  YOU ARE BROWSING THE OLD STEAMCENTRAL.COM. TO SEE OUR LATEST ENTRIES, CLICK HERE. | ||
 | | |
| 25 September 2000 USA Great Smoky Mountains Railway | (ex-SOU 2-8-0 722) I've gotten the word from two different reliable sources in North Carolina, so it looks like a "done deal:" Norfolk Southern's ex-Southern Railway 2-8-0 has been sold to the Great Smoky Mountains Railway for return to service. The sale has been rumored for almost a year (see the archive), and leaves Norfolk Southern with only one steam locomotive on its roster, ex-N&W 2-6-6-4 1218, stored in Roanoke, VA. Delivery to the GSMR at Sylva, NC, is expected some time in October, and there's a one-year projection on the engine's return to service. | |
| 23 September 2000 USA | (Doe River Gorge) Nine times. That's how many times a single blast from East Tennessee & Western North Carolina 4-6-0 9's whistle would echo off the hills of the Doe River Gorge yesterday. | |
 ex-Opryland 2-4-4T 2 "Rachel" at Tunnel 2. Photo by Ken Riddle. Copyright 2000 Ken Riddle, all rights reserved. | ||
Yesterday, for the first time in over 30 years, steam entered the Doe River Gorge on the former ET&WNC roadbed being returned to service by the Doe River Gorge Christian organization (see the archive). Of course no. 9 was only there in the form of the whistle: the locomotive under it was Opryland's "Rachel" (see below). Mark Milbourne of the organization tells the story:"We fired Rachel mid-morning and the whistle from engine #9 was installed for the day. After a while took her up through the tunnel a little ways and eventually made several trips just into the first straight track. We need to do a LOT of pruning before we can take her any further. But she ran well and the new track seems to be pretty good too."Current plans are to have a public open house on the property Sunday afternoon, 15 October, and the following Monday morning, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the last train (see below). (Thanks to Ken Riddle and Mark Milbourne.) | ||
| 20 September, 2000 USA Austin Steam Train Association | (ex-SP 2-8-2 786) The political process moves slowly, but the City of Austin has come through. In January, the town of Cedar Park, TX, offered $100,000 toward repairs to 786 if Austin would contribute $250,000. (See the archive.) This week Austin's City Council approved a budget that contains two appropriations totalling $250,000 appropriation for the Austin Steam Train Association. ASTA can now move forward with a Part 230 overhaul and repairs to cracks in the left cylinder casting, the discovery of which led to a decision to sideline the engine in August 1999 (see the archive). There's no target date for return to service yet, but we'll keep you posted as we hear from ASTA. (Thanks to Bill Nash, Jim Hollis, and Mike Delvecchio.) | |
| 19 September 2000 USA Soo Line 1003 web site | (SOO Steam) Gary Ostrand's Mikado made a pair of revenue runs on the Wisconsin Southern this past weekend under sunny skies. Roger Holmes thought you'd like to see the results, so here is the view from Edgerton, Wisconsin: | |
 SOO 1003 at Edgerton, Wisconsin. Photo by Roger Holmes. Copyright 2000 Roger Holmes, all rights reserved. | ||
| SOO sister 4-6-2 2719 will soon be making a positioning move from Spooner, WI, to Hixton in preparation for a pair of sold-out trips to Dodge, WI, before returning to Altoona (Eau Claire) for the winter - we'll keep you posted. (Thanks to Roger Holmes.) | ||
| 18 September 2000 USA Tarantula Train | (Tarantula Train) As expected, (see the archive), the Grapevine (TX) City Council has signed a seven-year lease to become the operator of the Tarantula Train. Work on ex-SP 4-6-0 2248 is expected to begin immediately. (I'm taking donations for a "black paint" fund to be forwarded to the City Council for those of you interested ;-) (Thanks to Jim Hollis.) | |
| 17 September USA MidContinent Railway Museum | (ex-C&NW 4-6-0 1385) MidContinent Railway Museum is pursuing the Part 230 overhauls of two locomotive's this year, Polson Logging no. 2 (see the archive) and ex-C&NW 4-6-0 1385 (archive). Crews are removing the tubes, and have taken out a section of the mudring to replace the entire door sheet of the firebox. Work is well under way, and no. 2 should be back out on the road by MCRM's annual Snow Train in February. (Thanks to Ken Hojnacki.) | |
  Phil "Stormy"Blinderman relieves no. 2 of her old tubes at left, and the backhead and missing section of the mudring is shown at right. Photos by Ken Hojnacki. Copyright 2000 Ken Hojnacki, all rights reserved.  Bob Ristow John Decker in foreground and "Stormy" Blinderman during the work. | ||
| 17 September 2000 India Indian Railways Hugh Odom's "Ultimate Steam Page" | (new Indian steam) Indian Railways has posted a "global tender" (I will avoid the obvious bad joke) to purchase seven new steam locomotives. Three locomotives are for the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (610mm gauge), and four are for the metre gauge Nilgiri Mountain Railways. (Thanks to Hugh Odom.) | |
| 13 September, 2000 USA East Broad Top RR | (East Broad Top) The East Broad Top has released the schedule for their Fall Spectacular on 7 - 8 October. The news this year is that 2-8-2 no. 16, last operated in 1956 and on display only twice since then, will be prettied up and placed at the head end of a cut of coal cars during the event. | |
 EBT 16 at Mount Union, PA. Photo courtesy Chris Coleman, from the collection of Rick Shoup. | ||
| The event will also feature all four serviceable locomotives in operation, shop tours, and a homey atmosphere around the depot. As I said last month, this is a great event you should consider attending. (Thanks to Chris Coleman.) | ||
| 11 September 2000 USA Doe River Gorge | (ex-Stine Coal 0-4-0T 2) "Rachel" has a new home. (You big mainline-loving types might as well skip this story, by the way.) "Rachel," for those of you who are still going "Huh?" (like I was when I first heard this), started life in 1920 as a 36" gauge Vulcan 0-4-0T, and ended her career at a Stine Coal Company loader near Jellico, TN, shunting coal headed out on the Southern or the L&N. Fate was kind to the little car-kicker, however, and no. 2 ended up in the care of Virgil King at a new attraction being built called Opryland. | |
 Stine Coal no. 2 would have looked like this in her working life. Photo courtesy Ken Riddle, from Don Ross' collection. | ||
| Virgil tarted the engine up, getting rid of the saddle tank and turning the engine into a halfway-attractive locomotive, as amusement park steam goes. "Rachel" had spent almost as long pulling kids on passenger cars as she did in the "real world" when Gaylord Entertainment announced in 1997 that it was closing Opryland to create a shopping mall on the property. After the closing, the components of Opryland were auctioned off - rollercoasters, vending carts, etc. And steam locomotives 55 "Elizabeth" (another 0-4-0) and 4643 "Beatrice." But not "Rachel" - Executive Vice President Eric Westin kept the engine out of the auction for sentimental reasons and had her transported to the Tennessee Central Railroad Museum along Nashville's riverfront and stored under a tarp. And there she sat, until this week. | ||
 "Rachel" as she appears today in Nashville, TN. Photo by Steve Freer. Copyright 2000 Steve Freer, all rights reserved. | ||
| Enter Crown Metal- and amusement-park-steam-loving Ken Riddle. (The boy's a walking encyclopedia of steam at which most of us turn up our noses.) Ken proposed to Westin that Rachel go back to work, and Westin listened, with the result that today "Rachel" was inspected by the Tennessee state boiler inspector and approved for use. On Saturday Ken and Virgil King will hydro the engine and test-fire her, then arrange for quick shipment. Where to, you ask? Hampton, Tennessee, where she will be a featured performer at Carter County's commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the last East Tennessee & Western North Carolina narrow gauge train. Recall that back in January I mentioned that the Doe River Gorge's steam engine, once a Vulcan 0-4-0T, was going under the knife to return to service> Well, there's progress on fabricating a new boiler based on Vulcan drawings, but it won't be ready next month. Tweetsie Railroad's Chris Robbins responded positively in the spring to trucking ex-ET&WNC 4-6-0 to Hampton for the event, even letting it run through the Gorge, but there was doubt the trackwork would be finished. That same doubt halted discussions with the North Carolina Transportation Museum to truck ET&WNC combine 15 to Hampton and give it an exterior restoration before the event. (The irony is that trackwork has progressed this summer to a point where 12 could be safely operated, worse luck.) But there will be steam in the Gorge next month, a half-century after Sherman Pippin ran 4-6-0 no. 11 through the gorge for the last time. "Rachel" will be making runs up to Pardee Point, and will even be donating steam to Ken's Apache Powder fireless 0-4-0T, now getting a bit of work in the East Tennessee shops in Johnson City. (Riddle, this has GOT to be the most outrageous plan to provide steam for the fireless.) Rachel will be loaned to the Doe River Gorge until early 2002, when Gaylord plans to put the locomotive on display in a new development at Grapevine, TX. (Thanks to Ken Riddle.) | ||
| 7 September 2000 USA Tarantula Train | (Tarantula Train) After some weeks of quiet, the Fort Worth and Western and the city of Grapevine, TX, have made public their discussions that would result in Grapevine becoming the operator, and eventual owner, of the Tarantula train. The proposal is quite detailed, and the financial projections appear reasonable, demonstrating the amount of work that has already gone into the deal. The proposal calls for Grapevine to finance repairs to ex-SP 4-6-0 2248, purchase a second serviceable locomotive, add air-conditioning to existing coaches, and purchase at least one additional coach. Operating crews would be furnished by the railroad. Paul McCallum, director of the Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau, told the Fort Worth "Star-Telegram" that "we began to understand just how important that steam engine was. It lended credibility to all the restoration being done on Main Street." In a completely unrelated story, developers in Fort Worth have plans to excavate a Texas & Pacific steam locomotive reputed to be buried in Village Creek in Arlington. The locomotive will be refurbished and displayed at the Texas & Pacific station and headquarters in Fort Worth, being converted into a hotel development with 12 passenger cars providing some rooms. (Thanks to Jim Hollis.) | |
| | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 29 August 2000 USA Rio Grande Pacific | (ex-SP 2-6-0 1744) Southern Pacific 2-6-0 1744 is back on live rails as promised, and the schedule given below is still the goal. Look for light moves over the next few days, and few "thank-you" trips over the weekend of 9-10 September, before the engine heads to Louisiana. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 September 2000 Canada | (ex-RDG 4-8-4 2100) Herewith a couple of photos from the Elgin County Railway Museum's 12th annual Railway Heritage Days on August 26 and 27 in St. Thomas, Ontario. Essex Terminal 0-6-0 9 is shown on the transfer table, and a fired up "FerroEquus" 2100 was on display as well. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Essex Terminal Railway 0-6-0 9 at St. Thomas, Ontario. Photo by Charles Beckett. Copyright 2000 Charles Beckett, all rights reserved.  "FerroEquus" 2100 at St. Thomas, Ontario. Photo by Chris Jacks. Copyright 2000 Chris Jacks, all rights reserved. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 29 August 2000 USA Rio Grande Pacific | (ex-SP 2-6-0 1744) Southern Pacific 2-6-0 1744 was fired up yesterday, and later this week will be testing on Fort Worth and Western trackage that is used by the Tarantula Train. Built by Baldwin in 1901, no. 1744 spent years on an earlier incarnation of the Heber Valley Railroad in Utah before being sold in 1990. It was purchased by the Fort Worth and Western to supplement SP 4-6-0 2248, and as late as 1998 FW&W still had plans to overhaul it. But in 1999, when FW&W leased the Tarantula Train to Coe Sun, no. 1744 was sold to Rio Grande Pacific and became the pet project of Joe Dale Morris, an RGP manager and one of the team that returned SP 2-8-2 786 to service in Austin. Once panel track has been connected to the spur 1744 has been on, it will be test run. On 9 and 10 September, 1744 will pull a single coach of invited guests. Then it will be loaded onto trucks for delivery to its new home on the New Orleans and Gulf Coast Railroad. (Thanks to Jim Hollis and Ken Fitzgerald.) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 24 August 2000 USA D&SNG RR C&TS RR | (ex-D&RGW 2-8-2s 486, 497) Perhaps it's a little close for comfort, but they made it: the Durango & Silverton's newest locomotive ran its first test last night yesterday afternoon, on the first day of Railfest. Retrieved from its display perch in Canon City, CO, last spring (see the archive), no. 486 is the only surviving D&RGW K36 that had not run since the Rio Grande ended its narrow gauge operations in 1968. No. 486 will get another test run today, then be dedicated on Saturday, and is scheduled to pull the 9:00am train to Silverton. Steve Jackson's shop crew in Durango is a top-notch crowd, and the loco is said to look "straight out of the box." I'm looking forward to seeing it next month. Also getting a fire for the first time this year is the Cumbres & Toltec's 497, another D&RGW 2-8-2. Her test runs and return to service should come within the next week or so. (Thanks to Leon Ford and John West.) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 23 August 2000 USA Dunellen Railroad Days | (NYS&W 2-8-2 142) You can't take a "Camelback to Dunellen" anymore, but you can still get there by steam occasionally. David P. Morgan eulogized the end of steam on the Central Railroad of New Jersey with a wonderful set of photos taken in 1953 by Philip Hastings. Riding CNJ Camelback 4-6-0 754 from Jersey City to Dunellen and return, Hastings was allowed free reign with the locomotive, and produced a wonderful portrait of a typical commuter train behind steam. "Dunellen, Railroad Town" celebrates its railroad heritage (it's near the former-CNJ facility at Bound Brook, NJ) with "Railroad Days" in September, and the Susquehanna's Chinese Mikado 142 will be on hand to provide trips from Dunellen west to High Bridge, NJ. See the schedules page for details. You won't get to ride on the coal pile or the running boards at speed like the good Doctor Hastings did. And CNJ commuters never had the chance to ride in a Rio Grande dome car like you can. But steam at Dunellen is reason enough to attend, isn't it? (Thanks to Rob Hooper.) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 14 August 2000 USA Tarantula Train | (Fort Worth Steam) There's finally some good news about steam coming out of Fort Worth. After a year of bad news concerning the "Tarantula Train" which runs on the Fort Worth and Western (see the archive), work is being scheduled to return ex-SP 4-6-0 2248 to service. The work will be contracted out to Ron Larson, a former FW&W employee and one of those who quit during Coe Sun's tenure. Wheel work as well as a boiler inspection are required. And nearing completion is the overhaul of ex-SP 2-6-0 1744. 1744 was purchased by FW&W from the Heber Valley to provide a backup to 2248, but never ran in Texas. It was subsequently sold to Rio Grande Pacific Corporation and overhauled for use on the New Orleans & Gulf Coast, one of RGP's shortlines. Plans are to offer excursion service from a terminal across from the French Quarter. Painting is under way, and when final assembly is done test runs could be scheduled on the FW&W. We'll keep you posted. (Thanks to Wayne Weiss and Jim Hollis.) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 14 August 2000 USA Railway Preservation News East Broad Top RR Friends of the East Broad Top Erik Ledbetter's "Steam Safari" | (East Broad Top) The East Broad Top Railroad celebrated the 40th anniversary of its 1960 reopening this weekend with a big celebration. Trains were filled, tours were given, and politicians were speaking. Read about it at Railway Preservation News - RyPN's Erik Ledbetter was on hand for the event. Now, a plug. EBT's annual Fall Spectacular is held in October. Every serviceable locomotive is fired up, three trains plus the M1 motorcar is put out on the line, and you can go inside many of the historic buildings on tours. EBT is one of those rare time warps like Ely, NV, and Chama, NM - standing at the roundhouse on a cold, clear morning as no. 12 backs out and gets turned on the Armstrong turntable, you are reminded that this has been happening since she was built in 1911. So make your plans to go to Rockhill Furnace in October, buy the two-day pass, and enjoy yourself while you do something good for the EBT. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 11 August 2000 USA PRPA Web Site | (ex-SP&S 4-8-4 700) Less than a year after the Murdock Charitable Trust awarded them a grant (see the archive), the Pacific Railway Preservation Association has completed a successful steam-test of their Spokane, Portland & Seattle 4-8-4. One defective staybolt was found during two hydrostatic tests and the steam-up on Wednesday. 700's boiler is now in compliance with the new FRA 49CFR part 230. Congratulations to PRPA, and best of luck in buttoning up the 700 and getting her out on the road again. (Thanks to John Cox.) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 11 August 2000 United Kingdom Swanage Railway | (ex-BR 4-6-2 34072) Unrebuilt "Battle of Britain" Class Pacific 34072 "257 Squadron" is currently getting some firebox work at the Swanage Railway on the Channel coast, and the resulting photos offer an interesting look at the "Spam Can." | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 "257 Squadron" with firebox jacketing removed at Swanage. Photo by Andrew P. M. Wright. Copyright 2000 Andrew P. M. Wright, all rights reserved. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| That's the nickname given to the unusual steamlining job applied to the Pacifics when built. The other "notable" feature of these locomotives is a chain-driven valve gear. (Both were replaced during rebuilding of many of "257 Squadron's" class mates in both the "Battle of Britain" and "West Country" classes, as well as the larger "Merchant Navy" Pacifics.) In either version they are attractive locomotives, and well worth seeking out if you visit the United Kingdom. (Thanks to Andrew P. M. Wright.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Peter Frost taps a hole for one of the many new staybolts being installed on "257 Squadron." Photo by Andrew P. M. Wright. Copyright 2000 Andrew P. M. Wright, all rights reserved.  Derrick Upshall grinds down the weld on a firebox patch. Photo by Andrew P. M. Wright. Copyright 2000 Andrew P. M. Wright, all rights reserved. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7 August 2000 USA 203 information more 203 information | (ex-R&R 2-8-0 203) Gulf & Ohio's Rockton & Rion 203 (see the archive is turning out to be a normal steam overhaul - one unavoidable delay after another. Original hopes were for an May debut - it now looks like 203 will be ready for football season in Knoxville. (G&O's trackage runs right beside the University of Tennessee's Neyland Stadium.) Good luck, guys, and promise me you won't put any Vol colors or insignia on the engine - or this Auburn graduate will ban you from SteamCentral . . . (Thanks to Scott Gatewood.) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7 August 2000 USA Union Pacific RR | (UP 4-6-6-4 3985) Union Pacific's "Challenger" has arrived in the Los Angeles area for display at the Democratic National Convention next week. Union Pacific has "spruced up" an area of Amtrak near Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal, and 3985 is being held at UP's yard in East LA until the passenger car fleet, currently making a coast-to-coast death march from Philadelphia, is in place at the temporary facility. (Thanks to Stan Garner.) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 3985 at Cajon, CA, 12:07pm Sunday, 6 August. Photo by Stan Garner. Copyright 2000 Stan Garner, all rights reserved. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 August 2000 United Kingdom Mid-Hants Railway | (BR 4-6-2 34016 "Bodmin") When last we saw "Bodmin," it was in pieces on the floor of Mid-Hants' Ropley Works (see the archive). Since then, the locomotive has been completed, reached 72mph on its TEST run, and has become a regular on the "Cathedrals Express." | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 ex-British Railways "West Country" class 4-6-2 34016 "Bodmin" stands on the "Cathedrals Express" at London Victoria on 28 June. Photo by Chris Cornell. Copyright 2000 Chris Cornell, all rights reserved. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The "Cathedrals Express" is a series of Wednesday trains, the destinations alternating between Canterbury and Salisbury, aimed at the well-heeled market. (This makes two high-end dining trains - the Venice-Simplon Orient Express being the other - hauled by Southern Pacifics out of Victoria.) Backup power for "Bodmin" on the dining trains is "Merchant Navy" 4-6-2 35005 "Canadian Pacific," absolutely stunning in the short-lived BR blue scheme. These trains mark the return of steam to the "white cliffs of Dover" on the train's return to London. In the works for "Bodmin" next year is a return to the city of Bodmin in Cornwall. THAT should be one not to miss. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 August 2000 United Kingdom A1 Steam Locomotive Trust | ("BR" 4-6-2 60163 "Tornado") Progress is steady on "Tornado," being built from scratch as the 50th Gresley A1. The wheels have now been completed, along with the motion and cylinders. The last major assembly to be sourced is now the boiler; to push that along, David Elliott becomes a full-time Trust employee today, not only to speed the completion of the boiler but also to begin developing the paperwork necessary to operate a locomotive (certification papers, operating procedures, etc.). He will also have some fund-raising responsibilities. Good to see you won't get bored, David. All the best. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 August 2000 USA SLSTA | (ex-SLSF 4-8-2 1522) Saint Louis Steam Train Association has followed up their announcement of Amtrak certification by announcing an excursion with Amtrak Heritage equipment to Hannibal and West Quincy, MO, at the end of September. The St. Louis chapter of the NRHS is the sponsoring organization. See the
|
