in 1995, Plowden arranged for Yale’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library to become the repository of his complete archive, including negatives, prints, slides, journals, audio tapes, and more.  One can learn more about Plowden’s life and work at DavidPlowden.com.

Plowden’s survivors include his four children and their children, as well as his second wife, Sandra Oakes Schoellkopf Plowden, to whom he dedicated books in which he included heartfelt thanks to her.  At the close of the acknowledgments in Imprints, he wrote, “I am so glad you and I happened to be alive at the same time.”

For the afterword to Iowa, Plowden wrote, “I remember a train going across Kansas, and I went in the dining car, and all the blinds were pulled down.  I sat down and pulled a blind up.  There weren’t many people in the car.  The steward came by and pulled the shade down and he said, ‘There’s nothing to look at, son.’  And I thought to myself, ‘What do you mean there’s nothing to look at?  Look at this beautiful expanse of land.’  So I lifted up the shade, and haven’t pulled it down since when crossing Kansas or Iowa or anywhere else.”  On behalf of all of the people who have admired and taken inspiration from sixty years of Plowden photos, thank you, David, for keeping on looking: We are so glad to have been alive to see the world through your eyes.

—Oren B. Helbok

The post David Plowden, Noted Documentary Photographer and Author, Dies at 93 appeared first on Railfan & Railroad Magazine.

Union Pacific said its revised application to acquire Norfolk Southern — a deal that would create a 50,000-mile rail system covering 43 states — is “comprehensive and complete.” The Class I railroad made that statement in response to criticism from rivals that have said the proposed merger to create the nation’s largest railroad and the first single-transcontinental system would upend the industry’s competitive balance.

On April 30, UP submitted an amended application to the U.S. Surface Transportation Board, three months after the federal regulator rejected its first attempt last year as “incomplete.” Since then, rival railroads have been piling on the more than 7,000-page filing, urging the STB to reject it again.

UP officials state that they have provided additional details regarding their acquisition of NS, including an updated analysis that uses actual traffic data from all six North American Class I carriers. In the past, merger analyses have only used data provided by the STB. That more detailed analysis also allowed the railroads to provide a more accurate picture of proposed capacity improvements. In fact, the railroads said they would spend less on capacity now that they had a clearer picture of what they needed to do.

“After completing the additional work requested by the STB, the facts remain clear: This merger enhances competition and delivers real public benefits that make America’s supply chain stronger,” said Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena. “Our analysis uses complete systemwide traffic data provided by all Class I railroads to identify even more opportunities for our combined railroad to grow and compete.”

Additionally, UP and NS announced that they would not move to control the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis. Instead, as a condition of the merger, the two Class Is would sell some of their shares to other carriers so that the combined railroad would not control more than 50 percent of it. UP presently owns 42.84 percent of the railroad and NS owns 14.29 percent, with other Class Is owning the remainder.

But not everyone supports the creation of a single, coast-to-coast railroad. The day before the revised merger application was submitted, the Stop the Rail Merger Coalition was launched to argue against it. Along with BNSF and CPKC, the coalition includes the American Chemistry Council, the American Farm Bureau Federation, the Teamsters Rail Conference, the Alliance for Chemical Distribution, the National Industrial Transportation League and the Vinyl Institute. Among the group’s chief arguments against the merger is how the last major UP acquisition — the takeover of Southern Pacific in 1996 — wreaked havoc on the rail network for months.

“This did not begin with a customer asking for a UP-NS merger to happen,” said BNSF Railway President and CEO Katie Farmer. “It’s driven by Wall Street on the promise of a big shareholder payout. It will eliminate competition, raise costs for consumers, and destabilize the supply chain that powers the American economy.”

Since then, the chorus of opposition has only grown louder. On May 8, BNSF filed a formal response to the application with the STB. In it, the rival accused UP of simply making “cosmetic changes [to the application] to gloss over the serious and fundamental competition, pricing and service concerns that were previously raised.” Another issue raised by BNSF was that UP and NS did not address the possibility of an “end game” round of mergers. According to the 2001 merger rules established by the STB, any Class I merger application would have to include analysis about not just the proposed combination, but those that could likely follow.

CPKC, CSX Transportation and Canadian National have also lined up against the merger, echoing BNSF’s concerns that the revised application is incomplete and should be rejected again — something that has never happened twice. Of the four rival Class Is, CN has appeared to hold its cards closest to the vest. In a statement, CN officials said the application was still incomplete, and that if it were approved, “remedies” would be necessary, perhaps leaving the door open for future support of the consolidation. In the past, CN has been no stranger to major merger moves, perhaps most notably trying to combine with BNSF in the late 1990s. For its part, UP has said it would pull out of the merger if the STB were to force widespread line sales or trackage rights agreements on it.

Stakeholders had until May 8 to submit comments on the revised application, and UP had until May 12 to respond, which it did, arguing that it had met the high standards expected by the STB. Now the industry waits until May 30, when the federal regulator is anticipated to make a decision on whether the application will be accepted or rejected again.

—Justin Franz 

The post Union Pacific Defends Revised Merger Application appeared first on Railfan & Railroad Magazine.

The Kentucky Railway Museum needs to raise about $400,000 to complete the restoration of Louisville & Nashville 4-6-2 152. The locomotive is currently being worked on by Next Generation Rail Solutions LLC at the Kentucky Steam Heritage Corp. shop in Ravenna, Ky.

Locomotive 152 was built by the Rogers Locomotive Works in 1905 and was first restored in the preservation era in the 1980s. It last ran in 2011. The museum has been raising money for the restoration for years and has invested about $700,000 in the project so far. The restoration was kicked into high gear in 2023, when the engine — or parts of it — began to arrive in Ravenna.

Kentucky Railway Museum officials said progress has been made on the running gear, boiler and firebox. The $400,000 needed to finish the restoration will fund reassembly of the engine and prepare the locomotive for inspection by the Federal Railroad Administration and testing.

On May 16 and 17, the museum is hosting a fundraiser featuring the Gramling Locomotive Works’ Jeddo Coal 0-4-0 No. 85. In addition to short excursions, there will be throttle time sessions and a photo freight. Visit kyrail.org for more information.

—Justin Franz

The post Fundraising Continues to Restore Louisville & Nashville 152 appeared first on Railfan & Railroad Magazine.

Officials with the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society have said they are on track to move New York Central L-3a 4-8-2 “Mohawk” 3001 out of Elkhart, Ind., this summer, the first major step towards a highly anticipated operational restoration. 

This spring, the Fort Wayne group has been working at the National New York Central Railroad Museum to rebuild yard tracks that will enable them to move the locomotive onto Norfolk Southern rails, and eventually, the shop where the 4-8-2 will be restored. In late April, the air brake system was also restored on the locomotive, allowing it to be safely moved on the main line. 

The 3001 is the largest surviving NYC steam locomotive and the only member of the L-3a class to escape the scrapper’s torch. The locomotive was under the care of the City of Elkhart, Ind., and has been on display at the National New York Central Museum for decades. In October 2024, FWRHS launched an effort to restore the locomotive for use on its popular Indiana Rail Experience excursions. 

FWRHS owns three other steam locomotives, most notably Nickel Plate Road 2-8-4 765, which it has operated since the 1970s. For the last few years, it has managed the Indiana Rail Experience, an excursion operation on the Indiana Northeastern Railroad, which has trackage in Indiana, Ohio and Michigan. Much of that track is former NYC, meaning locomotive 3001 will be right at home. NYC 3001 will also join the fleet of seven Budd streamlined cars built in 1941 for the NYC “Empire State Express” and purchased from Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum in 2023.

According to FWRHS, a mechanical evaluation of the locomotive has been performed by FMW Solutions with financial support from former Norfolk Southern CEO Wick Moorman. The group estimates that it will take $4.3 million to restore the locomotive to operation. Donations can be made online at AmericanLoco.org. FWRHS is also encouraging people to join its pledge list.

—Justin Franz 

The post NYC Mohawk on Track to Move this Summer appeared first on Railfan & Railroad Magazine.

Just days after Union Pacific filed a revised application to acquire Norfolk Southern, its primary competitor in the West said the proposal was still “incomplete” and should be rejected by regulators. On May 8, BNSF Railway filed its response to the application with the U.S. Surface Transportation Board, the agency that will ultimately have the final say on whether UP and NS will be able to create the first single-transcontinental railroad.

The STB previously rejected UP’s application last year as “incomplete,” and on April 30, the railroad submitted a revised version. But representatives of BNSF accused UP of simply repackaging the old application and not giving the STB or other stakeholders enough information to judge the merger.

“At this point, because there is still not a fully formed proposal for the Board’s consideration — and because the application lacks other required information — the Board should find the amended application incomplete,” the response reads.

BNSF’s representatives continued that UP simply offered “cosmetic changes to gloss over the serious and fundamental competition, pricing and service concerns that were previously raised.” Among the issues glossed over was that a combined UP-NS would have 50 percent market share of the domestic U.S. rail freight market (loaded revenue units originated by Class Is) and 53 percent of the Class I merchandise gross ton miles market. Despite those numbers, UP still states there will be no competitive harm as a result of the merger.

Another issue raised in the filing was that UP and NS did not address the possibility of an “end game” round of mergers. According to the 2001 merger rules established by the STB, any Class I merger application would have to include analysis about not just the proposed combination, but those that could likely follow.

The STB is expected to issue a decision on whether the merger application is complete by the end of May.

—Justin Franz 

The post BNSF to UP-NS: Keep Trying appeared first on Railfan & Railroad Magazine.