Railroad Nation

The 3-hour tour starts with a unique opportunity to enter Magic Kingdom theme park before it opens to the public. You’ll accompany the railroad engineers as they ready the massive steam trains for another day of active service. Get the chance to see the backstage roundhouse where the trains are stored and serviced to keep them in impeccable working condition. Ride the rails as your guide shares with you how Walt Disney’s lifetime love of steam trains led to his decision to give them a starring role circling Magic Kingdom theme park.

The Magic Kingdom railroad trains are all meticulously restored antique freight trains. The 4 trains—named Lilly Belle, Roy O. Disney, Roger E. Broggie and Walter E. Disney—were built in the United States around the turn of the 20th century and taken to Mexico. They enjoyed long careers working for the United Railways of Yucatan hauling sugarcane, until they were spotted by Disney scouts in 1969 and brought to Walt Disney World Resort for opening day on October 1, 1971. They have been happily circling the 1.5-mile track around the Theme Park ever since.

Magic Kingdom theme park admission is required and is not included in the price of the tour. Please keep in mind that The Magic Behind Our Steam Trains is an outdoor tour, so be sure to check the weather report and dress appropriately.

The first fall scenic excursion will be  to Cadillac, Michigan,  with a  9 a.m.  departure from Alma, Mich., on Oct. 16:,  and a planned arrival  at 12:30 p.m.  After a 2  1/2 hour  visit of downtown Cadillac,  passengers will board at 3 p.m. for a scheduled 7 p.m. return to Alma.  Coach tickets start at $125 each. First Class tickets are $200.

The second fall scenic train ride will take place on Oct. 23.  The Nickel Plate 765 will power the “Autumn in Alma” special from Owosso,  scheduled departing time  of 9 a.m. from Alma and returning that afternoon. Coach seats are $99.

Photo run-bys planned for both of these fall scenic train rides have been strategically located for passenger photography only.

Built in 1944, the Berkshire class NKP 765 will be on loan from the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society.

Before leaving Indiana, the 765 will be fired up and under steam for the public during the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society’s annual open house August 20-23rd.

For more information, go to Michigan train rides.

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Milwaukee Road 261 parts at Harrison Street

This spring, the Friends of the 261 became the proud new owners of Milwaukee Road 4-8-4 No. 261, purchased from the National Railroad Museum. The engine was torn down in the autumn of 2008 for overhaul, but work was held up while negotiations with the museum dragged on.

Now the Friends crew of volunteers is again hard at work, preparing No. 261 for road service.

A beautiful locomotive stuck in the middle of her rebuild

On a recent Saturday at their shop in Minneapolis, the crew began the long process of cleaning the brass bearings and the driving wheels to ready the wheels for removal. This is a big job, sincere moving the wheels will involve lifting the  locomotive and rolling the wheels out. They hope to make this “lift” in July or August. The wheels will then be sent to a nearby shop for inspection and truing. Wheel repair is only one of the many jobs in what promises to be a long and expensive overhaul of No. 261.

Thanks to their volunteers and members the Friends of 261 know the rebuild will be a success. The Friends always needs your donations to keep their work going. Since the announcement that the Friends was buying the 261, fund raising has been going very well, and they are now about halfway to achieving their fund raising goal. Friends are truly grateful to all the people that have sent in donations.

This autumn the “Friends of the 261″ in cooperation with Amtrak, BNSF Railway and Canadian Pacific will operate diesel-powered fall color excursion trains to help rise funds for the rebuilding of Milwaukee Road 4-8-4 No. 261.

261 heads into Union Station for the filming of "Public Enemies"

They are also asking fans to please consider making a donation to keep the work going – any amount will do!

You can make your donation through their web site by clicking
Donate to the 261

The Milwaukee Road 261 appeared the the Hollywood movie Public Enemies in 2009, that featured Johnny Depp.

Narrow Gauge Railroad Discussion Forum :: Narrow Gauge Discussion …

The National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wis., owns the engine, but has leased it to the Minneapolis-based Friends of the 261 since 1995. The two sides have been at loggerheads over a lease price going forward, and the engine hasn’t …

Publish Date: 05/08/2010 11:45

http://ngdiscussion.net/phorum/read.php?1,157849

MILW 261 sold to RHMA / Friends of 261 | SteamCentral

(Photo by Aaron Jors.) The Green Bay Press Gazette reports that the National Railroad Museum has sold ex-Milwaukee Railroad 4-8-4 261 to.

Publish Date: 05/08/2010 8:51

http://steamcentral.com/2010/05/08/milw-261-sold-to-mrha-friends-of-261/

Union Pacific 4-8-4 steam locomotive No. 844 will travel to Milliken, Colo., later this month to participate in the town’s centennial celebration. The engine will sit on public display Saturday, June 26.

The event marks the first time No. 844 has traveled on UP’s branch to Fort Collins and Boettcher, Colo., which diverges from UP’s Denver-Cheyenne, Wyo., route at Greeley, Colo.

No. 844 is to depart Cheyenne at 5 p.m. on June 25, and is to arrive around 7:30 at Milliken. It will be displayed there from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. on the 26th. It’s scheduled to depart Milliken at 7 p.m. and arrive back at 10:30.

Fans can follow No. 844’s journey at www.twitter.com/up_steam.

For more on Colorado train rides, visit www.scenicrailexcursions.com/colorado_trainrides.php

VIRGINIA CITY, Mont. —Faced with the ever rising costs of running and maintaining a steam locomotive these days,   Montana’s Alder Gulch Short Line has announced they will not be able to operate steam  on its railroad this year. Train rides will continue to operate using its  normal lineup of tourist trains. The decision comes as part of an effort to save money.

The tourist railroad normally runs the  30-inch-gauge 2-8-0 No. 12, a 1910 Baldwin product that came from Ferrocarril Mexicano RR, on its route. Paul Reichert, executive director of the railroad’s operator, the  Montana Heritage Commission, said the costs of keeping a steam locomotive in operation during a recession led to the decision.

Originally purchased in 1992, restoration of No 12  continued on for  several years.  The work took  four to six people full time on the engine, often ten hours a day, five days a week, and eight hours on Saturday. Beginning with the bare frame, every part was rebuilt to like-new specifications. Moorehead Boiler of Minneapolis, Minnesota rebuilt the steam boiler. Every bearing and wearing point was renewed. The cab was rebuilt with a beautiful polished mahogany interior, and outfitted with brass gauges, injectors, oil cups, and other parts whose polish would satisfy even the most critical army sergeant. When it rolled out of the Baldwin factory in 1910 it could not have been more beautiful than it is today.

The railroad will instead use a gas-powered vehicle to operate the 1.5-mile route, with a diesel-powered vehicle held in backup.

To see more on train rides in Montana, visit: http://scenicrailexcursions.com/montana_trainrides.php

Floridians and tourists don’t often get to ride live steam trains outside of Disney World.  So during the month of February, for a steam train ride experience outside of the Magic Kingdom,  a little railroad that could and will, the Florida Railroad Museum in Parrish, Fl will be running steam excursions for four weekends. Pulling the steam train rides will be the 1930 Flagg Coal Company’s  No.75 Vulcan 0-4-0T coal burning tank engine. This is the fourth year the FRM has run these excursions.
After acquiring the #75  in 1991 and performing a 10 year restoration,  the this little steamer has now traveled all over the country to various museums and tourist railroads.

The #75 participated in TrainFestival 2009 in Owsso, Michigan and appeared again last fall  double heading steam train excursions in October on the scenic Hope Valley Railway in North Carolina.

This is a truly a unique chance to get up close and experience a live steam train ride in central Florida for the whole family.

Lots of extra activities are planned this year including the Party Caboose, Rent-a-Freight Train and the NEW opportunity to be a Steam Engineer.

Party Caboose – available for charter on every trip

Rent-a-Freight Train – Take charge of a 1,500 horsepower diesel locomotive and five car train for one hour.

Steam Engineer – NEW for 2010! At the end of each day, a limited number of participants will be able to operate the throttle and run the #75 on our railroad for 15 minutes.

The Museum is located 25 miles north of Sarasota and 35 miles south of Tampa off Interstate 75 at exit #229.

For more on Florida Train rides, visit: http://www.scenicrailexcursions.com/florida_trainrides.php

Trains News Wire:

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Milwaukee Road 4-8-4 No. 261 has been sold through rail equipment broker Sterling Rail to a California-based collector, the company reports. The locomotive’s present owners, the National Railroad Museum, had no comment on the possible sale.

The Minneapolis-based nonprofit Friends of the 261 leased the locomotive from NRM and operated it from 1993 to 2008. The engine is presently in the Friends’ Minneapolis shop, having been torn down for its federally mandated 15-year inspection. When talks between the NRM and the Friends on a new lease stalled last fall, overhaul work on the 4-8-4 ended and plans were to return the engine to Green Bay for display.

The 261 was built in 1944 and weighs more than one million pounds. After retiring  from the Milwaukee Road in 1954, the steam engine was rebuilt in 1993 and began new life pulling steam excursion rides leased through the Friends of the 261.
The 261 traveled  to Chicago in May of 2008 for the making of the movie Public Enemies, starring Johnny Depp. (more…)

Steamfest II will hold two events, the first one  will be held on March 14 and a weekend event will be held on March 20-21,2010 in Fremont California.

Sponsored by the Niles Canyon Railway and the Pacific Locomotive Association, these weekend  events will feature train rides with three to four participating steam locomotives  .

The Pacific Locomotive Association has been collecting rare and unusual railroad equipment since the early 1960s in an effort to preserve the Pacific Coast railroading history for the enjoyment of future generations. The PLA was recently awarded TRAINS  2009 Preservation Award of $10,000  for its restoration of the 1924-built Clover Valley Lumber Co. 2-6-6-2T No. 4 for operation on the Niles Canyon Railway in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Planned Steamfest Participants include:

Niles Canyon Railway’s Quincy Railroad #2 , a 1924 Alco 2-6-2T and the  Robert Dollar #3, a 1927 Alco, also a  2-6-2T.  California State Railroad Museum’s Granite Rock #10, a 1942 Porter built 0-6-0T and the  Roots of Motive Power/Chris Baldo’s Mason County Logging #7, a 1910 Baldwin built 2-6-2T will also be there.

The railroad will be running a double-headed steam-powered freight March 14.

For more on Bay Area and California train rides, visit http:/www.scenicrailexcursions.com/california_trainrides.php

F

A combined celebration of the 100th birthday of the historic Bartlesville, Ok  Santa Fe station and the homecoming of AT&SF No. 940 will be held for the public on. Thursday, Dec 17, at the depot. Built in 1903, this Santa Fe type 2-10-2 was built by the Baldwin Locomotive works. Originally, the engines were  built as 2-10-0’s.  They worked well as pushers but getting them back down the hills was difficult because of their long rigid wheelbase. To solve this problem the AT&SF ordered more 2-10-0’s with trailing wheels to help guide them while traveling backward. This resulted in a new wheel arrangement — the 2-10-2 or “Santa Fe” type because of their long rigid wheelbase.

The event will begin at 4:30 p.m. and end at 5:30 p.m.

Children and adults will be able to enter the cab of No. 940 and ring its bell, which has been silent for more than 50 years while the historic locomotive stood behind a high fence in Johnstone Park. Last week the 150-ton locomotive was moved back to the depot, which itself is a historic landmark that opened on Dec. 17, 1909.

For more, visit http://www.bartlesvillelocomotive.org/index.html

OWOSSO, Mich. — The Pere Marquette 2-8-4 No. 1225,  made famous in the movie Polar Express starting an animated like Tom Hanks, has been sidelined again with the same problems it had  during Trainfestival 2009 last July, another  blown  boiler tube.

While Pere Marquette 1225 was under steam and the star of the show for the first trip on opening day, during a routine inspection of the locomotive at the North Pole a mechanical issue was found. The crew decided that in the interest of preserving the locomotive and keeping the North Pole Express trains operating, as planned, it was best to remove 1225 from service. “We would love to continue to run the locomotive,” said Greg Udolph, Chief Mechanical Officer of the Steam Railroading Institute, “but the truth remains, the 1225 is a 70-year old piece of machinery that was built on an assembly line the same way an automobile is built. During its career the engine has racked up well over a million miles. The boiler on 1225 has shown the crew that it is ready for some serious work. Next year starts a major rebuild of the locomotive to try to put some of the miles back into her. With the current mechanical issue at hand it is best for the locomotive and the schedule of the North Pole Express trains to bring the engine down and prepare for her rebuild.

The steam engine will not make any additional Polar Express trips this year, however,  the train rides for the Polar Express will continue to run behind diesel power.

This past July, during TrainFestival 2009, the engine had a couple of tubes that cracked and released some steam. After being taken out of service, the crew was able to fix the problem by replacing the tubes. The engine then successfully ran a two-day photo charter, hourly excursions during Hamburg Railroad Days and an all-day excursion to Cadillac, Michigan, in conjunction with the Ft. Wayne Railroad Historical Society’s Nickel Plate Road 765. Unfortunately, this repair was not enough. It is time to fully inspect the boiler and figure the cause of these problems. This process will be costly, intense and take a minimum of one year.

In order to continue to give the passengers the experience they deserve SRI has decided to bring 1225 out of her storage building and put her on display for all to see. She will be fully visible and located next to the Christmas trains. Volunteers from SRI will be on hand to answer questions, show off different parts of the locomotive and provide cab tours. Passengers will have the opportunity to get up close and personal with the engine. Kids will have the rare and unique opportunity to sit in the engineer’s seat and ring the bell on the locomotive.  Should make for some great holiday photo opts.

Due to the Federal Railroad Administration’s-required 15-year inspection scheduled for May, additional operations in 2010 before that deadline will take place only if funds to replace the failed tube can be raised.

All 2009 Polar Express train rides are currently sold out.