There’s nothing more guaranteed to excite a grizzled old railway enthusiast than the sight of a steam locomotive. The original main-line rail propulsion technology still clings on in a few places, but ...

The Santa Fe 2926 rolled down the tracks under its own steam power after an ambitious 20-year volunteer-run restoration. Freelance writer Amanda C. Kooser covers gadgets and tech news with a twist for ...

Engine 557 ran on coal when it first came to Alaska in 1944. Using oil, the 557 Restoration Company fired it up again in ...

Steam trains were one of the most powerful vehicles of their time, capable of pulling hundreds of cars in one go. Their sheer size, speed, and weight are mesmerizing to think about and captivating to ...

One small word keeps coming up among those anticipating this week's historic visitor to Eastern Iowa. 'This is obviously kind of a big deal,' said Darren Ferreter. 'This is a big deal,' echoed Nick ...

Steam turbine-powered locomotives never really caught on. Similar to gas turbine engines, steam turbines are efficient at certain rpm, and extremely inefficient at many others. At high speeds, they ...

In the January 1949 issue, Popular Mechanics witnessed the end of the steam locomotive era as the American Locomotive Company, in its 100th year of operation (when combined with the history of its pre ...

Chuffing, hissing and moaning, steam engines are like mythic creatures — dragonlike spectacles that draw a crowd wherever they go. But in October 1956, the era of daily steam engines was ending in San ...

Earlier this year, the Milwaukee County Zoo announced that the popular zoo train's two steam locomotive engines would be retired and replaced by custom-built diesel engines. No changes have been made ...