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| The Crystal Ball | ||
| by Jim Wrinn | ||
| Yes, indeed, there was steam in the spring of 2002, and it's looking as if engines big and small will be out and about in the third and fourth quarters of this year too. This writer was lucky enough that between the start of April and the end of June, I was able to photograph and/or ride behind operating examples of the following: A two-truck Climax Three three-truck Shays a 2-8-0 Ohio Central's 4-6-2 and 4-8-4 and the nation's largest operating steam locomotive, Union Pacific 3985. I was truly blessed and amazed to see so much steam in action A couple of notes on this spring's fun before the preview to the last half of 2002. You'll enjoy Durbin & Greenbrier Valley's two-truck Climax, No. 3, on the former Chesapeake & Ohio Durbin Branch. A secondary mainline years ago capable of handling everything from a 2-8-4 to a Reading T-1, the line is now nothing more than the overgrown equivalent of a logging railroad-a perfect place for a Climax. Slogging along with a tank car, open gon and a caboose, she's right at home. The Midwest's Amish steam delight, Ohio Central, laid on a super weekend June 8-9 with a surprise 4-6-2/4-8-4 doubleheader for part of the line's Dennison-Sugar Creek excursion, then put on a day's worth of runbys with newly rebuilt, ex-Grand Trunk Western 6325-all dolled up as her old self right down to the GTW style metal extra flags, number plate and lettering. Incidentally, the drive from the Carolinas to Ohio only reinforced the pain of what once was (NS steam program) and what is out there now (the closest, 4-8-4 is now 6 hours by car away! And lastly, leave it to the UP - the Big Yellow Machine must be the only company in the world that can run mainline steam and arrive at the destination not one day but two days in a row 3 hours early! As a passenger, I have only high compliments for such service. And to pull it off in the busy Kansas City terminal area on June 23, was simply incredible. If you could have only see the crowds of people in Minnesota, Iowa and Missouri who came out to watch the Challenger roll by, it would have truly made you smile. The one town that staged a tractor-pull in honor of the event was truly unique. Now, to the next round of fun. Union Pacific will have 3985 available on "home turf" three times this month for the public, including Denver-Cheyenne and Cheyenne-Laramie trips. Details For the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo trip on July 20, visit cfdtrain.com. For the next day's one way trip (with bus return), visit rockymtnrrclub.org. And for the Cheyenne-Laramie classic across Sherman Hill, visit shermanhillmrrc.org. August's big event is A&TSF 4-8-4 3751's trip to Arizona for the National Railway Historical Society convention. The big northern also gets a shot at the Grand Canyon branch, which did accommodate big the Santa Fe's engines. I suspect that the Aug. 24 trip from Williams to Grand Canyon, set to include both the Santa Fe engine and ex-Burlington 4960, should be quite a show. On the in-bound and out-bound moves, let's hope folks running these trips take some cues from the St. Louis Steam Train Association trips last June and put the Amtrak diesel tagging along for HEP on the back of the train so as to not mar the 4-8-4's show. Details: canyonrails2002.com. The first big event of the fall is SP&S 4-8-4 700's outing to Montana. The third largest operating steam locomotive in the land is expected to pull, with diesel help, a 17-car train on Montana Rail Link. Eastbound, the four-day trip is Sandpoint, Idaho to Billings, Mt., starting Oct. 11; the return is also four days and starts Oct. 17. Details: montanarailtours.com. Lastly, the "good news-bad news" dept.: Here in Carolina, we welcome the addition of New Hope Valley 0-4-0T 17 to the list of active locomotives. No schedule has been published for the engine's outings, but she has been successfully test fired. In Michigan, Little River Railroad 4-6-2 110, world famous as the smallest standard-gauge Pacific ever built, is idle this year. The owners of the engine, which once plied the backwoods of Tennessee, said they're negotiating for a new trackage lease on the host shortline; in the meantime, they're performing a 15-year inspection on the engine. Truly good news for the long run. And I'm saddened at the news that St. Louis-based Frisco 4-8-2 1522 will be sidelined. She's got to be the loudest engine in steam today and it's a shame to see the only Mountain type parked. Let's hope that times will change and that she'll get to steam again once more. | ||
| Jim Wrinn, 41, is editor of The Charlotte Observer's "Living Here" newcomer's guide this summer and a fireman at the N.C. Transportation Museum's on-site rail ride in Spencer, N.C., which means stoking Graham County Railroad Co. Shay 1925 on selected weekends. The next Crystal Ball update is Oct. 1. Comments, suggestions, corrections and additions can go to crystalball@steamcentral.com. | ||
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