US tourist railroads reopen after Covid-19 pandemic

AFTER a two-year period of interrupted operation or enforced closure, the large number of heritage railways and rail museums in the USA are reopening.

The national requirement for mask wearing was dropped earlier this year and passenger numbers at reopened railways and museums across the country are growing. The majority of tourist lines in the USA use first generation diesel locos, many dating from the 1940s or 50s, but a small number use steam.

Whilst many lines and museums are run largely by volunteers on a not for profit basis, there are several tourist lines run by private companies.

One of the few commercial standard gauge lines to use steam is the Black Hills Central Railroad 1880 Train which is located in Hill City and Keystone, South Dakota, near the famous tourist attraction Mount Rushmore which has sculptures of four former presidents carved from the mountainside. This work which was underway from 1927-41 provided the line with considerable traffic at the time.

While it has a steam railway, South Dakota, along with neighbouring Wyoming are the only states in mainland USA not to have any Amtrak or regional passenger rail services.

KEVIN HOGGETT Mallet 2-6-6-2ST No. 110 being prepared for the day’s work at Hill City, South Dakota loco depot on June 30. This massive loco was built by Baldwin (60561/1928) to work logging trains for the Weyerhaeuser Timber Company and spent its 40-year working life in Washington State. It has been in use at the Black Hills Central since 2001.