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| 30 June 2000 USA 4449 web site | (ex-SP 4-8-4 4449) Larry Miller has posted a photo of 4449 in its new BNSF black paint on the "Friends of 4449" web site. Still to come are heralds on the tender and the running board skirt, but you'll get a good feel for what it will look like on the "Employee Appreciation Specials" next month. Well, we can't call it the "Daylight" any more - how about the "Black Light?" (With apologies to Jim Wrinn.) | |
| 28 June 2000 USA 261 Web Site | (ex-MILW 4-8-4 261) First, the good news: Milwaukee 261 continues to rack up excursions this year. Recently added to the schedule is a Labor Day weekend trip on the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railroad. The 170-mile circle trip is the first steam on the DM&IR since 1962. See the schedules page for more information. | |
| 28 June 2000 USA 4449 Web Site | (ex-SP 4-8-4 4449) Now, the bad news: it looks like the Daylight's only outing this year will be the BNSF Employee Appreciation Specials next month. Larry Miller has announced that insurance costs have stabbed the planned fall trips after they were rescheduled from June. There is a silver lining, however - the mention of an insurance policy for 2001 shared by several operators. Here's hoping for more mainline steam in 2001 as a result . . . | |
| 26 June 2000 USA NMSL&RHS photos of the 2926 move | (ex-ATSF 4-8-4 2926) So there we were, sitting in Foster's Restaurant in Chama for breakfast, when Steve Schroeder whips out his cell phone to check on the progress of ex-Santa Fe 4-8-4 2926. (If you've been to Foster's you appreciate the utter incongruity of a cell phone there; if you haven't, well, a cell phone is about as out of place in Foster's as as it would be in Marshall Dillon's Dodge City.) No. 2926 has spent years on display in Coronado Park near I-40 in Albuquerque, and over the weekend it began its journey to a new home. It will be one of the displays at a new "Wheels Museum" under development in the Duke's City (at the former Santa Fe yards), and to get it to the new site 2926 had to move 3 blocks on temporary track. Once across First Street and adjacent to the Santa Fe main, it was turned 90 degrees (by a series of back-and-forth movements, moving the tracks slightly each time) so that it could be moved onto the Santa Fe for delivery. The final movement to the new site will happen in about two months, and in the meantime the locomotive will be fenced in alongside the BNSF main (probably visible from I-40). (Thanks to Steve Schroeder.) | |
| 26 June 2000 USA St. Louis Steam Train Association | (ex-SLSF 4-8-2 1522) Congratulations to the St. Louis Steam Train Association - 1522 is back on the list of mainline locomotives. By all accounts no. 1522's return to service was flawless. Running as fast as 60mph en route Galesburg for Railroad Days, and sustaining 50mph+ for over an hour at one point, the crew is giving the running gear overhaul peformed since last June's derailment an "A+." 1522 is returning from Galesburg to St. Louis today and Scott Lindsay of Steam Operations Corporation just called from the cab of 1522 as it pulled out of Hannibal, MO, at 1:45pm. (Scott, if you can take time out to call me, it must be running well indeed.) It sure was nice to hear that beautiful whistle and deep exhaust once again, even courtesy Michael Armstrong.) This morning 1522 sustained 60+ for about an hour. You can see the work done both at the SLSTA site and in our tutorial, with photos provided by Scott Lindsay. Photos of the trip to Galesburg are available at the SLSTA site as well. | |
| 26 June USA | (ex-IFCA 2-8-0 40) Georgetown Loop's ex-Central American 2-8-0, leased to the White Pass and Yukon for five years, arrived Skagway last Thursday. The engine was trucked from Silver Plume, CO, to Skagway via the Alaska Highway (see the archive.) No. 40 should be reassembled and fired up some time this week, and will be a part of the railroad's Golden Spike Centennial on 29 July. (Thanks to John Bush.) | |
| 19 June 2000 Panama | (Panama Canal Steam) A Panama Canal salvage crew has unearthed an 1885 steam locomotive and 15 freight cars buried in 40 feet of mud in Lake Gatun, Panama. Built by Franco-Belge Locomotive Works, the engine was delivered by ship to Panama to the Compagnie Universelle de Canale Interoceanique, a company formed by Ferdinand de Lesseps to build a sea-level canal across Panama. The company ran out of money in 1889 after almost 20 years of work, and the effort continued under receivership until American interests stepped in to complete the project. De Lesseps had 50 steam locomotives and 80 miles of track delivered to Panama during the company's tenure, and much of the equipment was simply left in place and buried when the canal was finally flooded and opened in 1911. The locomotive was discovered as a result of a 1998 drought, when the water level in Lake Gatun dropped low enough to expose the spire of a church still standing in one of the French workers' towns. Angeles Ramos, the director of the Panama Canal Museum (which will take possession of the locomotive, currently found at Colon), said that this or other communities still underwater may still hold all manner of buildings, perhaps even an old roundhouse. Plans for the locomotive haven't been finalized yet. (Thanks to the Guardian newspaper and Nick Lera.) | |
| 26 June USA Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad | (C&TS Grand Opening) The C&TS marked its Grand Opening by operating the "Thank You Express" on 16 June 2000, and inviting aboard the volunteers, donors and legislators who collectively ensured that the railroad would run this season. | |
 The "Thank You Express (Antonito Section)" west of Antonito, CO. Photo by John Craft. Copyright 2000 John A. Craft, all rights reserved. | ||
| Legislators from both New Mexico and Colorado rode the regularly scheduled trains, which met as usual at Osier for a lunch stop. (Chama radio station KFLH did a live remote both from the yard and from the train as it travelled up the valley.) Colorado State Senator Gigi Dennis (who represents the district that includes Antonito and Osier, and is also Vice Chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee) assisted Friends President Terri Shaw and Rio Grande Railway Preservation Corporation (the C&TS Operator) President Warren Smalley in welcoming and thanking people like Jeff Stebbins, a C&TS engineer who spent the entire winter lobbying in the "Santa Fe Roundhouse" (as the capitol came to be known), and everyone who gave of their time, energy and money. New Mexico Representative Debbie Rodella (who represents the district that includes Chama, and is on the Transportation Committee) threw a rolling birthday party for her daughter between Chama and Osier. | ||
 RGRPC President Warren Smalley, the Hon. Gigi Dennis, and Friends President Terri Shaw at Osier, CO. Photo by John Craft. Copyright 2000 John A. Craft, all rights reserved. | ||
 Among the riders: NM Reps. Ray Begaye (L, purple shirt); Debbie Rodella (C, green shirt); and Manuel Herrera (rear, red shirt). Photo by John Craft. Copyright 2000 John A. Craft, all rights reserved. | ||
| Conspicuous by his absence was NM Rep. Ron Godbey, who (in a letter to the C&TS that he also sent to the media) cited a 1912 provision in the NM Constitution that prevented legislators from accepting free transportation from railroads. As a result, the NM Reps who rode the train paid the normal $38 fare, and Godbey got a raspberry from the Albuquerque Journal for trying to spoil the party. While you can take this opinion with a bit of salt (I am rather deeply involved, and perhaps a bit biased), I believe things are going well on the C&TS. There is still much to do to to repair the neglect from previous years, but the Friends have made a remarkable start. And with the strong support of the state Legislatures and a rejuvenated Commission (new Commissioner Carol Salisbury was spotted riding with the railroad's fire patrol last week, even putting out one small fire), the Friends have allies. Let us all hope that this national treasure thrives. | ||
| 14 June 2000 USA | (ex-IC 4-8-2 2542) Ever hear of "Smoke over the Prairies?" It's the 1954 series of articles in TRAINS magazine which chronicled David P. Morgan's travels with Philip R. Hastings in search of the vanishing steam locomotive. One article focused on the Illinois Central mainline in its home state, where the 2500-series 4-8-2s moved trains quickly along the double-track line. Said Morgan of the 2554: "With a half mile of tonnage on her drawbar and barely a trace of grey at the stack to show for it, she was a sight to please the master mechanic as much as the enthusiast." Hastings was just as eloquent, capturing a stunning photo from a paralleling car of two of the engines nose-to-nose, meeting at speed. Built in IC's Paducah (KY) Shops by mounting boilers from 2-10-2s onto new cast-steel frames and running gear, two of these "earthshakers" survive. No. 2500 resides in a park in Centralia, IL, one of the IC terminals it once called home. No. 2542 has spent its retirement in Edgewood Park in McComb, MS. There were persistent rumors in the 1970s that Southern Railway's steam proponents (Graham Claytor, Jim Bistline and Bill Purdie) coveted the 2542 for its excursion program; nothing ever came of it. But even as you read this, no. 2542 may be back on the IC mainline. Sadly, though, not under steam. The locomotive is being moved from the park to a new display location next to the ex-IC depot, and is being moved by railroad. Yet it's quite a milestone: IC was long one of the lines that disdained steam in any form. There have been a few movements: the American Freedom Train, one excursion returning AFT 4449 back to Oregon, the March 1977 ferry of ex-Texas & Pacific 2-10-4 610 to the Southern Railway, and a 1987 move of ex-Rockton and Rion 2-8-0 203 (see below) between Mobile, AL and Meridian, MS. But by and large IC has been steamless since the early 1960s. Now a part of Canadian National, I'm not optimistic that 2542 will run on home rails in the near future (indeed, in my lifetime). Still, it's nice to know that IC has acknowledged its heritage in allowing the move, and that 2542 can now be seen next to the rails it once travelled. (Thanks to Al Goodman, James Hefner, and especially Morgan and Hastings.) | |
| 12 June 2000 USA | (FRA Seminars) At the reuest of the Engineering Standards Committee involved in the updating of 49CFR230, the Federal Railway Administration has added another rules seminar to the schedule. It is scheduled for 27 July, 2000, in Saint Paul, Minnesota, from 9.00am to 3.00pm. (Click here for the full announcement.) FRA has held two seminars so far, at Steamtown in Pennsylvania and at the California State Railroad Museum. A third is scheduled for later this month in Hot Springs, AR as well. The new seminar will ease the travel burden on operators in the Upper Midwest. By all accounts the two seminars held already have been well-received. If you are involved in operating a steam locomotive and haven't attended a seminar yet, make plans to attend on of the two remaining. (Thanks to Bill Withuhn.) | |
| 7 June 2000 India UNESCO Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Indian Express article | (Darjeeling Himalayan Railway) According to a 5 June article in the "Indian Express" newspaper, UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) has "taken a serious note of the "crude" changes made by the Railways" by dieselising the 24-in gauge Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR). The railway, opened in 1881 and completely steam-powered until just a few weeks ago, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999. It is still operated by the Northeast Frontier Railway division of Indian Railways, and climbs nearly 7,000 feet during the 50-mile journey from New Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling through stupendous Hamalayan scenery, and features horseshoe curves as well as street-running. Simply put, it is one of the most spectacular railways ever constructed. | |
 Batasia Loop on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. Photo by Alan M. Miller. Copyright 2000 John A. Craft, all rights reserved. | ||
| The newspaper quotes Prithvi Raj Perera, a local UNESCO official; Harsh Vardhan, Archivist and Editor for the DHR India Support Group of the Indian Steam Railway Society (ISRS); and Ashwani Lohani, a director in the Ministry of Tourism and former director of the Rail Museum, who was responsible for drafting the project report seeking the World Heritage Site status for the property. Each in his own way criticizes the railway for destroying the character of the railway, and makes some interesting accusations. There seems to be a problem though. The line hasn't actually been dieselized - not completely, anyway - and there are no plans to do so. Two diesels have indeed been delivered to the railway, and and are used to operate one train each way daily across the entire line. But the daily "school train" from Kurseong to Darjeeling and return is still steam-powered. And tourist trains operate daily March - May and October - December from Darjeeling to the railway summit at Ghum, approximately 10 miles in each direction (encountering the famous Batasia Loop in the Kanchenjunga mountains during the trip). | ||
 Street running along the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. Photo by Alan M. Miller. Copyright 2000 John A. Craft, all rights reserved. | ||
| Mechanical Engineer Mr. Chakraborti (based at the railway's shops in Tindharia) said in March that the railway actually wants to expand the number of tourist trains to Ghum, and foresees that steam will continue to be the preferred power on the school train. But diesels will reduce the cost of operating the other trains, which serve as basic transportation for many in the area. Some of the controversy have have been sparked by a derailment of one of the diesel-powered trains on 1 June. The locomotive and two carriages derailed, four tourists were injured, and both rail and road traffic was blocked. (Vardhan attributes the cause of the accident to excessive speed allowed by the diesel - Indian Railways officials did not comment on the accident.) And though it was not mentioned in the article, UNESCO guidelines for World Heritage sites apply only to fixed assets, not locomotives and rolling stock. (No doubt railways weren't considered too strongly in drafting the guidelines, which are more often applied to religious and cultural sites.) UNESCO is actually considering revising its guidelines to include non-fixed assets such as steam locomotives, but no decision has been taken yet. And of course UNESCO would provide no funding to make up for the higher cost of running steam. So is this a tempest in a stacked silver teapot? Mr. Vardan is a well-known and outspoken steam enthusiast, so perhaps is not the most objective observer. No doubt the introduction of diesels changes the nature of the lower end of the line, where steam is now found only on specials. While I certainly won't object if steam returns to the two dieselized runs, "Himalayan Bird" still runs out of Darjeeling, and Batasia Loop still sees four steam trains a day six months out of the year. That in itself is something, isn't it? (Thanks to Trevor Heath, Hugh Odom and Nick Lera.) | ||
| 5 June 2000 USA Heber Valley Railroad | (ex-GW 2-8-0 75) Great Western 2-8-0 75 debuted on the Heber Valley Railroad as planned on Memorial Day weekend. Mike Lewis tells the story: "No. 75 rolled out of the shop under her own power on May 29 at around 10:30 AM. John Pickar, son-in-law of the late Everett Rohrer who took such good care of "the movie train", loaned us Everett's favorite Wabash whistle for the event. | |
 No. 75 moves out of the engine shed for the first time on 29 May. Photo by Ken McConnell. Copyright 2000 Mike McConnell, all rights reserved. | ||
| After a ceremony, No. 75 and our other locomotive, No. 618, rolled over to the new "west yard" that our track crew has installed in the last few weeks. Trying to keep with Utah tradition, authentic spray-painted golden spikes were driven to officially open the yard. 618 pulled both trains for the day, and 75 joined both trains to doublehead on the return trips 5 miles south of Heber. | ||
 No. 75 moves out of the engine shed for the first time on 29 May. Photo by Mike McConnell. Copyright 2000 Ken McConnell, all rights reserved. | ||
| As a member of the volunteer group, it is really a neat experience to see a piece of equipment that we all worked on finally go into operation. I think we're still finding hard to believe that we actually met our goal." Congratulations to the Heber Valley crews, and see what you can do about straightening out that Road Foreman of yours, will you? (Thanks to Mike Lewis, Ken McConnell, and John Rimmasch.) | ||
| 2 June 2000 USA Mount Dora Scenic Railway | (ex-D&R 2-6-2 4) The Mount Dora Scenic Railway in Florida has acquired former W. T. Carter 2-6-2 no. 4 from the Reader Railroad, and plans to fire the locomotive up this weekend for test runs. The locomotive was transported by CSX to Orlando in May, then unloaded and towed to Plymouth on the Florida Central Railroad. The locomotive will haul a four-car train between Mount Dora and Tavares on weekends, supplementing the service provided by the "Mount Dora Doodlebug" railcar. No. 4 is well-travelled. After its tour of duty on the Reader, it moved to the Gulf Coast Railroad Museum in 1995, and remained in Florida for a time after that. It then moved to the Dardanelle & Russelville in Arkansas, where it pulled a couple of freight trains and served as backup locomotive in late 1998. In June and July of 1999 it was trucked to the Columbus & Greenville Railway for movie filming at Leland, MS. Excluding amusement park locomotives, this will be the only "real" steam in Florida, at least for now. (There are interesting rumors about a steam-powered excursion train - think of the "Florida Fun Train" without the gaudy paint scheme and bankruptcy - roaming around out there, but the deal is still in its infancy.) So get out there and enjoy it. (Thanks to Jim Wrinn.) | |
| 1 June 2000 USA Little River Locomotive Company | (NARC 0-6-0F 1) The North American Rayon Corporation fireless Porter known in Carter County as "The Pot" (NOT to be confused with a lucrative cash crop) has reached its final resting place. | |
 Being loaded onto a highway trailer after being towed to the site of the old narrow-gauge engine house ("Coal Chute" on old ET&WNC timetables). Photo by Ken Riddle. Copyright 2000 Ken Riddle, all rights reserved.  And being loaded onto the display track. Note the dual-gauge track. Photo by Ken Riddle. Copyright 2000 Ken Riddle, all rights reserved. | ||
| Ken "Daddy Rabbit" Riddle (damn, Ken, where'd all that grey come from? ;-) and his intrepid cohort placed the switcher on a display track adjacent to US Highway 19E between Elizabethton and Hampton (see the archive). It is to be joined by a former ET&WNC narrow-gauge boxcar currently being restored, and a Southern Railway standard-gauge wooden caboose. Work will begin soon to paint the locomotive. This is, of course in addition to the reboilering of the ex-Lehigh Stone, "Doe River Gorge Playland" 0-4-0 (archive) and the rehabilitation of the ET&WNC trackbed through the Doe River Gorge (archive). Money is being pledged to these projects at a dizzying rate, and even crusty old pessimists ("realists," as we call ourselves ;-) like me are amazed at the possibilities: covered bridges rebuilt on the old abutments over the Little Doe and the Doe River, for example. Ten years from now, Carter County and the ET&WNC may be a rival for the San Juan mountains and central Pennsylvania as a narrow-gauge destination. And if it is, remember you heard it here first. | ||
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| 30 May 2000 SteamCentral Chama WebCam 3716 at Anderson Lake, BC 3716 cab ride | (Opening Day) And they're off . . . The 2000 tourism season got off to a good start this weekend. Out in Chama, 2-8-2s 463 and 489 took the first passenger train operated by the Friends of the C&TS over Cumbres Pass (2-8-2 487 did the honors out of Antonito) after much celebration including a champagne dedication and, I suspect, more than a few tears of joy. Many former employees showed up to be a part of the first trains as well. You can find several movies and web cam images of the event at Jay Wimer and Roger Hogan's webcam page. |
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| In British Columbia, 2-8-0 3716 (shown here on last weekend's three-day outing to Kelly Lake, BC) will substitute this summer for Royal Hudson 2860, which failed its hydrostatic test earlier this year. Subsequent inspections have led to a request for appropriations from BCRail and the British Columbia government which would be used to replace the tube sheets, firebox, and wrapper and door sheets. Until funding is approved, the shop crew will continue its work on Canadian Pacific Hudson 2816 and keeping 3716 in good repair. (Doyle McCormack, performing the boiler work to 2816, is being considered to do the 2860 work as well.) 2860 may be towed to Squamish next week for storage until the work can be scheduled. So what happened on YOUR railroad last weekend? Send those photos in and show the world. (Thanks to Trevor Heath and Rich Young.) | |
| 26 May 2000 SteamCentral | (Hunting Season) The summer steam season, when tourist lines fire up their locomotives. Whether your tastes run to the 24" gauge tank engines of Maine, a narrow gauge 2-8-2 in Alaska, 4-6-0s in California, a 2-6-2 in Wisconsin, or Shays in West Virginia, get new batteries for the camera, rifle through the map collection, and pack your bags. In fact, this would be a great time to start listing those locos that you've missed seeing before. Quite a few locomotives could be late starters in 2002 as their crews bring them into compliance with the new 49CFR230, and I can tell you from experience that it's NOT simply a matter of pulling out the flues and plugging up the ultrasonic tester. That elusive little teapot you've been meaning to shoot but figured it would always be there? It may need a new steam dome or wrapper sheet, and could be out of service for a couple of years. And if you're out taking pictures, make a donation, buy a ticket, or join the support organization. Steam locomotives are expensive toys, and their operators need your support. If you're out this weekend, send me a photo of the operation you visited, and we'll put together a collection of photos for next week's news. If you're reading this from outside the USA, that goes for you too - we'd love to see photos from all over the world. Have a great time. |
| 24 May 2000 USA G&O 203 page | (ex-R&R 2-8-0 203) Well, a May debut wasn't in the cards (see the archive), but progress is being made on 203, and the new debut date is expected to be 4 July. |
 203 in the G&O's Knoxville shop. Photo courtesy David Bartee.  Drivers from 203 in the TVRM shop in Chattanooga, TN. Photo by Mark Ray. Copyright 2000 Mark Ray, all rights reserved. | |
| Wheel work has been completed in TVRM's shop in Chattanooga, and reassembly is well under way, as the photos above indicate. When finished, 203 will be in charge of the "Three Rivers Rambler," starting along the riverfront in Knoxville and running east to Marbledale. During the trip the train stops on a trestle over the Holston River where it joins the French Broad to form the Tennessee River. More steam in the South will certainly be welcome, after a five-year drought since the last New River and Norfolk Southern excursions. I'm looking forward to seeing this one. | |
| 23 May 2000 USA L&TPF | (ex-SOO 4-6-2 2719) Word is it couldn't have gone better. |
 2719 on the St. Croix River bridge 20 May 2000. Photo by Jeff Terry. Copyright 2000 Jeff Terry, all rights reserved. | |
| Back on the road after, no. 2719 put in a day of break-in in the Chippewa Falls yard where she was damaged a year ago (see the archive), then handled her excursion consist in fine form on Saturday. Despite a departure one hour late (nat attributed to the locomotive), 2719 made up a half-hour on the schedule to New Richmond and back. Some stories do have a happy ending. Will this year be a year of happy endings to sad stories (C&TS, 2719, 1522)? Let's hope. (Thanks to Steve Glischinski, Scott Lindsay, and Jeff Terry.) | |
| 21 May 2000 USA Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad | (C&TS Railroad) First, my apologies for the lack of updates last week. But I have a good reason. I just returned this morning from narrow gauge country, where the Friends of the C&TS and their operating subsidiary, the Rio Grande Railway Preservation Corporation, are hard at work preparing for their first passenger trains on Saturday, 27 May. (I spent four days inside the Chama depot, trying to decide whether to be frustrated at not being trackside whenever 489 was moving around, or grateful that I was in a place where steam whistles outside were commonplace.) Last Tuesday FRA Regional Administrator John Megary (a key player in the updating of 49CFR230) brought two track inspectors to Chama and rode the entire railroad to Antonito, CO, behind ex-D&RGW 2-8-2 463. Afterwards the team pronounced the C&TS safe to operate. 2-8-2 489 was ready for service and switching the Chama yard, and Chief Mechanical Officer Bob Wright believes that no. 487 will be ready to steam up on Monday. (No. 497's running gear will be trammed and assembled between now and mid-June.) It's too early to declare victory and write a happy ending to this story. Much track and locomotive work remains to return the C&TS to top form, and passenger count in the 2000 operating season is critical. But the sun's coming up, and there's light at the end of Rock Tunnel. |
| 15 May 2000 USA 2719 web site | (ex-SOO 4-6-2 2719) Damaged one year ago after a day excursion on the Wisconsin Central in Chippewa Falls, WI (see the archive), this handsome Pacific is back in steam and ready for a return to the scene. After the unfortunate encounter with a WCL freight early in the morning on Mother's Day 1999, 2719 was towed back to its home base of Altoona (Eau Claire), WI, to receive repairs after less than a year since restoration and only a few hundred miles of service. The Locomotive and Tower Preservation Fund volunteers, assisted by Gary Bensman and Scott Lindsay, have spent the past twelve months undoing the damage caused by the collision, with the result that this week 2719 will return to Chippewa Falls for an excursion over the St. Croix River bridge this weekend. After this trip, 2719's dance card isn't firm. Since her last trip, WCL chieftain Ed Burkhardt has been ousted, and the new management is less enthusiastic about public excursions. There are other railroads in the upper Midwest, however, and L&TPF's reputation for being one of the most practical groups in the community will help it as plans are made for future runs of 2719. Congratulations, folks, on a job well done. |
| 9 May USA | (FRA Seminars) This is just a quick reminder to those involved in operating steam locomotives that there are still two chances to talk directly with the FRA about the new steam locomotive inspection and maintenance standards, 49CFR230. The remaining seminars are on 17 May at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento; and on 29 June at the Clarion Hotel in Hot Springs, AR. (Check with your local FRA office for times and registration information.) The 26 April meeting at Steamtown was well-attended, and gave operators a chance to hear directly from inspectors, regional administrators, and the Washington staff that will be reviewing steam locomotive documentation under the new rules. Questions can be asked in group settings or one-on-one, and different operators can discuss their situations with each other as well as with regulators and the committee members that developed the rules. If you or your organization is involved in the operation of a steam locomotive, take this opportunity to get all your questions answered and meet some of your fellow operators. |
| 9 May 2000 USA Heber Valley Railroad | (ex-GW 2-8-0 75) The Heber Valley shop crew is charging ahead in hopes of completing its new 2-8-0 in time for a 29 May doubleheader with ex-UP 2-8-0 618. |
 John Rimmasch does some work on 75's jacket. Photo courtesy Heber Valley Railroad. | |
| Over the winter, shop forces gave 75 a full boiler shell inspection to comply with the new 49CFR230, and are applying a new boiler jacket and paint job. Crews also inspected 75's running gear and appliances during the work. 75 was built by Baldwin in 1907 for the Great Western Railroad of Colorado, where it spent its life before coming to Utah in 1999. 75 appeared in a number of movies, most recently in "Legends of the Fall" starring Brad Pitt and Sir Anthony Hopkins. Heber Valley purchased the entire Great Western "movie train" and moved it by truck to Heber City. The railroad plans to make a big splash during the 2002 Winter Olympics, as many events will be held within a few miles of the railroad. Test runs of the locomotive are expected the week of 22 May, with a maiden passenger run on the 29th. | |
| 8 May 2000 USA Ohio Central "Around the Shop" | (ex-GTW 4-8-4 6325) Within a few weeks Ohio Central will be able to begin reassembling the running gear on its Grand Trunk 4-8-4. Driver work has been completed at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga, and bearing box work is continuing in St. Louis, MO. |
 A new hub liner has been brazed into place, and the journal surface has been trued and polished. | |
| When finished, no. 6325 will join the ranks of Ohio Central's operating fleet (4-6-0 1551, 4-6-2 1293, 2-8-0 13, 0-4-0T 3; 4-6-2 1278, 2-6-0 96 and 2-8-0 76 are unserviceable) pulling occasional specials on the railroad. Jason Johnson, OHCR webmaster and steam mechanic, has a series of excellent photos of 6325 on the OHCR web site. Check them out. (Thanks to Scott Lindsay, Mark Ray, and Jason Johnson.) | |
| 5 May 2000 United Kingdom, USA Durango & Silverton NGRR Millennium Cavalcade | (Festivals) Decisions, decisions. What to do the last weekend of August - head to Colorado for Railfest 2000, or to Durham for the Millennium Cavalcade? It looks like a tough choice. In the UK, the list of steam locomotives participating in the Cavalcade continues to grow, with the tally currently standing at 29 (not counting the A1 Locomotive Trust's "Tornado," parts of which will be paraded). But in Durango, interesting things are afoot as well. The biggest news is actually not a steam locomotive but Rio Grande Southern "Galloping Goose" no. 2, long displayed at the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden. It will be paired up with "Goose" no. 5 from Dolores, CO, which returned to service in 1998. Dan Markoff's ex-Eureka & Palisades 4-4-0 no. 4 "Eureka" returns for another engagement, and D&S plans to officially debut ex-D&RGW K36 486 (see the archive) during the event. Action peaks on Saturday 26 August with a combination of regular service, shuttles by the Geese and the "Eureka," and the dedication of 486 in Durango. D&S is also offering an organized chase of "Eureka" on Friday and Sunday, for a very reasonable $25. (Hmmm, I wonder if someone's been reading the plandampf Opinion page? Naahh, just a coincidence . . . ) |
| 3 May 2000 USA Tarantula Train Fort Worth Star-Telgram article | (Tarantula Train) Life got interesting in Texas this week. The Fort Worth and Western Railway obtained a temporary restraining order against Coe Sun, operators since May 1999 of the Tarantula Train, and kicked them off their property last Saturday. There will be a court hearing this week; meanwhile FW&W has promised that a "new operator" will take over the Tarantula Train by Saturday (6 May). The "Bondo Flyer," a dinner train begun last fall by Coe Sun, will not be operated. (Yes, it probably has a real name - but I don't know what it is.) FW&W leased the passenger train operation to Coe Sun, a Michigan company which also operated the "Michigan Star Clipper" dinner train. Since then Coe managers have succeeded in running off every qualified engineer, earned numerous FRA violations for training and equipment safety, and put their steam locomotive (ex-SP 4-6-0 2248) out to pasture rather than make needed repairs. Coe's train was also involved in a collision with a FW&W freight train in March (See the archive), reportedly while an unqualified employee and a non-employee were in control of the train. Interestingly, FW&W contends that it has terminated Coe's contract, but Coe continued to operate the train. FW&W is no doubt regretting ever getting involved with Coe, which is rumored to have recently argued that FRA has no oversight authority of its operation because it is a restaurant, not a railroad. Word is also coming out that FW&W may soon begin repairs to 2248, returning the 1896-vintage locomotive to service later this year. Good luck to FW&W as it comes to it senses, gets rid of an unqualified operator, and repairs the damage to its relationship with the Fort Worth tourism community. |
| 1 May 2000 United Kingdom London Transport | ("Steam on the Met") London Transport, sponsors of the annual "Steam on the Met" which features steam excursions on the outer reaches of the Metropolitan Line, has announced that this year's event will be the best, and the last. |
 BR "Standard Tank" 2-6-4T 80079 and "Standard 4" 4-6-0 75014 race through Pinner, west London, in May 1995. Photo by John Craft. Copyright 1999 John Craft, all rights reserved. | |
| Begun in 1989 to celebrate the centenary of the Chalfont - Chesham branch in northwest London, over the years a number of authentic locomotives have hauled trains on this former Metropolitan and Great Central Joint railway line: Metropolitan Railway 0-4-4T no. 1, ex-Great Western Pannier tanks, ex-LNER 0-6-2T 69523 and 4-6-0s 1264 and 1572, and BR 2-6-0 62005 (built to an LNER design) and 2-6-4T 80079 have all seen service, along with a few LMS and SR visitors. From a base at Neasden depot, steam has been dispatched to Amersham, Watford, Stanmore, and Uxbridge. The District Line has also gotten involved over the years, with specials in East London between Upney and Upminster in 1990, and Ealing Broadway to West Kensington in 1993. (This latter group of trips led to the late-night chance to see steam in the Underground tunnels, at Victorian-era stations like Baker Street and my "home station," Gloucester Road.) "Steam on the Met" is a casualty of the "Public-Private Partnership" needed to finance massive capital improvements to a subway system that has grown a bit ragged about the edges over the past 20 years. But to send the special event off properly, the coaching stock will be painted authentically, and parallel running between Harrow and Moor Park will once again be scheduled. "Met Tank" no. 1 and vintage London Underground stock will be displayed at Rickmansworth. Let's hope that once things settle in, "Steam on the Met" can be resumed, as thousands get their introduction to steam each year. In the meantime, our thanks to London Transport and the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre, a major partner in putting on SOTM each year. If you haven't seen one of these events, by all means book your flight now. Combine a day on the platforms at Chorleywood with some of the other mainline events, and perhaps a visit to the spectacular Chelsea Flower Show. | |
 The long grade from Rickmansworth to Amersham makes for nice performance as BR "Standard Tank" 2-6-4T 80079 passes the beautifully-painted signal box on the Chorleywood platform in May 1995. Photo by John Craft. Copyright 1999 John Craft, all rights reserved. |
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| 27 April 2000 Cuba | (MINAZ 2-8-0 1382) I have received "before" and "after" photos of MINAZ 2-8-0 1382, which exploded on 25 February (See below). All the more reason to follow those new rules to the letter, and exceed their recommendations when possible - we don't want this to happen here. |
 Before - February, 1997 | |
 After - March, 2000 | |
 After - the remains of the front tube sheet | |
| 27 April 2000 Australia Yuri Sos' web site Newsgroup report of trip | (Australian parallel running) Like many of you, I was on Christiansburg grade in 1987 when N&W 1218 and 611 tackled it side-by-side. I was on Cajon when UP 844 and SP 4449 left LA in 1989. I was at Adams Mills in 1997 when Ohio Central ran 1293 and a 13/1551 doubleheader side-by-side. I've even seen "Steam on the Met" trains side-by-side at 40mph (see tomorrow's news). But the news out of Oz this week is of last Friday's parallel running - two doubleheaded trains running at 60mph in places. |
 21 April, 2000. On the left, broad gauge 4-6-4s; on the right, streamlined standard gauge 4-6-2s. Photo by Yuri Sos. Copyright 2000 Yuri Sos, all rights reserved. | |
| The day started with Victorian Railways 5' 3" gauge 4-6-4 R711 (with a diesel helper) taking a train from Melbourne Spencer Street northeast to Wodonga, where sister R761 waited to replace the diesel for the return trip. During the return this doubleheader ran in parallel with doubleheaded streamlined standard gauge 4-6-2s 3801 and 3830 of the New South Wales Railway. No. 3830 was sidelined due to bearing trouble late in the day, but from all accounts it was an impressive event. Yuri Sos' web site has a lot of information and links to learn more about both the event itself, and the locomotives that played the lead roles. Don't miss learning a bit more about the Australian steam scene - I just hope you don't qualify as a "gunzel." (Thanks to Yuri Sos.) | |
| 26 April 2000 USA Golden Gate Railroad Museum | (ex-SP 4-6-2 2472) The latest issue of "The Dispatcher's Sheet," the newsletter of the Golden Gate Railroad Museum, indicates that the Museum's Pacific is nearly ready to return to service, and will power the annual "Gilroy Garlic Train" on 30 July. There are also plans in the works for a December trip to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the group's founding. 2472 has been out of service since 1996 while running gear repairs were being made. Journals, crown brasses, hub liners, spring rigging and grease cellars all got attention, the pilot truck was rebuilt, and roller bearings were installed on the trailing truck. Now, with two Bay area Pacifics soon to be operable, is it time to pursue the idea of a "Peninsula Plandampf?" (Thanks to Sam Reeves.) |
| 25 April 2000 USA Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum Canadian Pacific Railway's 2816 page | (ex-CPR 2816) Mark Ray of TVRM has sent some photos of the wheel work being done at the museum's wheel shop. The first installment is the wheels of Canadian Pacific 4-6-4 2816. |
 This is what's left of a tire shim (which fits between a wheel center and its tire if there's too much clearance) after the tires have been removed from the wheel centers. The old tires can be seen stacked on the floor; ex-Kentucky & Tennessee 2-8-2 stands in the background, being evaluated for restoration. Photo by Mark Ray. Copyright 2000 G. M. Ray, all rights reserved. | |
 One of 2816's driver sets is seen on a stand in the Chattanooga shop. Photo by Mark Ray. Copyright 2000 G. M. Ray, all rights reserved. | |
 This is a view of the journal (bearing) and hub liner area of one driver set; the hub liner has been removed for renewal. Photo by Mark Ray. Copyright 2000 G. M. Ray, all rights reserved. | |
| 24 April 2000 USA L&TPF | (ex-SOO 4-6-2 2719) The time is quickly drawing near when 2719 will be taken off the steam equivalent of the "disabled list." Readers will recall that 2719 was struck by a Wisconsin Central freight while standing overnight in Chippewa Falls, WI, in May 1999 (see the archive). Nearly a year's worth of efforts by L&TPF volunteers and consultants Scott Lindsay and Gary Bensman have gone into repairing the damage. Some time in May 2719 is expected to make some test runs in the yard at Altoona (Eau Claire), WI. 2719 will make one of her few 2000 outings on 20-21 May, departing from Chippewa Falls on trips to the St. Croix River bridge at the Minnesota border. Other trips are planned in October (See the schedules page for details.) |
| 21 April 2000 Canada Canadian Pacific Railway | (ex-CPR 4-6-4 2816) This must be the week for news about CPR Hudsons. In a press release issued Wednesday, Canadian Pacific President and CEO Rob Ritchie offered more details on the railroad's plans for the Hudson it acquired from Steamtown and is having overhauled by BCRail's Vancouver shops. "We have reached back to an era when steam locomotives were living, breathing machines with individual personalities. They were the stuff of legends, captured forever in music and books. Steam locomotives conjure dreams of long-distance travel and far away places, and they helped knit countries together. . . This project is not about restoring a museum piece, it is about educating people in North America about the CPR today and what rail is doing to build a better future for all of us." |
 The frames of CPR 2816 getting attention in the BCRail shops in North Vancouver, BC. Photo by Roger Burrows, courtesy Canadian Pacific Railway. | |
| 2816 will be formally unveiled at railroad headquarters in Calgary, AB, in September, then will embark on a tour of communities where the engine, according to the press release, "will be an integral part of CPR's community outreach program. In particular, it will be used to tell children about the dangers of playing near the railway." After the initial tour, "2816 will be used for special appearances at select activities and charitable events in communities along the CPR network. It will also be available for a limited number of unique passenger tours." | |
 CPR 2816 powering the "Chicago Express" near Cookville, ON, 7 February 1954. Photo by W. H. N. Rossiter, courtesy Canadian Pacific Railway. | |
| 2816 is only part of CPR's efforts at using its heritage to boost its brand in recent years. The Railroad changed its locomotive paint scheme, eliminating a tired image with a beautiful new scheme that dips into paint cans of the 1940s, complete with the "beavertail" herald, and has refurbished EMD F-units for hauling "Royal Canadian Pacific" passenger specials, using its business car fleet on limited public luxury tours (presumably 2816 will occasionally be seen on the point of this train). If any of this sounds familiar, recall a gentleman by the name of W. Graham Claytor, Jr. Among his changes as President of the Southern Railway from 1967 to 1977, he repainted his passenger Es and Fs from freight black to passenger green, and leased two steam locomotives and bought two more to use in community relations (NOT excursions). Southern become one of the most profitable railroads in the USA under Claytor' leadership, and the man gained a reputation as a top-notch executive; Rob Ritchie could do worse than take a page from the Claytor play book. (Thanks to Rob Sterne and Canadian Pacific Railway.) | |
| 20 April 2000 Canada Pacific Wilderness Railway | (Pacific Wilderness Railway) The Pacific Wilderness Railway, with Ross Rowland and Jerry Jacobson as principals, has released a bit more information concerning their steam plans. (You'll find more about this project in the archive.) Original plans called for the construction of 4 Pacifics to resemble Canadian Pacific G5s. This was quickly changed to four 2-8-2s. The latest word is that the four 2-8-2s ("JS" class locomotives built at Da Tong in 1987 and 1988) will be overhauled and altered cosmetically before being shipped to Vancouver, BC. No date for their arrival has been mentioned. There's also word that PWR has actually acquired three real CPR G5s. Jerry Jacobson has two, nos. 1278 (of Gettysburg infamy, currently unserviceable) and 1293, and there have been murmurings that Jacobson "may" send 1293 west. Other possibilitites include nos. 1238 and 1286, owned by Jack Showalter and up for sale, and no. 1246, stored at the Valley Railroad in Essex, CT. PWR's trainset, supplied by Jacobson's Ohio Central Railroad, has already arrived on Vancouver Island and pulled an inaugural run in March. Regular service begins in June, with steam to be added to the equation in 2001. |
| 20 April 2000 USA The Nethercutt Collection | (ex-CPR 4-6-4 2839) The Canadian Pacific "Royal Hudson" which once pulled a lowly plug local and switched coal hoppers in the movie "Coal Miner's Daughter" was loaded on a flat car at Bath, PA, last week, and is headed for display at the Nethercutt Collection of cars in Sylmar, CA. |
 CPR 2839 en route California at Temple (Reading), PA, 19 April 2000. Photo by Jay Leinbach, courtesy Mike Hall. | |
| No. 2839's claim to fame came and went quickly. Saved by Canadian Pacific for a Government of Ontario museum which never materialized, railfans Mike Eagleson, Victor Hand, Peter Vander Veld and Ron Ziel bought 2839 in 1969 and moved it to Bath, PA, in 1972. It underwent a slow overhaul, and Hand and Ziel sold their shares to Bob Spanagel, before Southern Railway leased no. 2839 during 1979 and 1980. Described as a "swift giant" by Jim Bistline, then in charge of Southern's steam program, 2839 began its career on a ferry move from Alexandria, VA, to Atlanta, GA, then headed to southwestern Virginia for filming the above-mentioned movie. 2839 has spent the last 20 years in various states of disrepair stored in Delaware and Pennsylvania; she was operated once on the Blue Mountain and Reading in the late 1980s, if I remember correctly. In recent years, ironically, she was back in Bath, PA for attention and storage as she changed hands again. J. B. Nethercutt and his wife Dorothy were founders of Merle Norman Cosmetics, and Mr. Nethercutt has collected over 200 antique luxury automobiles as well as furniture, watches, and other items. The common link running through these acquisitions is a love of design. In that light, the purchase of no. 2839 is well understood - Canadian Pacific's streamlined design is nothing short of beautiful, whether it was applied to a Hudson, a 4-4-4 Jubilee, or a 2-10-4 Selkirk. | |
| 19 April 2000 USA Union Pacific Steam Souvenirs | (Union Pacific Steam Program) One rail consultant with whom I'm acquainted is famous for his hat which reads "It's the Gift Shop, Stupid!" And someone at Union Pacific Railroad realizes this as well; they've just launched a web site where one can buy official UP Steam souvenirs. But it looks like they have bigger plans for the site in the future, more than just gift sales - keep an eye on this site. |
| 14 April 2000 USA 4449 Web Site BNSF Announcement | (BNSF "Employee Appreciation Specials) Burlington Northern Santa Fe has announced the rescheduling of the "Employee Appreciation Special" cancelled last year, which will be powered by ex-SP 4-8-4 4449 in an all-black paint scheme. The dates you will find on the Schedules page have been confirmed by BNSF. It's very similar to last year's schedule, and appears to have 4449 returning to Portland before the train continues, diesel-hauled, into Montana. The 11-car train will haul 9,000 employees and their families during its three-week trip, and tickets will be available to employees beginning 8 May. (Thanks to Steve Brown, Rollin Bredenberg, and Jim Hollis.) |
| 12 April 2000 USA Georgetown Loop Railroad | (ex-IFCA 2-8-0 44) Work is scheduled to begin before Memorial Day on this locomotive, which has been on display for years outside the Georgetown (CO) station near the Georgetown Loop Railroad. Last year the Georgetown Loop and the White Pass & Yukon Railroad concluded a deal that will soon see Georgetown's 2-8-0 no. 40 hauled by truck from Colorado to Alaska (see the archive), and no. 44 is being returned to service to supplement the two Shays which pull the GLRR's tourist trains. Once no. 40 has begun her journey, no. 44 will be moved into the shop at Silver Plume and stripped. The boiler will be separated from the frame, and sent to a boiler shop in Denver for new flues and a partial firebox replacement. The frames and running gear will get a full overhaul, from completely rebuilt spring rigging to new driver tires. New rod bushing and pins will be made and installed as well. Once this work is complete, everything will be returned to Silver Plume for reassembly, and the railroad hopes to return the locomotive to service during the 2002 season. So keep an eye out if you're driving along I-70 west of Denver in the next few weeks - that's not an engine going to scrap, it's going in for overhaul. (Thanks to Josh Levine.) |
| 11 April 2000 USA | (SLSF 1522) Just a quick note to let you know that the break-in run mentioned in the 1522 update below (7 April) has been postponed. More later, as I get it, but unpack your bags if you were planning to head to St. Louis. |
| 11 April 2000 USA Horseshoe Curve - NRHS 1361 page Railroaders Memorial Museum Press Kit | (ex-PRR K4s 4-6-2 1361) Maybe I'm talking to all the wrong people, but I can't find anyone who knows the story behind the generous $600,000 appropriation recently signed by Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge. This is not the first time that ex-Pennsylvania Railroad K4s 4-6-2 1361 has benefitted from the active sponsorship of Rep. Rick Geist (R-Altoona), a powerful legislator known for his ability to bring home the dosh. It was his influence that played a role in getting 1361 removed from display at Horseshoe Curve west of Altoona, and his help secured both the labor of "guests of the local government" as well as funding for its initial overhaul in 1985-1987. He also sponsored legislation making 1361 the State's Official Steam Locomotive. "Today will be remembered as a pivotal day in the 82-year history of the K4. I am thrilled that Governor Ridge came to the aid of the K4 and the Altoona Railroaders Memorial Museum at a most critical juncture," said Geist when the release of the money was announced last week. But the appropriation, to come from the Community Revitalization Program of Pennsylvania's Department of Community and Economic Development, seems to have caught everyone actually working on the locomotive unawares. On 25 February, K4 Restoration Project Manager Chris Ahrens told the Horseshoe Curve Chapter of the NRHS that no one from Altoona was volunteering on the shop crew (just before the funding was announced, the crew consisted of one paid employee, one employee from the Williamsport area, and one other regular volunteer). The Railroaders Memorial Museum (which owns the locomotive) is now preparing for a "jubilant homecoming" in fall 2001, and excursions in 2002. It will also make the locomotive the "primary interpretive tool in telling the story of railroad life and labor in the era of steam. The scope of this interpretation will be much broader than a train ride behind a steam engine," according to Museum Executive Director R. Cummins McNitt. "We are at a 'never-again' point in history where we actually are able to meet and hear the words of the people who built, maintained and operated these machines. With the steam engine as the backdrop, we can teach lessons of history, engineering, economics and social studies." The moral? The USA is enjoying unparalleled prosperity, and the states are awash in budget surpluses just like the Federal Government. As a result, "discretionary spending" (known as "pork" when it goes to someone else) is on the rise again. (Let's face it - Altoona is long past the days when it needed "revitalizing," and it's hard for me to see how rebuilding a steam locomotive will revitalize the community anyway.) And your group can benefit, if you know how to play the game. Someone's going to get it; it can be a professor studying the effects of truffle-hunting on the psychology of pigs, or it can be Ol' 999. "I look forward to the day when I can take a ride on the old K4. That will be a proud day for all of Altoona," said Geist. Why don't you offer a cab ride to YOUR congressman? |
| 7 April 2000 USA St. Louis Steam Train Association | (ex-SLSF 4-8-2 1522) For the second time in less than a year, the St. Louis Steam Train Association is readying 1522 for a test run after a thorough running-gear overhaul. Last year's trip was marred by a derailment in BNSF's North St. Louis yard, which damaged the locomotive's running gear (see the archive). In the past few weeks final reassembly of the locomotive has been completed, and the 4-8-2 was fired up and run around the Museum of Transport grounds last weekend. On 14 April no. 1522 and a train of support cars will ferry from the Museum to Union Station for turning, and spend the night there one display. On the 15th the train will begin a leisurely break-in run to Springfield, MO, over ex-Frisco rails, overnighting in the former crew change point of Newburg. After a day or two in Springfield for inspection, the train will return to St. Louis. 1522's next outing will be a return to Galesburg, IL, for Railroad Days 24-25 June. While there it will power employee specials between Galesburg and Yates City, IL. Congratulations to SLSTA for overcoming last year's hurdles quickly, and best of luck on the break-in runs. (Thanks to SLSTA and Scott Lindsay.) |
| 5 April 2000 USA Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad | (C&TS RR) The "Rio Grande Railway Preservation Corporation," the entity formed by the Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad to operate the C&TS, officially took control of the 64-mile long property last Saturday after the New Mexico Board of Finance approved the lease between RGRPC and the C&TS Commission. RGRPC President Warren Smalley released a statement on 4 April citing the following accomplishments: RGRPC has hired Ed McLaughlin as General Manager. SteamCentral offers its best wishes for the RGRPC's success in "rescuing" the C&TS, and has offered some support behind the scenes. We'll keep you posted on progress. |
| 3 April 2000 USA Danbury Railroad Museum | (ex-B&M 2-6-0 1455) The story of getting 1455 from Hyannis, MA, to Danbury, CT, reads like a fraternity initiation. Let it suffice to say that almost a year after the Danbury Railroad Museum purchased no. 1455, one of the last steam locomotives serviceable on the Boston & Maine, from George Bartholomew, the "New England Mogul" (one of 135 owned by the B&M) is now home. DRM hopes to eventually return the locomotive to service - it sure would look great at the Canaan depot and diamond just up the Housatonic valley? (Thanks to Ron Freitag.) |
| 3 April 2000 Russia GW Travel | (Russian Strategic Reserve) Cash in that nest egg - the last all-steam "Trans-Siberian" spectacular might be upon us. Everyone's heard of the "Trans-Siberian" express, popularised by Paul Theroux. But you may not know that in 1996 and again in 1998 GW Travel of Manchester, England, put together an all-steam trip - 6,000 miles worth. The 1996 trip departed Berlin and featured German and Polish Pacifics, gaining Russian steam from Moscow; this year's trip departs from beautiful St. Petersburg on 30 June. Take all three options (for only $18,965) and you could spend 42 days and 12,000 miles behind steam. Why the last? Russia's "strategic reserve" of steam locomotives stored serviceable throughout the country has dwindled from 9,000 in 1990 to less than 3,000 today. And the Russian Ministry of Railways announced last month that the remaining locomotives will be sold for scrap. Whether it actually happens is anyone's guess, but if the locos are indeed taken out of service there is little likelihood of a large number being obtained by the private sector. This won't be the end of Soviet steam - there are a number of identical locomotives in preservation in Ukraine, for example - but it might be the last time such an extravaganza can be put together. (Thanks to Tim Littler of GW Travel.) |
| 1 April 2000 | You can find the now-infamous April 1 "News" page here. |
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