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...

Welcome back to Branch Line News! Your source for summarized events in the rail word. Whether large, standard gauge locomotives or narrow gauge, and even model railways, all stories are welcome here. This' your Branch Line News for the week of January 17, 2020. (Writer's Note: To make sources easier to find, I will put them underneath each story separately, please let me know if you like this form or not) Taffy Tank Reunion Following up on a story in last week's Branch Line News, we begin once again in the UK at the Swindon & Crickdale Railway. In case you missed last week's Branch Line News, the nonprofit Swindon & Crickdale Railway announced that Great Western Taffy tank No. 6695 will be moved and based at their railway for the foreseeable future, alongside sibling 5619, currently on loan to the S&CR. Now, a third Taffy Tank is going to be coming, or rather returning, to the S&CR. Taffy Tank No. 5637, owned and operated by the 5637 Steam Loco...

Welcome back to Branch Line News, your summarized (fan run) news source for train related topics! Note from the Writer: I would like to apologize for the lack of posts recently, Christmas Break has been very hectic for me. I found a lot of stories I wanted to include, but unfortunately ran out of time. So in case you missed these stories, here's your December 2019 Recap. New Home for Taffy Tank 6695 Great Western Railway 6695, a member of the 5600 "Taffy Tank" class, has recently found a new heritage railway to call home. No. 6695, built in 1928, and is one of hundreds of locomotives to survive into preservation by being sent to the Woodham Scrapyard, better known as Barry Island in 1964, according to a Facebook post announcing the move. 6695 was originally based at the Swanage Railway and was unfortunately damaged at a gala on the West Somerset Railway in 2015. On December 5, 2019, the Swindon & Crickdale Railway announced that they were teaming up with 6695 ...

Welcome to Shunting Around Ideas, an editorial series on The Occasional Express. Today, I will be discussing the recent change to Amtrak's policy. Amtrak hasn't been very popular in recent years with rail enthusiasts. The government-run passenger company decided to stop giving insurance out to nonprofits who ran excursions in 2018. However, Amtrak's more recent policy change is much more controversial, and dangerous. According to Railway Age, Amtrak has changed their policy regarding lawsuits. In summary: Amtrak has made it so customers who buy a ticket agree to "mandatory" arbitration, which essentially means passengers (and their families) agree not to sue them. This includes, but is not limited to: Negligence Physical Impairment Pain & Suffering Emotional Distress Damages rising from any injury  Now for reference to other transportation industries, airlines, according to Railway Age, were prohibited from arbitration. Bus operators, cruise lines ...