John Philip Sousa: 3 | Steam Trains: 0

Perhaps no musician gets played more on the Fourth of July than John Philip Sousa. He was a prolific composer and band leader, traveling the world in the time of passenger trains and steam ships (the band traveled more than a million miles by train!).

Little known is the fact that Sousa and his band were involved in no fewer than three train accidents throughout their career. This image shows band members standing in front of their train, which had experienced a head on collision on the The Northern Pacific Railway in 1899 as they headed from Portland to Spokane. Sousa's band also endured two other derailments in the 1920's, one near Rochester, New York and one near Walsenberg, Colorado.

See Tracks? Think Train!

Wishing all a happy, and safe, Fourth of July!

Watch HSB Steam Engines Battle to the Brocken

The Harzer Schmalspurbahnen (HSB) hauls more than one million passengers a year, and to do so it utilizes its equipment to the fullest potential. The following video shows unmodernized HSB 2-10-2T steam locomotives lugging trains up the 3.3% grade between Schierke and the Brocken in July 2009.

Steam Power Rolling Along | August 1945

On this #throwbackthursday, read all about the battle between steam and diesel on U.S. railroads in the 1940's. The cover story of the August 1945 Fortune Magazine addresses experimental advances in steam technology that locomotive manufacturers were pursuing.

While there is some discussion of the ATSF 2900 class towards the end, this article addresses primarily the experiments the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) was undertaking in advancing steam. From the T1 to the S2, this article has detail and perspective from the era on advances the steam engineers were pursuing.

Download and read the entire piece by clicking on this link (4.37 MB) or the image 

Stay Up-to-Date on Work in Germany

CSR announced today that it has been retained to assist the Harzer Schmalspurbahnen, GmbH (HSB), known as the Harz Narrow Gauge Railways in English, to re-engineer the front-end of a 1918-built steam locomotive, including the addition of a moden, "Lempor" exhaust system. The test locomotive, shown above, is an 0-4-4-0T Mallet-type steam engine that is in need of a replacement smokestack. Management at HSB saw the impending replacement as an opportunity to improve operational efficiency and safety.

Images of testing performed on the locomotive and an account of the on-site visit of our Technical Advisor Wolf Fengler, MSME, can be found on our site at csrail.org/HSB.