The Occasional Express

Welcome back to Branch Line News, your summarized source for news in the train world. To celebrate leap year, here's a weekend branch line news. As always, like the big cities, the Preservation world rarely sleeps. Class 58 Joins Diesel Gala The Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway, founded in 1994 according to the C&PR Railway's website, recently announced a special visitor for their Diesel Gala, that will be held March 27-29, 2020. Class 58 No. 58023 will be visiting the C&PR Railway for the first time, courtesy of Ed Stevenson and the Chawton Junction Railway, who are also providing class 33 33053 for the event. 58023's run will be a historic one, according to the Railway's website and social media, "58023 makes the first public appearance for a Class 58 in preservation and also the first Class 58 since 2002 to haul a passenger train in the UK." The Class 58's were built for British Railways in the 1980's for freight traffic, acc...

— Washford, England. An eviction notice by a nonprofit to another nonprofit in the UK has led to confusion and shock among rail enthusiasts. On February 20th, 2020, The Somerset & Dorset Railway Trust announced that the West Somerset Railway had asked them to leave their Washford cite, which the S&D Railway Trust has loaned from the WSR since the 1970's. (Note: The S&D Railway Trust should not be confused with the similarly named S&D Railway Heritage Trust, a separate organization). To help readers better understand the situation, this article will provide background on both organizations and analyze the statements released by both organizations. Background: S&D Railway Trust In 1966, passenger service the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway was officially shut down by British Railways. The S&D had a long and checkered history, and is still beloved by Rail Enthusiasts. The line was jointly owned by the Midland Railway and London & South West...

Welcome back to The Occasional Express, your occasional semi-news source for all things train related. (Note: I will be experimenting with the form for this post, and adding a little more personal perspective, please let me know if you like this format). Sad news has broken out for fans of the Union Pacific Heritage Fleet. UP 3985, once the largest operating steam locomotive in the world, has officially been retired from active service, according to a statement released by Union Pacific. You can read the statement here . Today, I wish to take us back through the history of 3985, and see why the engine is so well regarded, and why the engine will not be restored. History Union Pacific 3985 was built in 1943, according to American-Rails.com, as part of a batch of 25 locomotives from the American Locomotive Works (Alco for short) in New York. 3985 was a member of the 3900 series of locomotives called Challengers, which refers to their wheel arrangement of 4-6-6-4. According to U...