July 16, 2024 | Headlines, Historic/Steam, UP
(Source: Cowboy State Daily, June 1, 2025) Four days after the golden spike was driven for America’s first transcontinental railway linking the nation’s coasts, the Cheyenne Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers received its charter May 14, 1869. Full story: Cowboy...
May 8, 2024 | Historic/Steam, News
1896 BLE Convention in Ottawa, Ontario ____________________ On May 8, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) marks its 161st anniversary. The BLET and its members are proud of our heritage as the oldest labor union in North America. Our union was...
March 28, 2024 | Historic/Steam, News
Frances Perkins (1880-1965) achieved prominence as the first woman ever to serve in a presidential cabinet. She was appointed United States Secretary of Labor by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933. In addition to being the first woman, she is also the longest serving in...
March 21, 2024 | Historic/Steam, News
Eliza Murfey was an 1800s American inventor who focused on the mechanics of railroads. She created a device, called packing, that was used to lubricate a train’s axles with oil. This helped to reduce derailments caused by seized axles, an important safety innovation....
March 13, 2024 | Historic/Steam, News
Mary Elizabeth Walton was a 19th century American inventor who was awarded with two patents that benefited the early railroad industry in the United States. In 1881, she created a method for reducing the environmental hazards of the smoke emitted from locomotives and...
March 1, 2024 | Historic/Steam, News
During World War II, women were called upon to enter to the workforce to keep the American economy moving as millions of men were called to serve in the armed forces. By the end of 1945, some 250,000 women were working on railroads throughout the United States. While...
February 28, 2024 | Historic/Steam, News
Asa Philip Randolph (1889-1979) was the founder of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first African American-led union to receive a charter from the American Federation of Labor (AFL). In addition to serving as a union leader, Randolph was a civil rights...
February 21, 2024 | Historic/Steam, News, Railroad Safety
Granville T. Woods (1865-1910) an African American inventor, held more than 50 patents in his lifetime and was referred to by some as the “Black Edison.” Woods concentrated most of his work on trains and streetcars. One of his most important inventions was the...
February 12, 2024 | Historic/Steam, News, Technology
Andrew Jackson Beard (1849-1921), an African American inventor, was awarded patents in 1887 and 1899 for improvements to the automatic railroad car coupler. Beard had lost a leg in a car coupling accident earlier in his life. Original railroad couplers required the...
January 22, 2024 | Headlines, Historic/Steam
(Source: Freight Waves, January 19, 2024) On April 15, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was infamously assassinated. Six days later, his body began its journey to Springfield, Illinois, from Washington to be buried. He was transported by train over a route that...
