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| The Crystal Ball | ||
| by Jim Wrinn 1 October 2001: | ||
| Opportunities. That is really what this quarter's Crystal Ball is all about-some that are available and some that are lost. As case examples, consider significant bits of recent news about steam operations that have gone little noticed. One is a bit of good news; the other very sad. One is the sale of ex-Middle Fork Railroad two-truck Climax No. 3 that had been at the Connecticut Electric Railway Association Inc. for many years to the Durbin & Greenbrier Valley Railroad of West Virginia. For the princely sum of $200,000, the line just north of Cass got a charming 55-ton Climax built in 1910. Moreover, it's been stored inside and operated periodically; give it a 15-year-inspection, new tubes and general maintenance and she'll look great toting some open air sightseeing flats on the ex-C&O Durbin branch. Here's an opportunity for an engine to go home again and to see quite a bit of use. For such a relatively new line-the route has only been in business 3-4 years-this is surprising, but truly good news. The other example is the demise of Wisconsin's Kettle Moraine Railroad at North Lake. This is a spur of an old Chicago & North Western branch that's been home to an ex-McCloud River 2-6-2 No. 9 (a low-slung logging Prairie that appeared on Kalmbach's cover to the annual tourist railroad and museum guide) and a two-truck Heisler from Montana. The line has been a tourist road since 1972 and I'd wager that most folks expected it "would always be there." I had the good fortune of visiting the line in 1996 and again in 2000. I enjoyed a cab ride in the Prairie one year (amazingly open and airy) and the Heisler the other visit thanks to co-owner Steven Butler's generosity. Located not far from Milwaukee, the line's ridership has plummeted year by year while suburbanization has filled in its once-rural area of operation. Steven had plans to restore the line's ten-wheeler to operation, but now it's anybody's guess what will happen to this collection. Truly an opportunity lost. So, as you rejoice in Ohio Central's recent victory in returning 6325 to the mainline, don't tarry to buy a ticket or show up lineside with your Nikon in hand and plenty of film. Is Canada really that far away that the "CP Empress," Candian Pacific's recently restored Hudson 2816, is outside your grasp? These are opportunities. They may last; they may not. And while you're at it, is there a project you've been meaning to donate money or time to but "just haven't gotten around to it"? Another set of opportunities, folks. Do something with them. A few steam related notes before I call B&H photo for some more Kodochrome 64: * At my own place of volunteerism in Spencer, N.C.,, ex-BC&G 4, aka NCTM 604 wraps up its last month of service during October before undergoing a 15-year-overhaul this winter. She'll be out most weekends-operating opposite Thomas the Tank Engine the first two weekends of the month, resting up the weekend of the 20th and running again the 27th and 28th before wrapping up the steam season with GCRR Shay 1925 Nov. 10 during the ARM/TRAIN 2001 convention. (Details on ARM/TRAIN are at www.visitsalisburync.com.) * According to Illinois Railway Museum's web page the nation's only operating Russian Decapod, Frisco 1630, is out for the season awaiting new arch tubes as part of her 15-year inspection. IRM says they expect the engine will be back in service in 2002. * If plans for the 2002 NRHS meeting plan out, you won't want to miss this one. Pending negotiations with BNSF, Amtrak and the folks in San Bernadino, Calif., who maintain AT&SF 4-8-4 3751, the engine will make a Los Angeles-Williams roundtrip. Now if she'll make a side trip to the Grand Canyon with Pullman green coaches, that will be worth suffering through the August monsoon season. | ||
| Jim Wrinn, 40, regrets not taking the opportunity to ride and photograph SP&S 700 in May, but is glad he went to Wisconsin in June to ride and photograph Soo Line 2719 as she strutted one last time on the Wisconsin Central mainline. He lives in Statesville, N.C., with wife, Pam, and cats Val and Taylor. | ||
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