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The North Central Texas Council of Governments Regional Transportation Council approved a plan on July 10 to provide Amtrak with $3.5 million to keep the Heartland Flyer running between Oklahoma City and Fort Worth for another year. Earlier this year, Amtrak said that the train would stop running on October 1, unless the State of Texas paid for its portion of the service. As a state-supported train, Texas is legally obligated to help cover the costs of operating the Heartland Flyer. However, the state legislature had not secured the necessary funding to keep the train running. 

The Heartland Flyer debuted in 1999 and carried 80,000 passengers in Fiscal Year 2024, generating $2.2 million in ticket revenue. Amtrak officials noted that the train helps alleviate congestion on one of Texas’ busiest highways. According to an economic analysis, the train produces $5.3 million in direct economic benefits and $23.7 million in overall economic activity.

—Justin Franz 

The post ‘Heartland Flyer’ Gets Funding For Another Year appeared first on Railfan & Railroad Magazine.

Chicago & North Western 1385 — the R-1 Class 4-6-0 that last operated in the 1990s — returned to its home at the Mid-Continent Railway Museum in July after an extensive restoration. 

Locomotive 1385 was built in March 1907 by the American Locomotive Company as one of 325 R-1 class 4-6-0s owned by the C&NW. The R-1s were used in fast freight and secondary passenger service. The ten-wheelers were the largest single class of steam locomotives the C&NW ever owned. Locomotive 1385 was retired in 1956 and purchased by Mid-Continent members in 1961 for $2,600. The locomotive operated at Mid-Continent and across the Midwest, including a stint leading the Circus World Museum train, until it was retired in 1998. 

The locomotive was restored at an off-site facility and then transported back to the museum in North Freedom, Wis., by truck and flatcar, which was delivered by the Wisconsin & Southern on July 12. The locomotive is expected to be reassembled and operational by 2026. 

—Justin Franz 

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Once upon a time, to be a railfan in North America meant to make photographs using one of the most famous transparency films of all time — Eastman Kodak’s Kodachrome. I speak in past tense because that time has passed, so much so that the name of this film calls to mind an entire generation of photographers who continue to influence how we in the hobby today judge what makes a “good” railway photo.

For railfans who first made images in this century, film may seem a relic, a way of making photographs that was expensive, cumbersome, and inconvenient. A roll of color film might cost upward of $6, and only bought you 36 frames. Loading and reloading a camera required time and dexterity. Worst of all, there was no way to be sure that a shot was correctly framed or exposed until you sent the rolls off to a developer, paid yet more money, and waited for them to return — sometimes up to two weeks.

It is understandable why most hobbyists today use digital cameras, with their greater economy and instantaneous feedback. Yet film was once the only option, and the king was Kodachrome. Fabled for its rich color palette, deep shadows, and archival quality, the film found favor among landscape photographers, tourists, and especially railfans. This is not to say that everyone shot on Kodak’s signature slide film. Anscochrome was introduced as a direct competitor in the 1940s, offering faster speeds and easier processing. Only years later would photographers discover the unstable dyes would shift to shades of pink — or worse, break down entirely. In the 1980s, Fuji introduced a series of professional-grade films that were as good as, or, arguably, superior to Kodak’s offerings. None, however, came close to the iconic status of Kodachrome. After all, Paul Simon didn’t sing about Fuji Astia.

It was also part of a whole ecosystem within the hobby. While Kodachrome became accessible to most railfans in the late 1940s or early 1950s, most of those images were never published until much later. Color printing remained an expensive process, and except for their covers, most railfan magazines were almost exclusively black & white well into the 1980s. Color slides were traded or sold between fans at swap meets and through magazine ads, and shared in basement slide shows with friends. It wasn’t until Don Ball Jr.’s 1978 book America’s Colorful Railroads introduced the market potential for publishing ’chromes.

Kodachrome is also a marker of an era. While it was introduced in the mid-1930s, it did not become widespread or affordable until the postwar period. Soldiers returning from the war brought with them well-made but attainable single-lens-reflex cameras made in occupied Japan and Germany, becoming a part of the serious railfan’s basic kit. This era lasted through the second half of the last century, a time when railways in North America underwent massive changes. It was on Kodachrome that the transition from steam to diesel power was recorded. It was Kodachrome that captured the decline of once-great roads as they were swallowed up by mergers and bankruptcies. Kodachrome was there as lonely branch lines rolled up their operations, or returned as upstart short lines fighting for traffic and a place in the industry. It was, for all the losses, a time of great color and variety, right up until the film was discontinued in 2009 (and processing ended in 2010). Will we have the same respect and lament in 30 years for our various digital file formats?

—Alexander Benjamin Craghead is a transportation historian, photographer, artist, and author.

The post The Kodachrome Influence appeared first on Railfan & Railroad Magazine.

by Jeff Smith/photos as noted

On a frigid February morning in 2023, East Broad Top Railroad unveiled to the public its latest miracle as part of its Winter Spectacular event. EBT 2-8-2 16, a Mikado-type locomotive which had not led a revenue freight or passenger train since 1956, was the star of the event, its restoration completed just weeks before. Throngs of people descended on Orbisonia, Pa., for the debut. The excitement and energy in the air was something neither the town, nor EBT, had seen in many years. This article tells the most unlikely story of the restoration of EBT 16.

East Broad Top, which was built as a narrow gauge coal-hauling railroad in 1871, kept that focus for its entire existence as a common carrier. EBT’s motive power needs expanded greatly in the period around World War I. War-related industries in the U.S. were operating at full capacity and the customers EBT served were no exception. The refractories in the area were operating full tilt, new coal mines were opening, and existing mines were expanding, all driving more freight to EBT. As 1916 approached, the need for larger motive power was urgent.

ABOVE: EBT 2-8-2 16 crosses the Lower Aughwick bridge over Aughwick Creek with a coal train on an unknown date. —EBTR Archives

Between 1911 and 1920, EBT purchased six new narrow gauge Mikados from Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia. The first three were acquired in 1911, 1913, and 1914 with tractive efforts of 22,100 (number 12) and 27,600 pounds (numbers 14 and 15). By 1916, tonnage was up at EBT and the railroad was in need of larger motive power. EBT 16 was purchased in 1916 for $16,000 and was the first of three nearly identical larger Mikados, each having 30,600 pounds of tractive effort. The new locomotives weighed 80 tons; were built on 48-inch drivers; had Schmidt superheater units; and 20×24 cylinders, larger than the 19×24 cylinders of their older siblings 14 and 15. EBT 16 featured Southern valve gear, which is rare on steam locomotives in the U.S. aside from those built for Southern Railway. The 16 also had piston valves and twin 11-inch air pumps. Its tractive effort was 11 percent higher than 14 and 15, allowing 16 to pull 22 loaded steel hoppers on the northbound ruling grade from Pogue to Jordan Junction. The lighter-designed locomotives could pull only 15 and 18 cars, respectively. Demonstrating the locomotive’s increased power, it is reported that 16 pulled 60 empty hoppers from Mount Union to Orbisonia.

EBT was impressed with 16’s performance, and because the railroad experienced its highest tonnage ever in 1917 and 1918, it ordered two nearly identical copies from Baldwin. Mikado 17 was delivered in 1918 and sister 18 was delivered in 1920. While they are mostly the same, there are some differences between the three locomotives, with some improvements made with each one. For instance, 18 sits about five inches higher off the ground and its injectors are six or eight inches higher than on 16. Comparing 16 and 18, EBT Master Mechanic Dave Domitrovich thinks “everything was just moved up, probably because they were ripping stuff off along the ground.”

ABOVE: During the early morning hours of April 6, 2021, the final portion of 16’s front tube sheet is cut away. —Matthew Malkiewicz photo

The 16, along with sister 17, had a welded steel tender rather than a riveted tender like the three smaller EBT locomotives. According to reports from the late 1940s, both came with riveted tenders, and new welded tender tanks were purchased from Baldwin.

As a result of the acquisition of the heavier Mikados, EBT upgraded several miles of track to 70- and 85-pound rail around Cole’s Curve in the mountains and a few locations that still had 40- and 50-pound rail, likely on several sidings. This work to support the heavier locomotives long-term was completed in 1919.

As the 1940s came around, the larger locomotives were doing most of the work, pulling two trains per day over the 30 miles between Robertsdale and Mount Union; occasionally, 14 or 15 would make an appearance when the train was limited to 15 or 18 cars. One interesting fact is that occasionally 16’s throttle would stick open, once taking out a portion of the back wall of the roundhouse in Rockhill Furnace.

ABOVE: In May 2022, Josh Capp is feeding one of the 180 2-inch tubes through the front tube sheet. It will then be rolled on both ends and beaded to complete the installation. Rolling compresses the tube into the tube sheet and ensures that it will not leak.  —Matthew Malkiewicz photo

By the mid-1950s, mail traffic on EBT had been moved to truck, local freight traffic was minimal, and the automobile had taken most of the passengers. The loss of mail contracts in the 1960s is what made most of the larger railroads unable to sustain passenger operations profitably, and this hit EBT early. These realities meant that there was simply not enough traffic, passenger or freight, to sustain the railroad. Of the three silica firebrick plants in Mount Union, one had shut down and the other two transitioned to gas/oil and no longer required railroad service for the delivery of coal. What remained of the EBT freight business was the Rockhill Coal Company and several private mines between Broad Top Mountain and Sideling Hill that shipped coal to Mount Union for EBT’s cleaning plant and connection to Pennsylvania Railroad.

In the early 1950s, the railroad was operating five days a week and typically ran two trains. One would leave early in the morning from Orbisonia with one of the larger Mikados (16, 17, or 18) heading to Mount Union for empties or making up a train in the yard at Orbisonia. It would then run to Saltillo and up the Narco Spur to swap empties for loaded hoppers at the ganister rock loader. It would take water and leave the loads on the siding at Saltillo to be picked up on the return trip. The train would then continue to Robertsdale and work the mines. Returning to Saltillo, it would take water, pick up the loads it had set out earlier, and then head to Mount Union. The second train would run to Robertsdale, service the mines, and then head to Mount Union several hours behind the first train. As the mid-1950s arrived, train service became less frequent and traffic volume continued to fall. By the end of 1955, there were often only one or two trains a week.

ABOVE: The 16 is in the process of turning its train at the Colgate Grove wye during a photo charter in April 2023. The buildup of the ballast indicates how low the track was when the EBT Foundation began rebuilding the railroad. —Jeff Smith photo

From Common Carrier to Preservation
On March 29, 1956, EBT 16 pulled the last coal train from Robertsdale to Mount Union. The locomotive returned to the roundhouse after the run and dropped its fire for the final time in common carrier service. About a week later, on April 6, Mikado 17 made a cleanup run to Mount Union, gathering a few hoppers of rock from the Narco Spur and a boxcar of sand from Saltillo. After returning to Rockhill Furnace with a single combine, operations on East Broad Top fell silent.

The railroad was sold to the Kovalchick family, and in 1960 tourist operations began and continued through 2011. For most of the tourist era, Mikados 12, 15, and 17 were used. Due to 16’s size and the complexity of her mechanics, specifically the Southern valve gear, it did not see operation in the first tourist era. Around 1984, EBT announced its intention to restore 16 to service; however, it later decided to restore 14 instead, likely because management was concerned that the larger engine would be harder on the track. Allegedly, the decision was made because some of 16’s maintenance records from the 1950s were missing; however, that is unconfirmed. The 16 sat in the roundhouse and didn’t turn a wheel from 1955 until July 1987, when it was towed outside for a National Model Railroad Association group visiting EBT. In 1991, it and 18 were again pulled out of the roundhouse for display, this time facing each other across Meadow Street.

At the completion of the 2011 operating season, the Kovalchick family decided to suspend operations. Deferred maintenance had caught up with the railroad and there was concern about being able to continue operating safely. Many thought the railroad would never operate again, but after sitting dormant for nine years, the railroad was sold to the EBT Foundation in February 2020, and a massive effort to revive the railroad began. One of the primary objectives of the new owners was to have an operating steam locomotive as quickly as feasible…

The post Sixteen Under Steam: East Broad Top 16 Returns appeared first on Railfan & Railroad Magazine.

by Gianni Pulone/photos as noted

It was another dark, damp night off a West Eugene industrial spur. Lurking on a trackside access road, I watched and shot long exposures of Union Pacific’s Old Yard Job collecting several boxcars that had been on spot at a warehouse. With the string of boxcars together and aired up, the conductor and brakeman ambled past me, brake sticks and lanterns in hand, on their way back to the head end. “Pretty soon, someone else is gonna be doing all this,” the conductor said to me. It may have been a regular night of pulling and spotting industries, the same work as always, but change was in the air.

On the morning of December 10, 2024, rumors began to fly about Union Pacific planning to contract local jobs in Eugene, Ore., to Genesee & Wyoming’s Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad (CORP). By midday, the full scope of this transfer of operations was revealed, with Omaha posting a press release to the official UP website. Not only would G&W be taking over the local jobs servicing customers, but the switching/classification work and operation of UP’s Eugene Yard itself would be handed over to CORP, contingent on approval from the U.S. Surface Transportation Board.

ABOVE: Union Pacific LIW44, known locally as the Weyerhaeuser Job, pulls away after spotting two centerbeams for loading at the Sundance Lumber Co. sawmill in Springfield, Ore., on January 20, 2025. —Gianni Pulone photo

What is now Union Pacific in Eugene was part of the Southern Pacific empire before its 1996 acquisition by UP. The railroad’s modern presence retains a strong legacy from SP, and the heritage hides in plain sight for those who look. A Cotton Belt Stac-Pac container, repurposed as a storage shack, sits grounded along a yard access road. The diesel shop, now occupied by CORP, retains faded lettering reading southern pacific machine shop along its walls.

The most obvious, and perhaps most grim reminder of Eugene’s SP heritage, is the massive scar in the yard where the hump once stood. For decades, the Eugene hump yard was a crucial artery in SP’s western operations, before post-merger rationalization killed it off in 1997. The raised ground of the hump itself, and the empty gravel strip that the bowl tracks once occupied, serve as somber reminders of Eugene’s past importance as a funnel of traffic between the Northwest and elsewhere. Though they may not be as blatantly obvious as something with the SP name left on it, UP’s present-day local jobs operated out of Eugene also carry a strong legacy, with some retaining historic titles, or continuing to operate in much the same way as in the SP era.

ABOVE: As the sun sets on January 28, 2025, the UP Old Yard Job is crossing Van Buren Street in Eugene just south of the Coos Bay Branch wye. —Joey Matsuno photo

Likely the most well-known — and perhaps the most visible — UP local operating out of Eugene is the “Weyerhaeuser.” Most crews, dispatchers, and railfans use the Weyerhaeuser moniker, but this local job also uses the UP symbol LIW44. Serving customers in Springfield, a historically industrial town directly east of Eugene, the Weyerhaeuser spends most of its time out on the Marcola Industrial Lead, branching north off the Brooklyn Subdivision main line. The Marcola Lead was once the beginning of the SP Marcola Branch, a full-fledged branch line reaching 14 miles into the foothills north of Springfield to serve lumber mills. After a gradual decline in the local timber industry, however, and a few decades of Weyerhaeuser itself operating the branch, the branch was abandoned in 1987. The first few miles of the branch now form the Marcola Industrial Lead.

This job’s namesake comes from the sprawling paper mill complex it serves off the Marcola Lead, undoubtedly the largest and most demanding customer served by this job, boasting its own elusive switch engine. Weyerhaeuser was the owner of this mill for decades, and although the mill has been operated by International Paper since 2008, the old name sticks to this day. Between switching the customers off the Lead, and serving several customers directly off the Brooklyn Sub, the Weyerhaeuser’s work typically keeps the crew busy for a full day.

ABOVE: The Old Yard Job switches the Emerald Forest Products plant in Eugene on February 23, 2025. With stacks of lumber everywhere, there’s no question what the primary industry of the region is. —Joey Matsuno photo

Previously, the LIW44/Weyerhaeuser had a night job counterpart, the LIW45 “Vaughn-Dougren” local. In recent years the Vaughn-Dougren would pick up where the Weyerhaeuser left off in Springfield, typically giving the paper mill another switch and handling any other necessary industry work, before bringing the train back to Eugene. This job was cut by Union Pacific in 2022, however, leaving all the Springfield work to be handled by the Weyerhaeuser day job. This job’s name came from SP days, when it alternated between going to Vaughn on the Coos Bay branch and Dougren to the south on the Cascade line. Amid lumber mill closures, the job was merged with the “Night Weyerhaeuser” in 1990, retaining the Vaughn-Dougren title despite no longer reaching either location.

Another intriguing local job displaying SP roots is UP’s YEU62R, the “Old Yard” Job. This job serves an industrial area located off the Coos Bay Branch in west Eugene known as the Old Yard. It additionally handles interchange work with Portland & Western, which connects near the Old Yard, and serves Grain Millers Inc. in downtown Eugene…

The post Union Pacific Departs Eugene appeared first on Railfan & Railroad Magazine.

Jaguar Transport Holdings is seeking to acquire two short lines in Washington, the Columbia Basin Railroad and the Central Washington Railroad. The holding company filed a notice of exemption with the U.S. Surface Transportation Board on July 14. Jaguar hopes to complete the transaction in mid-August. 

The Columbia Basin and Central Washington are family-owned short lines operating on former Northern Pacific and Milwaukee Road trackage. The Columbia Basin is particularly popular among railfans thanks to its eclectic fleet of EMD SD9 locomotives. 

Jaguar operates 11 different short lines around the country, including the neighboring Washington Eastern Railroad, another former NP branch line. Jaguar was founded in 2018 by industry veterans Stu Towner (who serves as chief executive officer) and Terrance Towner (executive chairman).

—Justin Franz 

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Washington’s Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad has raised over $200,000 in the two months since a bridge on its line was destroyed by fire. The railroad is raising money to “bridge the gap” and help cover the costs of cleanup and the eventual rebuilding of the 400-foot-long trestle. 

The bridge was located between Mineral and Morton, Wash., and caught fire on the evening of April 30. Although it was not part of the section of the railroad that currently offers excursions, officials said they hope to use the trestle in the future for both freight and passenger service. The cause of the fire is under investigation by local law enforcement, and railroad officials have alleged that it was intentionally set. 

As of July 9, the railroad’s “Bridge Fund” had $207,709. More than $2,400 has been spent on tree clearing and track work around the trestle site. About $7,100 has gone toward legal expenses. Road access was established to the site, which will assist in demolishing the remains of the bridge. A local demolition company has volunteered to help with that effort, saving the railroad thousands of dollars. However, disposing of the creosote-soaked timber is expected to be costly. RailStar Engineering, LLC has donated engineering services to assist with the future rebuild. It is unclear how much the bridge reconstruction will cost. 

“It’s slow, hard, expensive work—but it’s happening,” railroad officials stated on social media. 

—Justin Franz 

The post Mt. Rainier Launches ‘Bridge the Gap’ Campaign Following Fire appeared first on Railfan & Railroad Magazine.

Union Pacific DDA40X “Centennial” 6936 will lead its first public main line excursions in ten years this September. The locomotive’s owner, Railroading Heritage of Midwest America, is operating two excursions over the Iowa Interstate Railroad from the nonprofit’s base in Silvis, Ill., to Winton, Iowa, and Bureau Jct., Ill. 

The Centennial, one of 47 eight-axle units built by EMD for UP in 1969, was once part of UP’s heritage fleet and last led a public excursion in 2015. In 2022, it was donated to RRHMA, which has taken over the former Rock Island shops in Silvis. The engine was restored to service in 2023 and has appeared at events in Silvis, but has not yet run on the main line. 

On Saturday, September 20, the locomotive will lead an 8.5-hour round trip from Silvis to Wilton and back. The next day, Sunday, September 21,, it will operate from Silvis to Bureau Jct. and return. The train is expected to include former UP cars from the RRHMA fleet and some open-air cars from the Iowa Interstate fleet. Funds from the trips will support the Central States Steam Preservation Association, which maintains two Chinese-built 2-10-2 QJ locomotives, and Operation Lifesaver. For more information and tickets, visit rrhma.com.

—Justin Franz

The post UP ‘Centennial’ to Lead Excursions in September appeared first on Railfan & Railroad Magazine.

Otto M. Vondrak/photos by the author

Wearing a smile a mile wide, Doyle McCormack was at the throttle of “Nickle Plate Road 190,” the first Alco PA diesel to operate in the United States since 1978. The restored locomotive made its debut pulling an excursion for invited guests on Genesee Valley Transportation’s Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad from Scranton to Mount Pocono, Pa., and return. These trips hosted on July 11 and 12 represented the culmination of a project that began more than 25 years ago. “Nickel Plate Road 190” began life as Santa Fe 62L in 1948. One of four units sold to Delaware & Hudson in 1967, it powered passenger trains between Albany and Montreal, as well as excursions across the system. In 1977, the Alcos had a brief stint in commuter service in Boston before being shipped to Mexico in 1978.

Since retired, two of the PAs remain south of the border in museums, while two others were wrecked in service. Doyle was instrumental in getting the surviving skeletal bodies returned to the United States in 2000. Doyle retained one unit, while the other was originally destined for the Smithsonian, but was later acquired by the Museum of the American Railroad in Frisco, Texas, to be restored as Santa Fe 59.

ABOVE: Former owner  and restoration project manager Doyle McCormack took the throttle for the inaugural private excursion on Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad between Scranton and Pocono Summit, Pa., on July 11.

Starting from scratch, Doyle hunted down the necessary components to reconstruct the locomotive. He was able to complete a substantial portion of the rebuilding, not only locating a donor Alco 251 prime mover and electrical cabinet from a retired BC Rail M420B, but also proper six-wheel “A1A” trucks that came from a Fairbanks-Morse “Erie-Built” passenger diesel that ended up powering a welded rail train in Canada. The locomotive began to take shape once again, as a recreation of one of the colorful Nickel Plate “Bluebird” PA units Doyle grew up with in Ohio in the mid-1950s.

While Doyle had made considerable progress with the help of his friends — including a last-minute appearance at the “Streamliners at Spencer” event hosted by the North Carolina Transportation Museum in 2014 — his focus had shifted to other projects. His preservation efforts turned toward helping establish the new Oregon Rail Heritage Center in Portland as the new permanent home for Southern Pacific 4449 (which he helped restore in 1976) and Spokane, Portland & Seattle 700. Restoration work on 190 had progressed to the point where the locomotive was successfully test-fired, but not run under its own power.

ABOVE: Restored Alco PA 190 and Delaware & Hudson RS-3 4068 rest in Scranton, Pa., the night before the debut excursion on Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad.

In March 2023, Genesee Valley Transportation announced their purchase of the historic Alco PA from Doyle, and moved it clear across the country to their new Von Storch Shops in Scranton. At the time, Doyle said, “This is absolutely the best possible home for this locomotive, and I know they’ll get the job done.” At a ceremony held across from Steamtown National Historic Site on the morning of July 11, both GVT president Michael Thomas and board chairman David Monte Verde praised the work of their shop mechanical forces — led by chief mechanical officer Bill Strein — for completing the project over the last two years. Doyle was presented with a replica builders plate as part of the ceremonies to commemorate the day.

Friday’s included the PA DL 190, RS-3 4068 recently restored to Delaware & Hudson “lightning stripe” paint, a generator car, a former Erie Lackawanna Pullman-Standard “Comet” commuter coach, Pullman 10-6 sleeper City of Lima, and heavyweight business car DL 2 (ex-EL). Doyle himself was at the throttle of 190 for the first leg of the trip from Scranton to Pocono Summit, providing a smooth ride for the 70 passengers in attendance. Photo stops were arranged at Tobyhanna, Pocono Summit, and Gouldsboro. An additional private excursion will be operated on July 12, but no announcements have been made yet about possible public trips in the future.

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