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| The Crystal Ball | ||
| by Jim Wrinn | ||
| 2002 has proved to be an exciting year for steam operations, but it also has been one that poses the ultimate question: How long is American steam going to survive? I really wasn't expecting to have to write those words. In fact, I never thought I'd have to type them in my lifetime, but things have changed so much in the last two years, that it's time we faced the question. Battered by a poor economy, rising insurance rates and the need to comply with expensive but badly needed new boiler regulations, steam in the U.S. faces probably the most uncertain future today than it has in 50 years. Whether it's been one of the big mainline engines, a tourist railroad or a museum operation, no steam operator has gone through 2002 untouched. All you've had to do is look around * Western Maryland Shay 6, the biggest surviving geared engine in the land and the last Lima made, sitting, waiting at West Virginia's Cass Scenic Railroad in May for paperwork to make her legal under the new federal regulations governing steam. * The Little River Railroad 4-6-2 110, the smallest standard gauge Pacific ever built, cold in Michigan after losing its lease on its host shortline. * The Cumbres & Toltec enduring a Perils of Pauline type struggle that's left it crippled and in an uncertain time. The Federal Railway Administration cited the line on track, and just as that was resolved, the U.S. Forest Service shut down the line as a stubborn drought left the region prone to fires. Now there is a critical need to bring engines up to date by the 2003 season. * The decision by the St. Louis Steam Train Association to retire Frisco 4-8-2 1522 at the end of this season, due to high insurance rates, the need to comply with new FRA steam rules and the lack of access to the mainline. Theoretically, on a good July or August weekend day, in the U.S. between 120 and 140 steam engines could be operational. Watch that figure dwindle over the next few years. So, did Ron Ziel write his book "The Twlight of Steam Locomotives" 35 years too early? Maybe and maybe not. My good friend Wayne Laepple has been involved in railway preservation projects for the last 30 years, many of them in the northeast. Here's how he sees it. "The days of 'mom and pop' tourist railroads and little local railroad museums are probably about over. Not only is the cost of insurance and compliance with 49CFR230 a problem, for the little operations, finding interested volunteers and even paid personnel is a problem. The other federal regs that require physicals, drug testing, operating rule books and the like are often way beyond the capabilities of the small operations. The solution, Wayne and I both agree, isn't to cry and cower or give up and retreat to the nearest trackside bar. As my editor at my newspaper likes to say, everything you need to know about life, you learned in kindergarten, and he's right. This time, it's safety in numbers. There will be fewer engines out on the mainline in the future, but the ones that are well organized and well managed deserve not only a membership but also some time either helping in the trenches or doing the administrative tasks out there. There's no need to try to drag another 400-ton beast out of the park. Regionally, there are enough good museums out there that have steam programs that need your support in donations, as volunteers and as folks who help spread the word. How do you decide which groups to help? First, look at their track records and see if they're doing things right, making things happen. Are they planning for success or just waiting to win the lottery? Second, see if they have a strategic business plan. Do they try to acquire every sick cat that's available or do they selectively acquire while weeding out the inferior? Third, see if they have the support-in either ridership, government backing or non-profit organization (or, ideally, all of the above) to make it financially. If they do, then help polish that shine to a glimmer. This is supposed to be a quarterly column about forthcoming events. So, my advice for the last quarter of 2002 is this If it's running this month, get out there and see it, ride it, buy a ticket, get a membership (sustaining), then take a deep breath. Resolve to get involved. Make 2003 a little bit better, and the year after a little better and keep on from there. | ||
| Jim Wrinn, a writer and editor at The Charlotte Observer, is a volunteer at the North Carolina Transportation Museum & Foundation in Spencer, N.C., where 2-8-0s 604 (BC&G 4) and Southern Railway 542 are undergoing evaluations for potential future operations. The next Crystal Ball update is Jan. 1. Comments, suggestions, corrections and additions can go to crystalball@steamcentral.com. | ||
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