06/11/2026
Aquidneck Island's newest freight car has arrived! This tank car was recently acquired by the Newport & Narragansett Bay Railroad from the Railroad Museum of New England. It was trucked from Torrington, CT and placed on the Newport Secondary rails on Tuesday. It was then transported, by rail, to Melville. This is an UTLX insulated 8000 gallon car, built 1923 and in service until 1973, sold to Nyman Mfg. Co., East Providence RI and used inside their plant for paraffin wax storage. The car has heating pipes inside the tank and when connected to the factory’s steam boiler, the solid cargo liquifies for unloading. Nyman donated this car and a duplicate to RMNE in 2003, and both cars were trucked to Connecticut. This car was deemed surplus and was made available to other organizations. The tank joins three flatcars and a boxcar already on the island. Stay tuned for future updates to see what exactly will be happening with this new addition. Perhaps one of these days we'll have to run a photo freight!
Special thanks to the folks at the Naugatuck Railroad for the opportunity to acquire the car while also helping with the loading process in Torrington! It is great to be able to bring this car back to Rhode Island.
In June of 2026 a historic tank car was acquired by the Newport & N...
