Railnews from Railfan & Railroad Magazine

Connecticut’s Naugatuck Railroad has repainted an SPV-2000 in its as-delivered Amtrak Phase III livery to mark the United States’ upcoming Semiquincentennial. 

The SPV-2000s were built by Budd between 1978 and 1981 as a successor to its successful Rail Diesel Car (RDC). However, the SPV-2000s proved unreliable, and only 31 were ever built. In 1980, the Connecticut Department of Transportation purchased 13 SPV-2000s for use on the New Haven to Springfield Line and the Danbury Branch. The Springfield Line cars were leased to Amtrak and painted in Phase III. The cars were later depowered in the 1990s and remained in service until the 2000s. SPV-2000 No. 1001 was sold to Orion Newall of Constellation Rail in 2017 and was later relocated to the Naugatuck, where it is often used in excursion service. 

After a busy holiday excursion season, the car was taken to Naugatuck’s Thomaston shop, where volunteers made cosmetic improvements to its interior and exterior. To honor the car’s heritage, the Phase III stripe was reapplied to the window band. The car’s ends feature a red, white, and blue livery inspired by the New Haven Railroad’s MU cars. 

​​“I always thought it’d be cool to do a heritage scheme on the SPV to represent what it looked like when new in 1980,” Newall said. “With America 250 approaching, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity.”

The car is scheduled to debut on Naugatuck Railroad’s St. Patrick’s Day-themed “Leprechaun Express” on March 13 and will remain in its special paint scheme throughout the 2026 season.

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Two railroad museums on opposite sides of the country are locked in a fierce rivalry over this weekend’s Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks. Since the matchup between the Seahawks and Patriots was set almost two weeks ago, Maine’s Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway Museum and Washington’s Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad have been taunting each other on social media.

At times, the online feud has gotten downright nasty, with WW&F threatening to send Mt. Rainier back to “Train-ing camp,” and Mt. Rainier claiming that the narrow gauge WW&F was nothing more than a “toy train.” 

On February 4, after days of trash talk, the railroads agreed to a formal bet: the railroad whose team loses on Sunday will have to display the winning team’s flags on a locomotive for a full day of operation. 

While sources close to both WW&F and Mt. Rainier admit the online battle has gotten heated, railroaders at both museums remain friendly with each other, and it appears the spat has mostly been a good way to promote both railroads ahead of the big game.

—Justin Franz

Editor’s Note and Disclosure: While Associate Editor Justin Franz currently lives in the Northwest and would normally cheer the Seattle Seahawks, he is also a native Mainer, a long-time WW&F Railway Museum member, and a fan of the New England Patriots.

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Iowa’s Sioux City Railroad Museum announced in January that it had won a $1.9 million grant from the National Park Service’s Emergency Supplemental Historic Preservation Fund to support it following a 2024 flood. What doesn’t go towards the flood recovery is expected to support the ongoing restoration of Great Northern Railway H-5s 4-6-2 1355. 

Locomotive 1355 began life as a 4-6-0 in 1909 and was assigned to passenger service out of Spokane, Wash. In 1924, the locomotive was sent east to St. Paul, Minn., where the railroad rebuilt it as a 4-6-2, with a larger boiler, cylinders and firebox. The locomotive was designated an H-5s at that time. A year later it was converted from being a coal burner to an oil burner. The locomotive was assigned to the Butte Division in Montana, where it led some of the GN’s finest passenger trains, including the Empire Builder and Oriental Limited. In 1950, the locomotive was sent to Minnesota to work in freight service before being retired in 1955. At about the same time, the community of Sioux City, Iowa, requested a locomotive from the GN for display. Locomotive 1355 was selected and sent south to Iowa, where it has been ever since. About 15 years ago, an attempt was made to restore the engine to operation, but it was never completed. However, members of the American Heartland Railroad Society — the group spearheading the restoration — say the effort has given them a strong foundation to build on.

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Santa Fe 4-6-2 3415, the Baldwin built in 1919 and operated by the Abilene & Smoky Valley Railroad in Kansas, is on track to return to service by Labor Day 2027. 

The locomotive has been out of service since 2023 and is presently the subject of a major overhaul with the help of the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad’s show crews. The paid crew members from Durango are being assisted by volunteers in Kansas. 

“Santa Fe 3415 is an important icon for Abilene, the State of Kansas, and the storied history of the steam power that built our nation’s agricultural and manufacturing infrastructure,” said A&SV President and General Manager Ross Boelling. “The 2024 Kansas Legislature named our engine an official icon of Kansas to commemorate the role of railroads in building Kansas, and the Santa Fe Railroad in particular as a legacy Kansas company. We’re eager to get the engine back up and running so we may continue to live up to this mission.”

Formed in 1993, Abilene & Smoky Valley Railroad operates a mix of historic equipment and motive power on the former Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific track between Abilene and Enterprise, Kan. The railroad has been operating 3415 since 2009. 

—Justin Franz 

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The Port of Pend Oreille in Washington State has secured a $1 million grant in an effort to revive excursion service on the Pend Oreille Valley Railroad. 

POVA owns and operates on former Milwaukee Road and Great Northern trackage between Metaline Falls, Wash., and Sandpoint, Idaho, where it interchanges with BNSF Railway. It began operations in 1979, when the Port of Pend Oreille purchased the former MILW line between Metaline Falls and Newport, and expanded to include the GN line to Sandpoint in 1998. The line to Metaline Falls is particularly scenic but also lacks any freight business. For years, the railroad operated scenic excursions over it in partnership with the local Lions Club. But since 2016, that part of the railroad has been out of service. 

The $1 million grant will fund the first phase of a project to repair approximately 5 miles of track between Usk and Cusick. The Port is partnering with the Kalispel Tribe of Indians to develop passenger service and anticipates hiring 6 to 10 people once excursions begin. Officials are hopeful that service could start sometime in 2028. 

—Justin Franz 

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Officials at the Catskill Mountain Railroad in Kingston, N.Y., say they are considering relocating from their longtime home after years of conflict with the county. Ernie Hunt, president of the tourist railroad, said the decision would depend on whether the local government allows them to expand later this year. “If we don’t get our expansion, then we’ll go and expand somewhere else,” Hunt said. “We’ll go somewhere that wants us.” Catskill Mountain Railroad was founded in 1982 to lease and operate a 38-mile former New York Central branch line. Today, the tourist railroad runs on about five miles of track out of Kingston. However, the railroad has long butted heads with local county officials and trail advocates, who have sought to remove large sections of the line and replace them with a bike and walking path. Eventually, 11 miles of track were ripped up by the county and turned into a trail. A few years ago, it appeared the railroad and the county might have turned a corner on their contentious relationship, after signing a new lease to operate excursions through 2028. The railroad also secured $4.4 million in state grants to build a new terminal, engine house, and track to connect the railroad to the Ashokan Rail Trail. While the project was funded, the county had not approved it, and Hunt said it’s uncertain it will. A final decision is due in July. Hunt told Railfan & Railroad that, if the county does not approve its expansion plans, it will relocate at the end of its 2028 season. Presently, the railroad is considering three or four sites across the state, mainly along the New York State Thruway. —Justin Franz 

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Connecticut’s Valley Railroad announced in January that its Chinese-built 2-8-2 steam locomotive is being converted to burn oil, and if successful, the railroad will convert additional engines. 

Valley 3025, an SY-type 2-8-2 built at the Tangshan Locomotive and Rolling Stock Works in 1989 and made to look like a New Haven locomotive, is presently down for its federally-mandated 15-year overhaul. While the engine is out of service, the railroad has decided to install an oil-burning system. The railroad said it was making the change because oil was easier to acquire and handle than coal. The railroad would also save money by disposing of less ash. 

The Valley is just the latest in a long line of steam operators that have decided to convert to oil, including the Durango & Silverton, Cumbres & Toltec Scenic, and those restoring Reading 2100 and Chesapeake & Ohio 2-8-4 2716. Aside from it being easier to acquire oil, groups have also cited environmental reasons, most notably the desire to continue operating during dry conditions. The trend is also underway in England for the same reasons. 

—Justin Franz 

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Starting June 1, the Regional Transportation Authority, the agency overseeing Chicagoland transit, will be reorganized into the Northern Illinois Transit Authority. 

The reorganization follows Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signing legislation last year to help the state’s major transit operators — Metra, Chicago Transit Authority, and Pace bus services — avoid a fiscal cliff. As part of that, the agencies are being restructured to improve service coordination. A new board will also be created. Eventually, a universal fare system will be implemented, making it easier to transfer between systems. 

—Justin Franz

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The Alco era on the Ontario Southland is drawing to a close, but fans of the iconic locomotives shouldn’t fret. In January, it was announced that five OSR units built by the Montreal Locomotive Works will be headed east for service on the Sartigan Railway in Quebec. 

The Sartigan operates on the former Quebec Central Railway, a one-time subsidiary of Canadian Pacific. It presently operates from an interchange with Canadian National in Charny (near Quebec City) to Vallée Junction, with work to reopen the line further south to Thetford Mines presently underway and on target for this year. The Sartigan was founded in 2012. 

Sartigan presently owns a fleet of four former BC Rail M-420s, along with an RS-18, RS-23 and M-636, all ex-CP. Five MLWs from Ontario Southland will include RS-18 181 (ex-CP 1861) and RS-23s 503 (ex-CP 8029), 504 (ex-CP 8044), 505 (ex-CP 8021), and 506 (ex-CP 8013). All five units are expected to regain their old CP numbers. 

—Justin Franz 

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Union Pacific “Big Boy” 4014 will leave Cheyenne, Wyo., on March 29, for the first part of a coast-to-coast trip to celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence. The first part will take the engine from Wyoming to California and back over a month, returning to its home base on April 24. 

The eastern leg of the tour, which is expected to bring the world’s largest operating steam locomotive to the East Coast for the first time ever, is set to begin in late spring. UP officials said those details are still being worked out. The engine is expected to travel over Norfolk Southern rails, which UP is currently trying to acquire. 

“We are proud to honor our nation’s great history and legacy of innovation with our heritage locomotives. For the first time, we will share the Big Boy with communities on the East Coast, operating it from ocean to ocean,” said CEO Jim Vena. “America has never been afraid to dream about what’s possible – and neither is Union Pacific as we carry the grain that feeds families, the steel that builds cities and the household goods that stock store shelves.” 

So far, only two display dates have been announced: April 10 and 11 in Roseville, Calif., and April 18 and 19 in Ogden, Utah. The 4014 is expected to be joined by two commemorative diesel locomotives, including its newest, 1776, painted in honor of the Semiquincentennial. 

—Justin Franz 

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The non-profit railroad museum that said last year it was leaving Port Jervis, N.Y., following a conflict with the city, has announced that it’s in talks to stay. Officials with TOYX, Inc., the nonprofit that over the past four years has tried to establish a museum centered on the former Erie Railroad turntable there, said they were optimistic that they could secure a long-term lease directly from the city to stay on site. 

“We are optimistic that a mutually beneficial agreement will be reached to continue and expand TOYX’s ongoing preservation and interpretation of this City-owned historic site, as well as provide a public space for residents and visitors to experience TOYX’s own railcars and artifacts that are so critical to the City’s heritage,” TOYX officials announced on January 23. 

TOYX serves as the banner for a conglomerate of projects, including Operation Toy Train, the Dining Car Society, and the Tri-States Railway Preservation Society. In December, TOYX alleged that the city told them the site was going to be redeveloped and the rail equipment needed to be removed before July 2026. But the mayor of Port Jervis later denied that and said he wanted the museum to stay. TOYX has already moved some equipment off-site. 

Museum officials said they would announce more once negotiations were complete. 

—Justin Franz 

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U.S. Sugar’s excursion arm, Sugar Express, has put a century-old Pennsylvania Railroad business car back into service. The “Clewiston” was pressed into service over the winter and is now available for group charters on Sugar Express’ Lake Placid Limited. 

Built in April 1911 by the Pullman Company, car 7505 began its life on the Pennsy in executive service. Starting in 1929, it began to work its way down the management ladder, being used by general managers and then superintendents. Eventually, it was pressed into maintenance of way service. The car was eventually sold, finding its way to James H. Clement, son of Pennsylvania Railroad president Martin Clement, who restored the car and later donated it to the Galveston Railroad Museum.

Upon arrival at Clewiston, the interior of the car was rebuilt, and it can now accommodate 15 guests. 

Sugar Express began operations a few years ago following the restoration of 4-6-2 148. Visit SugarExpress.com for more.

—Justin Franz 

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Société du chemin de fer de la Gaspésie, or the Gaspésie Railway Society, ran its first train from New Richmond to Port Daniel, Que., in more than a decade on January 7. 

The Province of Quebec has been spending millions of dollars to reopen the 200-mile-long former Canadian National line along the Gaspé Peninsula. In December, track work was completed on the section of rail line between Caplan and Port-Daniel, a distance of 45 miles. With the line to Port-Daniel now open, the short line can now serve a cement plant. 

Originally built in the early 20th century, the 202-mile line from Matapedia to Gaspé, Que., is arguably one of the most scenic in eastern Canada. CN operated the line until the 1990s, when it was spun off to a short line. Passenger service, provided by VIA Rail, continued into the 2010s but was suspended after track issues arose.

—Justin Franz

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The Yakima City Council voted Tuesday night to extend a five-year operating agreement with Yakima Valley Trolleys, the Washington non-profit that runs the community’s historic interurban railroad. However, what the railroad will look like when that agreement ends in 2030 remains an unanswered question. 

Late last year, the city council decided not to automatically renew its operating agreement with the non-profit that manages what remains of the Yakima Valley Transportation Company, an interurban railroad once part of the Union Pacific and now owned by the city. At that time, the council wanted to better assess its financial situation. A week earlier, it approved a 2026 budget that included cutting $9 million from its current budget, including from police and fire services.

The actual operation of the trolley is fairly minimal for the city. The previous agreement specified that the city would cover basic costs, such as heating and maintaining the city-owned trolley barn, and set aside about $10,000 for any maintenance issues with the track or other city-owned property. However, the larger issue—and expense—is a major road construction project along the trolley route connecting the trolley barn with the rest of the line to the town of Selah. That street, Sixth Avenue, needs to be rebuilt, and for a time, the city considered paying the approximately $7 million it would take to reinstall the rails and the catenary above. But with a budget crisis on the horizon, some city council members are questioning whether that’s a wise financial choice. As a result, the city council decided to delay approving or denying an operating agreement until a decision is made on the road project. 

Presently, the trolley operation is mostly confined to Pine Street. In 2024, a diamond crossing with the Central Washington Railroad at the north end of Sixth Avenue was removed for maintenance, and a bridge further north was taken out of service. The bridge is currently being repaired, and volunteers are hopeful the diamond will be put back in place, allowing trolleys to reach Selah again.

Tuesday’s meeting started with public comment. Nearly 20 people spoke to the council, either in person or via Zoom, supporting the trolley, including one person who was in England. Only one person opposed extending the operating agreement. After public comment and other city business, the council began discussing the Sixth Avenue project and the costs of rebuilding it with the track. Mayor Matt Brown asked if it was possible to turn Sixth Avenue into a one-way street, allowing the trolley line to stay in its current place but no longer be part of the roadway. Community Development Director Bill Preston said the city’s engineering staff would need to look at what’s possible. Brown and others also inquired if there are other street projects that could be addressed first, giving Yakima Valley Trolleys more time to potentially secure their own funding to help keep the tracks. Preston said it would ultimately be up to the city council to decide which roads to fix first, but stated that Sixth Avenue is “structurally toast” and the longer the city waits to fix it, the more expensive it will be. Ultimately, the city council decided to hold another hearing, scheduled for February 17, to gather public input on what should happen along Sixth Avenue and how to pay for it. 

Yakima Valley Transportation Company 298 made a rare appearance during what could have been the railroad’s final day of operation on December 31. It was followed by line car A. Photo by David Honan. 

With that item out of the way, the council then moved on to the operating agreement with Yakima Valley Trolleys. The pared-down agreement outlines that the city will spend about $5,000 annually to heat buildings and power the overhead, and keep around $10,000 available for emergency street repairs. The non-profit will help cover the cost of insurance, about $4,800 annually, according to city staff. 

One city council member, Rick Glenn, expressed concern about the cost of the trolley to the city; “I’d rather have more cops and firemen and keep the pool open,” he said at one point. However, other city council members pointed out that the city would have to pay for maintaining the buildings whether the trolleys were running or not. The city council then voted six to one to extend the operating agreement. The new agreement will run through 2030. 

Late Tuesday evening, Yakima Valley Trolleys thanked their supporters and announced they were getting to work planning various events and excursions, including some on Valentine’s Day weekend.

The main question now — and one that will be debated during the next city council meeting — is what that railroad will look like in 2030. If the city proceeds with the Sixth Avenue project but doesn’t pay to reinstall the rails, Yakima Valley Trolleys will no longer be able to reach the community of Selah to the north. Without that connection, the railroad would no longer qualify as a true interurban, and volunteers have said that could threaten an effort to get it designated as a National Historic Landmark as the country’s last interurban railroad. 

Yakima Valley Transportation Company was established in 1907. Starting as a streetcar line serving downtown Yakima, the company was acquired by Union Pacific predecessor Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Company in 1909 with the aim of tapping into the region’s fertile agricultural resources. Eventually, the system grew to include over 40 route-miles radiating into surrounding communities, providing interurban passenger service and feeding freight traffic to the national rail network. Regular passenger service ended in 1947, and the remaining streetcars were scrapped or sold. Freight service continued until Union Pacific filed for abandonment in 1985 due to a decline in traffic. The railroad was later purchased by the city and has operated as a museum ever since.

—Justin Franz, with additional reporting by David Honan. 

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by Andrew S. Nelson/photos by the author

On February 28, 1987, I got a call from my brother, Jeff, who was then a student at the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point. He had just come back from Soo Line’s Stevens Point engine terminal and had news — the terminal was chock-full of GP9s, GP30s, and GP35s. There wasn’t a single SD40 or SD40-2 to be found. Something was brewing.

And brewing it was. Soo Line was going to make a stronger go of its Lake States Transportation Division (LSTD) that had been created in 1986 after it had acquired The Milwaukee Road. Basically, the “Lake States” as it became known, was the original Soo Line trackage in Wisconsin (with two small tails into eastern Minnesota) and Upper Michigan prior to The Milwaukee Road merger. Also included were the former Milwaukee Road Wisconsin Valley Line between New Lisbon and Tomahawk, Wis., and the former Milwaukee Road line between Green Bay and Milwaukee. In the months prior to the official January 1, 1986, merger, Soo had shifted almost all through traffic between the Twin Cities and the Chicago-area terminal at Bensenville/Schiller Park to the former Milwaukee Road main line. This left the original Soo main through Wisconsin with little traffic. Stevens Point, a busy division point on the original Soo, went from eight to 12 through trains per day to fewer than half as many.

ABOVE: Train 17 crosses Little Hay Meadow Creek north of Otis on July 3, 1987. GP30 707 and GP9 4233 are in charge.

What followed after that phone call from my brother was akin to traveling in a Soo Line time machine that lasted all of a little over seven months.

Now, I need to point out here that I was someone who cut his teeth watching The Milwaukee Road on its Wisconsin Valley Line in hometown Wausau. I was used to the ever-predictable Bensenville–Wausau Train 247 arriving in Wausau in the early morning behind three GP38-2s. A few hours later, the “North End,” the moniker for the Milwaukee’s Wausau–Tomahawk turn, would leave Wausau with one or two GP38-2s. A little later in the morning, one GP38-2 would take the “Rapids Patrol” (“patrol” was the Milwaukee’s term for most way freights) south to as far as Wisconsin Rapids.

Later in the afternoon, both the North End and Rapids Patrol would arrive back in Wausau. By early evening, the three GP38-2s that had brought Train 247 to Wausau that morning were leading Train 246 to Bensenville. The whole operation ran like clockwork, Mondays through Saturdays, orange and black locomotives up front, and an orange bay window caboose in the back. From mid-1985 through early 1987, the former Milwaukee Road in central and northern Wisconsin became much less Milwaukee and much more Soo, and I did not like that one bit.

But, March 1987 changed all of that.

ABOVE: The Stevens Point Dispatcher West set up the meet between Stevens Point–Superior Train 3 and its counterpart Train 4 at Spencer, Wis., on April 17, 1987. Spencer was where the Soo’s route to Ashland split from the Chicago–Twin Cities main line.

This Is 1987?
The transformation in the Stevens Point area happened pretty much overnight. Soo Line transferred 37 GP9s, 19 GP30s, six GP35s, nine SW1200s, and two SD39s (ex-Minneapolis, Northfield & Southern) along with a few “Bandit” ex-MILW GP20s (rebuilt GP9s with chopped noses) and SD10s (rebuilt ex-MILW SD7s and SD9s with chopped noses) to the Lake States. The “Bandit” nickname came from the way former MILW units had their roadnames hastily masked out with black paint and placed back into service. Some units remained this way until the last few were retired in 2019.

This power transfer put Soo’s oldest power on its lightest density lines. The Lake States would not be the land of SD40-2s and SD60/SD60Ms that dominated the former Milwaukee Road main line between the Twin Cities and Chicago. In fact, except for the rust on several of the older Soo locomotives, the look of the Lake States in spring, summer, and fall 1987 was more like a railroad in 1967. The LSTD presented a rare opportunity on a Class I to recreate scenes common two decades earlier.

ABOVE: GP30 715, replete with rust, leads three GP9s and Train 3 past the depot at Stevens Point on March 20, 1987.

Suddenly, a drive from Wausau to Stevens Point to “check on the Soo” became a worthwhile venture. My first chance to get to “Point” at the start of the LSTD era was on March 20, and it didn’t take long for me to get hooked. Train 4 was ready to head east to Shops Yard in North Fond du Lac behind GP30s 719 and 703. Skies were bright and sunny, and the two units put on a good audio show as those old turbocharged 567s slugged it up Stockton Hill east of Stevens Point. After the train crested the hill, it was a cross-country chase east to Waupaca.

That afternoon Stevens Point–Shoreham Train 1 left Stevens Point with three GP9s, including two 4200-series “torpedo Geeps” that were originally acquired for Soo passenger train service. After the 1 departed Stevens Point, Train 3 for Stinson Yard in Superior left Point Yard behind a GP30 and three GP9s.

Yep, I was hooked…

Read the rest of this article in the February 2026 issue of Railfan & Railroad. Subscribe Today!

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by Adam Horgan/photos by the author

On a summer morning along the banks of Powell’s Creek, a distant horn echoes off the flat water. A northbound parade of trains is marching up CSX Transportation’s Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac (RF&P) Subdivision. The scanner crackles alive with Amtrak P052, the northbound Auto Train to Lorton, Va., calling its last few signals before arriving at the end of its journey from Sanford, Fla. It flies across the bridge, and right on its heels is CSX I032 with priority intermodal traffic from Jacksonville, Fla. Both trains are some of the hottest on the railroad, and the BD dispatcher desk is working hard to keep traffic moving on time. Behind them, an Amtrak regional and another intermodal are on their way north from Richmond, Va. This is just business as usual on one of the most important stretches of main line railroad in America.

RF&P in 2025 is a critical rail corridor for both freight and passenger traffic. As the road’s original slogan says, this subdivision links north and south, connecting the northern portions of CSX’s system in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Midwest with the southern portions. For more than 190 years, this vital steel rail highway has carried commerce and passengers to and from the nation’s capital. From the Civil War through modern times, RF&P continues to play an important role in the story of America. With changes on the horizon to improve the line and expand capacity, the storied history of RF&P is about to begin a new and important chapter.

ABOVE: A southbound CSX freight enters Virginia with the Washington Monument in the background. The crew has just called the clear signal at “RO,” the northernmost point in Virginia on RF&P. Due to recent security measures, this spot is no longer accessible.

From Richmond to D.C.
In February 1834, the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia incorporated Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad. You have to wonder if the lawmakers at the time had any premonitions that Virginia’s sixth chartered railroad would become arguably its most important. Connecting Virginia’s capital city of Richmond to Washington, D.C., it would become a strategically important asset during the Civil War. This is also possibly where the other moniker for RF&P, “Rich Folks and Politicians,” began.

Due to the number of waterways along the route and the bridges required to cross them, the line was not fully connected by rail until 1872. Instead, travelers relied on steamboat connections to Washington for part of the journey. Despite the limitations, the line was burned many times by both armies during the Civil War because it traveled through and near several major battle sites and, like many railroads, later required significant investment.

ABOVE: Train I034, a holiday service extra train, crosses under the signals at Slaters Lane in Alexandria on November 23, 2024. In the background is the dome of the U.S Capitol building.

After the war, the railroad grew to meet growing demand. RF&P was a distinctive bridge line connecting northern and southern railroads. The company retained a shared ownership structure, which allowed for the free flow of traffic up and down the I-95 corridor. The railroad served as a not-quite-short line, not-quite-terminal railroad, and not-quite-traditional main line either, moving freight from the massive interchange at Potomac Yard in Alexandria, Va., to Acca Yard in Richmond. The commonwealth of Virginia retained partial ownership of the railroad as well, and the fascinating history of RF&P’s ownership structure could be its own article and has been well-documented by several authors. Over the years, through the evolution of mergers and consolidations, RF&P was a notable missing link in the CSX system. In 1991, CSX officially purchased the line and by the end of the year fully assumed operations.

Today’s RF&P
Since that transition, RF&P has risen to be an increasingly busy and important piece of the CSX system. Running from M Street in Washington to Acca Yard in Richmond, the roughly 114 miles of the RF&P Subdivision are some of the busiest in the eastern U.S. They are also some of the most diverse in terms of traffic, locations, scenery, and options available to railfans.

ABOVE: Two Virginia Railway Express commuter trains meet at the Alexandria station during rush hour in March 2022. Launched in 1992, the operation serves 16 stations on two lines serving Manassas and Fredericksburg.

The railroad now has more trains than it has track and capacity to handle them, with the south side by Richmond averaging 40 Amtrak and CSX trains in a 24-hour period. Between 15 and 20 of those trains are CSX freights and the remaining are Amtrak passenger trains. The northern end sees those 40, plus scheduled weekday Virginia Railway Express commuter train movements. Freight traffic is diverse, ranging from hotshot intermodals with containers on flatcars to manifests, coal trains, rock trains, and anything else the railroad needs moved, including military equipment for Uncle Sam. Often featured on priority trains are the iconic Tropicana orange juice cars that travel between Florida and New Jersey. While “the juice” used to be a separate hotshot unit train, it is now generally switched and carried as a block.

RF&P crews traditionally run through to Richmond from their departure terminals, and vice versa, with most freight trains getting new crews before departing Richmond’s Acca Yard. Traditional routing for trains running to northern cities through Baltimore and Philadelphia is to connect with the Capital Subdivision in Washington, D.C., and trains bound for West Virginia and beyond connect with the Metropolitan Subdivision just north of Washington. With the amount of traffic on the railroad, there are plenty of opportunities to see freight in daylight. This line is also home to Auto Train’s northern terminal at Lorton. Auto Train is a unique operation, taking both passengers and their vehicles to Sanford with a scheduled arrival window of early in the morning and a late afternoon departure once the train is loaded and built…

Read the rest of this article in the February 2026 issue of Railfan & Railroad. Subscribe Today!

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Maine’s Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington is making steady progress with its effort to build a brand new 2-foot gauge 2-4-4T locomotive, and the project is getting a major boost thanks to an anonymous donor. 

Since 1989, the museum has rebuilt 3.5 miles of track on the original right-of-way of one of Maine’s five original narrow gauge railroads. Along with that, the museum has built multiple stations, a shop, a roundhouse, and a water tower, as well as rebuilt two steam locomotives. The third locomotive, presently under construction, is a 2-4-4T based on the original WW&F’s No. 7, a 28-ton 2-4-4T Forney built by Baldwin in 1907. The locomotive will wear the number 11, one higher than the museum’s current steam roster (locomotive 9, a 0-4-4T, was the last engine owned by the original railroad, and locomotive 10 was purchased from Edaville in Massachusetts in the early 2000s. Locomotive 10 was originally built for a Louisiana plantation).  

In 2025, this anonymous donor made a generous matching donation toward the “Build 11” project, and they have decided to do it again in 2026. For every dollars raised this year, the donor will match it up to $60,000. The donor has said they hope to offer similar support over the next few years, which will help the museum get even closer to an operating locomotive. As of early 2026, a number of major components have been completed, including the frame and wheelsets. The museum hopes to have the locomotive complete by the end of the decade. For more information and to learn how to donate, visit https://wwfry.org/build-11/.

—Justin Franz 

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Steamtown National Historic Site is currently restoring a two-truck Shay locomotive, and officials say they expect to have it operating before the end of 2027. 

Steamtown Superintendent Jeremy Komasz tells Railfan & Railroad that restoring Meadow River Lumber Company 1 is critical to ensure the park has an operating steam locomotive at the end of next year, when Baldwin Locomotive Works 0-6-0 26 is scheduled for a federally-mandated overhaul. 

“Getting Shay 1 back under steam while planning for Baldwin 26’s 1,472-day inspection is exactly where Steamtown needs to be focused right now,” Komasz told Railfan & Railroad. “These projects are cornerstones of our five-year Strategic Action Plan and our long-term Investment Concept development, and they allow us to keep engaging visitors with live steam during an extraordinary series of national milestones in 2026 and beyond.”

Meadow River Lumber Company 1 inside the Steamtown shop in Scranton, Pa. Photo Courtesy of Steamtown. 

Shay 1 was built by Lima for the Sewell Valley Railroad and the Meadow River Lumber Company in May 1910, and it operated in West Virginia throughout its entire career. The locomotive was later sold to F. Nelson Blount, who was establishing his Steamtown U.S.A. museum, first in New Hampshire and then in Vermont. In Vermont, the locomotive was badly damaged when the roof of the building where it was stored collapsed under heavy snow. The collapse destroyed the locomotive’s cab. In the 1980s, it and the rest of the Steamtown collection were moved to Scranton, Pa., where it eventually became the property of the National Park Service. 

A 1991 study commissioned by the National Park Service stated that Shay 1 was a “tired, worn-out engine” best suited for static display. But subsequent inspections have led the Steamtown shop staff to believe that the engine can operate again. The restoration quietly began in 2024, and since then, shop crews have disassembled the locomotive, conducted a full ultrasound on the boiler, started rebuilding the trucks, and begun fabricating a new smoke stack. Shop crews say they are on track to have the engine under steam by the end of 2027. 

—Justin Franz 

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Hours after the U.S. Surface Transportation Board rejected Union Pacific’s application to acquire Norfolk Southern as “incomplete,” the Western Class I vowed to press on in its effort to create the first single transcontinental railroad. 

In a brief statement to Railfan & Railroad late Friday night, a spokesperson for UP simply wrote, “Union Pacific will provide the additional information requested by the Surface Transportation Board.”

On Friday afternoon, the STB announced it was rejecting UP’s initial application due to insufficient information. Among the issues the STB identified in the initial application was an incomplete market analysis. For example, UP and NS stated that it would take three years for the benefits of increased traffic from the merger to be realized. However, the application did not provide an analysis of what those traffic levels would be; it only showed what they would be on the first day of the combination. 

The STB’s decision will undoubtedly delay UP’s efforts to acquire NS. It will also be seen as a win for the four other Class Is, which have all spoken against the proposed merger. On Friday evening, Canadian National praised the STB’s decision. 

“A stronger record will allow the Board to determine whether the proposed transaction is in the public-interest and whether the time and scope limited measures offered by the applicants satisfy the requirement to enhance competition,” CN officials wrote in a statement. “As noted earlier, applicants had refused information critical to understand their perspective on anticipated competitive harms and inform the Board’s public-interest and competition analyses. The Board rightly found that applicants needed to provide that information. CN looks forward to participating robustly once UP-NS has submitted a complete application and encourages customers to file their notices of intent to participate so they can stay informed and continue to participate in the STB’s process.”

—Justin Franz 

The post UP Vows to Press On In Effort to Acquire NS appeared first on Railfan & Railroad Magazine.

The U.S. Surface Transportation Board has rejected Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern’s initial merger application as “incomplete,” telling the two Class I railroads that if they want to become North America’s largest railroad, they’ll need to try again. 

The unanimous bombshell decision was announced late Friday and is likely to delay UP’s effort to acquire NS. Although the board rejected the initial application, it provided no insight into the final decision on the merger — if UP and NS opt to try again.

“Today’s decision is based solely on the incompleteness of the December 19 application and should not be read as an indication of how the Board might ultimately assess any future revised application,” STB officials said in a press release. 

Among the issues the STB identified in the initial application was an incomplete market analysis. For example, UP and NS stated that it would take three years for the benefits of increased traffic from the merger to be realized. However, the application did not provide an analysis of what those traffic levels would be; it only showed what they would be on the first day of the combination. 

Additionally, applicants are legally required to provide copies of “Any contract or other written instrument entered into, or proposed to be entered into, pertaining to the proposed transaction.” However, UP and NS only included an “Agreement and Plan of Merger,” not the full contract. 

The STB’s decision will likely be seen as a win for BNSF Railway, Canadian National, CPKC, and CSX Transportation, which have all been speaking out against the UP-NS combination for weeks. One of their chief complaints was that the merger application was incomplete, meaning they couldn’t fully evaluate it. 

—Justin Franz

 

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