Clover Leaf Media

09/09/2026

🎥☘️ NOW ON YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/pyhwwCHNGTs?si=8u5lV7g2_nYFtCWX

On September 7, 2026 — on the eve of its 82nd birthday — Nickel Plate Road steam locomotive No. 765 took 85 empty hopper cars from Pleasant Lake, Indiana, to the Andersons Grain Elevator at Reading, Michigan. This was the first revenue freight train this engine had pulled since 1991, and at 82, the 765 still earns its keep.

On September 7, 2026 — on the eve of its 82nd birthday — Nickel Pla...

06/02/2026

Like the locomotives themselves, the mainline steam industry is made of a thousand moving parts. Among the most complicated of these parts is the ferry move.

This weekend, the Fort Wayne Railroad’s Nickel Plate Road steam locomotive No. 765 will begin another round of Steam in the Valley excursions on the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, allowing thousands to experience railroading's past while stimulating significant economic activity in Northeast Ohio. It wouldn’t have been possible without the cooperation of Norfolk Southern and CSX, who shepherded the locomotive over their rails between Fort Wayne and Cleveland last weekend.

Here, the 1944-built locomotive is seen riding with NS through Berea on Saturday, May 30, and later picking up crew as it leaves CSX and enters CVSR at the Willow wye on Sunday, May 31.

Later this month, it will once again be their support that allows the 765 to begin its fifth season on the Indiana Rail Experience. This pioneering pop-up tourist train has attracted over 70,000 riders since starting operations in 2022. See this year’s offerings here: www.indianarailexperience.org/2026/03/2026-event-schedule

04/27/2026

🌴 U.S. SUGAR No. 148 — the sweetest steam locomotive around.

A product of the American Locomotive Company’s Richmond Works, No. 148 rolled into service for the Florida East Coast Railway in April 1920 as part of a class of 10 4-6-2 Pacific-type locomotives. Although this wheel arrangement is typically associated with passenger duty, the flat topography of Florida meant these locomotives were also capable of hauling freight trains. No. 148 worked on the “Overseas Railroad”, linking Miami and Key West, until the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane and the effects of the Great Depression forced the permanent closure of the route.

In June 1952, No. 148 was sold to U.S. Sugar and tasked with hauling sugarcane from central Florida’s vast harvest fields to the processing plant. The company is currently the largest producer of sugarcane in the U.S. by volume at over 700,000 tons annually. After leaving U.S. Sugar in 1968, No. 148 changed hands numerous times and went through various states of restoration and operation.

It was first sold to Sam Freeman, who moved it to New Jersey and restored it to operation on the Black River & Western Railroad from 1970 to 1973. After a brief stint at the New Hope Railroad for more mechanical work, it continued operating on other shortlines and mainlines in New Jersey until 1977. Following Freeman’s death, No. 148 was donated to the Essex Steam Train & Riverboat of Essex, Conn., then purchased by Bob Carr of Traverse City, Mich., then sold to a Missouri-based firm and disassembled for restoration, and finally sold to the Denver & Rio Grande Historical Foundation and moved to Monte Vista, Colo.. Ultimately, the planned restoration failed.

Finally, in 2016, No. 148 was repurchased by U.S. Sugar and returned to Florida, where it underwent a thorough rebuild and was returned to service in 2020. The locomotive is now a fixture on the Sugar Express, U.S. Sugar’s tourist train program. See what the Sugar Express has to offer here: sugarexpress.com

04/23/2026

💨 NEW YORK CENTRAL No. 3001

An October 1940 graduate of the American Locomotive Company, No. 3001 was one of 600 4-8-2 Mohawk-type steam locomotives rostered by the New York Central. Its class was designed by the highly-regarded mechanical engineer Paul W. Kiefer, who was also responsible for the Central’s Hudson and Niagara locomotives, and featured roller bearings on all axles, boiler pressure of 250 PSI, and the ability to attain speeds up to 80 miles per hour, making it a perfect mixed-service workhorse.

Not keen on preserving its old steam locomotives, the vast majority of the Central’s steam roster was scrapped upon dieselization. No. 3001 became an exception when it was sold to the Texas & Pacific Railway in March 1957, replacing a displayed T&P 2-10-4 that suffered from vandalism. It was then donated to the city of Dallas, disguised as Texas & Pacific No. 909, and was displayed at the Texas State Fairgrounds. The city subsequently donated it to the Southwest Historical Society for display at the Museum of the American Railroad. No. 3001 eventually became one of just two mainline steam locomotives from the New York Central to survive.

In 1984, the Lakeshore Railroad Historical Foundation received No. 3001 in a trade, cosmetically restored its New York Central appearance and towed it to the National New York Central Railroad Museum in Elkhart, Ind.. It was considered for restoration numerous times over several decades, but no plans succeeded. Around 1987, No. 3001 was leased from the Lakeshore Railroad Historical Foundation to the City of Elkhart, Indiana.

In 2017, the Lakeshore Railroad Historical Foundation dissolved, and No. 3001’s ownership was in question until the Fort Wayne Railroad and the city of Elkhart agreed to a sale in 2023. No. 3001 is now the focus of the American Locomotive Project, which aims to return the Mohawk to operation as part of the Indiana Rail Experience. This will make No. 3001 the first New York Central steam locomotive to operate since 1957.

You can learn more about No. 3001's next chapter at the link: www.americanloco.org

04/20/2026

💪 HOCKING VALLEY No. 3 — a one-of-a-kind workhorse.

No. 3 was originally intended to be a small locomotive for the Grand Trunk Railway in 1915, but after the boiler had already been built, the order was cancelled due to the United States’ involvement in World War I. In 1920, as an extra to an order from the Beech Bottom Power Company, the Baldwin Locomotive Works assembled No. 3 from spare parts into a one-off 0-6-0. It worked in coal shuttling and ash dump service until 1968, when it was relegated to display in Cumberland, Ohio.

In 1982, No. 3 was donated to the Hocking Valley Scenic Railway, and an extensive restoration from 2001 to 2015 returned it to operating condition. The humble locomotive is currently the only regularly operating standard-gauge steam locomotive in Ohio.

04/13/2026

🎥 OREGON, PACIFIC & EASTERN No. 19 — a logging locomotive turned movie star.

The Baldwin Locomotive Works’ 42,000th locomotive, this compact 2-8-2 Mikado-type left the erecting hall on April 9, 1915. In its first eight years of life, it was owned by three different companies from Boston to Mexico, carried three different numbers, was converted from coal to oil-burning, and had a rumored entanglement in the Mexican Revolution. It eventually found a long-term home at the McCloud River Railroad of California in 1923, where it first received the number 19.

In 1953, No. 19 was sold to the Yreka Western Railroad, where it first entered excursion service, and from 1971 to 1988, it resided in Oregon under lease to the Oregon, Pacific & Eastern Railway.

No. 19’s claim to fame is its starring appearance in the 1973 Robert Aldrich film “Emperor of the North,” which, though it flopped at the box office and was critically panned, became a cult classic through home media. The locomotive also appeared in the 1976 film “Bound for Glory,” inspired by the life of folk legend Woody Guthrie, and the classic 1986 Rob Reiner film “Stand by Me,” though it is often overshadowed by the more famous bridge scene featuring McCloud No. 25.

Upon the end of the OP&E’s lease, No. 19 returned to Yreka and continued operating until late 2008. After the Yreka Western ceased tourist operations, No. 19’s ownership was in legal limbo until it was sold via sheriff’s auction to the Age of Steam Roundhouse of Sugarcreek, Ohio. After a lengthy restoration, No. 19 was christened in its “Emperor of the North” paint scheme on its 111th birthday, April 9, 2026, for continued preservation.