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Two well-known 4-8-4 locomotives will lead excursions in June and July in Virginia and Minnesota, giving railfans a rare chance to ride behind and see these mainline locomotives in action.

 In June and early July, Norfolk & Western J Class 611 will return to the Buckingham Branch Railroad and its excursion arm, the Virginia Scenic Railroad. The locomotive will lead excursions for two weeks out of Staunton from June 12 to the 21. Then it will move from Staunton to Louisa for another two weeks of trips, from June 26 to July 5. Exact prices and schedules are expected to be shared in the coming weeks. All trips are expected to last 90 minutes. Visit the Virginia Scenic’s website for more information. 

Two weeks later, Milwaukee Road S3 class 261 will lead a series of excursions on the Twin Cities & Western on the weekend of July 17 to 19. Friday’s excursion will run out of Chanhassen, Minn., and last about six and a half hours. Sunday’s trip will also be six and a half hours and run out of Montevideo. On Saturday, three trips will be made out of Montevideo, with departures at 9:30 a.m., 12 p.m., and 2 p.m. More information can be found online. 

The summer of 2026 is turning into a big one for main line steam. Earlier this month, Reading & Northern announced that Reading Company 2102 and Union Pacific 4014 would be running in Pennsylvania at the same time.

—Railfan & Railroad Staff

The post N&W 611, MILW 261 to Hit Main Line This Summer appeared first on Railfan & Railroad Magazine.

Pulse of the Continent, a new documentary about CPKC’s historic “Final Spike Steam Tour,” made its online debut this week to mark the third anniversary of the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Souther merger. The star of the film is Canadian Pacific H1b 4-6-4 2816 and her crew, which made an impressive 76-day, nearly 10,000-mile journey from Calgary to Mexico City and return in 2024. 

CPKC restored the locomotive to service to celebrate the one-year anniversary of CP and Kansas City Southern. The 2024 trip was historic for several reasons: 2816 became the first steam locomotive to visit Canada, the United States, and Mexico; it was the first main line steam locomotive to run in Mexico since the 1960s; and at 10,000 miles, the tour will likely be remembered as the longest steam excursion featuring a single locomotive. 

Since the locomotive returned to Calgary, it has been stored at CPKC headquarters, and the railroad has been tight-lipped about its future. However, sources close to the railroad say the locomotive is well cared for, and its appearance at a film festival in Calgary last fall under steam suggests that CPKC isn’t finished with the 95-year-old locomotive just yet.

Locomotive 2816 was built by the Montreal Locomotive Works in 1930. The locomotive ran in regular service until 1960, when it was retired and eventually sold to F. Nelson Blount, the founder of Steamtown. In the 1990s, it was reacquired by CP and restored to service in 2001. The locomotive ran for about ten years before being placed in storage in 2012.

—Justin Franz 

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A bridge on the South Central Florida Express, the common carrier short line owned by U.S. Sugar, burned in early April, forcing the suspension of freight service on the line and a planned excursion behind 4-6-2 148. The bridge near Palmdale caught fire on April 6. The cause of the fire is under investigation by local law enforcement. 

The bridge is not far from the home base of “Sugar Express,” U.S. Sugar’s excursion operation. The fire forced the cancellation of an excursion behind 148 that had been scheduled for April 25. However, railroad officials said they have already begun to work with a bridge builder, and were confident enough to reschedule the excursion for May 30. Those who had tickets for the April 25 “Lake Placid Limited” were refunded.

—Justin Franz 

The post U.S. Sugar Bridge Burns appeared first on Railfan & Railroad Magazine.

TriMet’s “trailblazing” Type I LRVs that helped establish light rail service in Portland, Ore.,  in the 1980s will be retired this month. As of this writing, only a handful were still on the active roster, but were not regularly in service. TriMet is planning a “Goodbye, MAX Type I” event for April 18, which will likely include a last run for the iconic cars. 

TriMet purchased 26 Type 1 cars from Bombardier. The cars were based on cars used overseas. While Bombardier tried to market the cars elsewhere, they were the only ones ever built and became the backbone of TriMet’s fleet for nearly four decades. TriMet began retiring the cars a few years ago as new Siemens S700s (known as Type 6s on TriMet) began to arrive on the property. Car 101 was donated to the Oregon Electric Railway Museum in the summer of 2025. 

—Justin Franz 

The post TriMet to Bid Farewell to ‘Trailblazing’ LRVs appeared first on Railfan & Railroad Magazine.

The Wichita Great Plains Transportation Museum is converting a former Santa Fe baggage car into a multi-use space to host meetings, parties and other events, providing the nonprofit with a new and consistent income stream.

The car was donated to the museum by Amtrak in 2020, and officials hope to have it available for events by the end of the year. The first order of business has been to replace the car’s roof; that project will be followed by the installation of an HVAC system.

“Providing the community with a railroad-themed venue downtown for various types of gatherings is mutually beneficial to the Great Plains Transportation Museum, the city of Wichita, Old Town and those parties seeking a unique place to hold an event,” museum President Heather Gatton said. “We’re excited about the prospect of adding value to the downtown area, especially amid ongoing investment in business, residential and commercial enterprises.”

The Great Plains Transportation Museum was established in 1983 to preserve the history of railroading in the region, dating to the 1870s.

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