December 31, 2023 | Historic/Steam, News
Founded on May 8, 1863, the BLET this year celebrated its 160th anniversary as the oldest labor union in North America. The BLET highlighted this significant milestone with a commemorative issue of the Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen Journal (PDF), and a series of...
June 19, 2023 | Headlines, Historic/Steam
(Source: Railfan & Railroad Magazine, June 19, 2023) ESSEX, Mont. — They swarmed like hawks on roadkill along nearby U.S. Highway 2. On Saturday, hundreds of railfans, history buffs and curious locals descended on Montana’s Izaak Walton Inn to purchase whatever...
June 2, 2023 | Headlines, Historic/Steam
(Source: Freight Waves, May 31, 2023) The Pacific Railway Act of 1862 was enacted by President Abraham Lincoln to garner federal support for construction of the transcontinental railroad. While B&O Railroad was the first commercial transportation by rail in 1827,...
May 8, 2023 | Historic/Steam, News
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio, May 8 — Today, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) marks its 160th anniversary. The BLET and its members are proud of our heritage as the oldest labor union in North America. Our union was founded as the Brotherhood of the...
May 1, 2023 | Headlines, Historic/Steam
(Source: CBS Sacramento, April 27, 2023) It’s been called the disaster lost in history: A local town, long before it became a bustling city, was rocked by explosions. Fifty years ago on Friday, a rail car carrying bombs bound for Vietnam exploded in Roseville....
January 31, 2023 | Headlines, Historic/Steam, UP
(Source: Television station KSL TV, January 30, 2023) The Arizona spike, which was ceremoniously driven in Utah to mark the transcontinental railroad completion in 1869, sold for a little more than $2 million during an auction that closed Thursday, much more than it...
October 17, 2022 | Headlines, Historic/Steam
(Source: Trains Magazine, October 16, 2022) Long before radios and extensive signaling systems, railroads safely operated multiple trains on the same line. Full story: Trains Magazine
May 12, 2022 | Headlines, Historic/Steam
(Source: Herald Journal, May 11, 2022) PROMONTORY SUMMIT — Lovely springtime weather provided a picturesque backdrop as hundreds gathered at Promontory Summit on Tuesday, May 10 to mark the 153rd anniversary of the completion of the nation’s first transcontinental...
May 6, 2022 | Headlines, Historic/Steam, UP
(Source: National Parks Traveler, May 6, 2022) Re-enactments of the “meeting of the rails” back in 1869 will be staged at Golden Spike National Historical Park in Utah on Saturday and next Tuesday. On May 10, 1869, locomotives from the Central Pacific and...
May 6, 2022 | Historic/Steam, News
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio, May 6 — On May 8, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) will mark its 159th anniversary. The BLET and its members are proud of our heritage as the oldest labor union in North America. The union was founded as the Brotherhood...
