Heritage Railways

Heritage railways operate old preserved steam engines and railcars, often as a sort of sightseeing or experiential excursion for tourists. These aren't just "rides" like a carnival or fair, though. These are real operating railroads, and the machinery they use was built and used for functional purposes. It just happens that this technology is often 100 years old or more, and we're used to seeing shiny new technology and assuming that it's inherently better than old technology. If you think about it though, old technology is actually the best technology because you know it works and you can rely on it.

If you think about it from a sustainability perspective it's way better to use an engine built 100 years ago than to be building new engines all the time. Also, steam engines like those used by the Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad use discarded motor oil from cars instead of diesel to run, so they're basically turning a waste product into something useful that can move people around. By riding a train, even an old "dirty" steam engine, instead of driving a car, you're reducing the amount of carbon and pollution that goes into the atmosphere. An old steam engine on its own is probably a lot more polluting than a modern engine, but the amount of cars it displaces has to even it out.

Heritage railways represent a living connection to the past, when people actually believed in something greater than themselves and we weren't poisoned by the apathy and irony created by social media. This is why people like them and will drive a car to a place where they can spend money to ride an old train in a circle. They just want to feel something.

Heritage Railways are How We Get More Trains

It takes money and time and attention to keep railways and the trains that run on them working. Heritage railways are doing all this work basically on their own, with little support from the government or private investors. They are maintaining a public good with private money.

That's pretty cool.

Heritage railways are the seed that can regrow into a diverse and thriving rail ecosystem. They are preserving the knowledge and resources needed to revive passenger and freight rail in places that have lost these services.

From 2024 Heritage Rail Impact, a study compiled by Xavaar Quaranto for Harvard GSD, January 2026. Ridership data (CSV).

These figures count only the railroads that report ridership to the FRA. Many heritage lines are insular operations that do not report, so the real totals run higher.