Not so great news for steam locomotive fans

[Neil]

Just saw a message online from the Union Pacific RR. There are no plans to restore UP 4-6-6-4 Challenger type No. 3985.

              Quoting from the message- People have asked about the fate of No 3985. The short answer: There are no plans to restore No. 3985. Many years of hard operation have resulted in the locomotive requiring a complete frame-up restoration similar to what was needed to make No. 4014 operational. Historically, Union Pacific's steam program has had two steam locomotives on its roster, and that count will remain the same moving forward.
No. 3985 last operated in "regular" train service in 1957. It was retired in 1962 and stored in the roundhouse in Cheyenne, Wyoming, until 1975 when it was placed on display near the Cheyenne depot. A group of Union Pacific employees volunteered their services to restore the locomotive to running condition in 1981.
Where No. 3985 will ultimately reside is still in question, but it's safe to say the locomotive will remain officially retired from service.

             I know there are railfans on this board based on forum views, comment , etc when No 4014 steamed again.
                     - Neil

[Guzzistajohn]

So glad I got to see
4014 what a
Machine!

[bigbikerrick]

It was a real treat to see the BigBoy 4014 come into Tucson.  Just watching that behemoth take off in a huge display of steam power has to be experienced, to be appreciated!   
Rick

[oldbike54]

 Guessing the cost of bringing one of these behemoths back to safe operating condition is equal to the GNP of some smaller countries . The return on investment is zero , it seems unrealistic to expect a rail company to keep even one running , let alone three .

 Dusty

[Murray]

Guessing the cost of bringing one of these behemoths back to safe operating condition is equal to the GNP of some smaller countries . The return on investment is zero , it seems unrealistic to expect a rail company to keep even one running , let alone three .

 Dusty

No doubt  finding the skills and people to equipped to do it is likely to be tricky. However I have no doubt there is some kind of tax write off under marketing or similar.

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

I'm hoping this will finally be the year that C&O 1309 returns to the rails on the Western MD Scenic RR in Cumberland. Unfortunately, they're still falling short of the $$ needed to reach that goal.

http://cs.trains.com/trn/b/staff/archive/2020/02/05/it-39-s-time-to-steam-baldwin-39-s-last-steam-locomotive.aspx?fbclid=IwAR0RNpOlkvK8YpBbvaUYmUu5JB7Go8PBoYhA2L8QvYFKvbVfH2Z6oohOYwI


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February 7 at 11:46 AM ·
Figured you guys might like an updated post on the rebuild of Chesapeake & Ohio 1309 at the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad in Cumberland, MD. Here is some photos of some recent work being performed by crews of Diversified Rail Services. Notice the lagging on the firebox, new piping, front engine truck has been completed, and crown brasses pressed in and ready for machining (which has since been completed). This is a good thing for all of rail preservation to see the largest steam engine in regular everyday tourist service back on the rails once more, so consider donating for this final push. Photos by Grant Geist, Nathaniel Watts and Jason Sobczynski.-Kevin

Donation link...

www.wmsr.com/1309

[Sheepdog]

Just maintaining the boiler certification is expensive. I can't imagine the cost...it would take a crew of highly skilled craftsmen a bit of time, lots of machine work, x-ray and pressure testing, etc, etc. Still...it would have been nice.

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

Good news: Climax No.9 is back in action after 13 years in the Cass restoration shop! Cass now has three types of geared logging locomotives: Climax, Shay and (my favorite) Heisler.

https://youtu.be/4lYE_Bgydlg

[Gliderjohn]

We were able to see it between Salina and Abilene. Was probably running around 40 mph when I took the picture. So glad to have seen and heard it in action. I was parked about 20' from the tracks.



GliderJohn

[Guzzistajohn]

upload
Not my photo, but it’s a good one!

[Roebling3]

Running a bit rich?
Thank you for posting. Great film, sound et. al.  R3~

[s1120]

Ive been following this being a big steam fan.  It is correct that its kinda being mothballed. But you know, she is getting a little tired. They got the 4014 up and moving, and still have the 844 also. Thats two LARGE steam engines to keep up and run, for marketing reasons only. The 3918 is not getting scrapped. They just dont have any plans to rebiuild it in the foreseeable future. We might see it move into the shop...  Or not..  You know... You want to see them all saved...  But its a huge undertaking to just run one, much less rebuild one. I just hope its put up somewhere out of the weather. I would hate for they to loose the option of repairing after its sat out on a back track for a few decades.

[PeteS]

No doubt  finding the skills and people to equipped to do it is likely to be tricky. However I have no doubt there is some kind of tax write off under marketing or similar.

The skills are still there. UP did most of the work on 4014. Both Strasburg RR in PA  and Age of Steam in Ohio could do the work as well.

Pete

[bigbikerrick]

Amayzing video, Charlie! I love the sound of those steam whistles.
Rick.

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

Great news today, especially for long-time fans like me of the East Broad Top RR: https://eastbroadtop.com/

https://youtu.be/uf-FUJV_iaw


Nonprofit Buys East Broad Top Railroad, Plans to Renovate and Reopen

Pennsylvania’s storied East Broad Top Railroad has a new owner, a nonprofit foundation organized by a small group of prominent rail-industry figures and longtime EBT fans. The new organization will offer several EBT events in 2020 — the 60th anniversary of the start of tourist service on the railroad — and hopes to resume regular operation in 2021.

The organization, called the EBT Foundation Inc., will own approximately 27 miles of the line, from the south end of the concrete-arch bridge over the Aughwick River below Mount Union to the road crossing in Wood Township. The foundation will also own the narrow-gauge railroad’s shops, rolling stock, and equipment. The East Broad Top is a National Historic Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

“This is the best possible outcome for the railroad, which has been in my family for two generations,” says Joseph Kovalchick, whose father, Nick Kovalchick, purchased the East Broad Top Railroad & Coal Company after its coal mines closed in 1956. “It is with a combination of pride and relief that we pass the torch in its second reincarnation.” The Kovalchicks will continue to own coal-company property that had been jointly owned with the railroad.

“When my father bought the company, it was never his intention to scrap the railroad. At the time he was the only one to stand for the EBT, and his role in the history books is assured. My generation has struggled to balance the need to preserve this national treasure with running it as a business, and I take pride in our role in its survival. But it is clear that a for-profit business model is not sustainable. Our faith in the new model is reflected in both the sale and the Kovalchick family’s ongoing role on the board of the new non-profit.”

Financial details of the purchase will remain confidential.

Brad Esposito, a 20-year veteran of the Buffalo & Pittsburgh Railroad, a Genesee & Wyoming, Inc. company, led the effort to purchase the EBT, along with longtime EBT enthusiasts David Brightbill, Lawrence Biemiller, and Stephen Lane.

Backers of the new organization include three rail-industry and rail-preservation heavyweights: Wick Moorman, former chairman and CEO of Norfolk Southern and former CEO of Amtrak; Henry Posner III, a former Conrail manager who is chairman of the Iowa Interstate Railroad and the Railroad Development Corporation, of Pittsburgh; and Bennett Levin, a retired mechanical and electrical engineer who owns the Juniata Terminal Company, which operates two Pennsylvania Railroad E8 diesel locomotives and three private cars.

Esposito will become the general manager of the railroad. He says the EBT Foundation has a three-part mission. It’s committed, first, to preserving and operating the East Broad Top as a steam railroad; second, to educating visitors about the role of railroads in local and national history; and, third, to promoting local and regional tourism and economic growth.

Esposito says the new organization will immediately begin work on several fronts. The EBT has been closed since late 2011, and before operations can resume, the railroad will need to overhaul track and equipment, including locomotives and passenger cars. A fire-suppression system will be installed in the historic machine shops and roundhouse, and several structural stabilization projects will be undertaken in the railroad’s Rockhill Furnace complex.

“The East Broad Top is a unique national treasure unmatched anywhere in the United States,” says Esposito. “It has been impressively preserved for over 60 years by the Kovalchick family. We are excited to pick up the torch and ensure that the railroad is preserved for future generations.”

“Our close partners will be the volunteers of the Friends of the East Broad Top,” he says. “They have contributed countless hours of work and significant amounts of money to help preserve the historic fabric of the EBT since 1983.”

“Also, we look forward to working with the Rockhill Trolley Museum,” says Esposito. The all-volunteer trolley museum dates to 1960 and operates over the former Shade Gap Branch of the EBT. “This will be an exciting opportunity to promote and further develop tourism in the area.”

“The East Broad Top is a remarkable survivor from the age of steam railroading,” says Moorman. “I’m delighted to have the chance to be a part of its revival, both for the preservation of such an important part of our industrial heritage, and for the economic benefits that it will provide to an area of Pennsylvania that is so closely linked to the railroad industry.”

Levin notes that the EBT runs through a bucolic landscape almost unchanged since the early 1900s. “The railroad’s historic fabric is an important component of the region’s industrial archaeology, and the educational possibilities here are almost limitless.”   

The new organization’s advisors include Linn Moedinger, former president of the Strasburg Rail Road — one of the most successful tourist railroads in the U.S. — and Rod Case, a partner at the consulting firm Oliver Wyman who leads their railway practice. Among the organizations providing support is the Allegheny Ridge Corporation, which manages the region’s state-designated Heritage Area. The corporation “is thrilled to participate in the rebirth of this great asset,” says Astride McLanahan, a longtime board member of the organization. “The EBT is a jewel in the Allegheny Ridge Heritage Area and its revitalization will bring economic opportunity to this rural community.”

Built from 1872 to 1874 to haul coal to a new iron furnace in the center of the state, the 33-mile-long East Broad Top survived the collapse of the local iron industry at the turn of the 20th century because the top-quality coal it carried had found other markets, thanks in part to close cooperation with the Pennsylvania Railroad. When the last of the coal mines closed in 1956, the East Broad Top was purchased by the Kovalchick Salvage Company of Indiana, Pa. Despite being in the scrap business, the company left the railroad intact and in 1960 reopened a portion of the line for steam-powered tourist trains that proved widely popular.

With rails just three feet apart — 4’ 8 ½” is the industry standard — the EBT is the only original narrow-gauge railroad surviving east of the Rocky Mountains, and it is well known as one of the world’s finest preserved railways. The railroad’s shops complex, which dates to the 1880s and was greatly expanded from 1905 to 1907, is among the most complete early-20th-century industrial facilities anywhere in the U.S.

Still in the railroad’s roundhouse in Rockhill Furnace are six narrow-gauge steam locomotives built for the EBT by Philadelphia’s Baldwin Locomotive Works between 1911 and 1920. They share the building with the unique M-1 gas-electric, constructed at the railroad in 1927 with plans and parts from Philadelphia’s J.G. Brill Company, a leading streetcar manufacturer, and Westinghouse Electric. Other EBT equipment includes several passenger cars believed to date to the 1890s and numerous steel freight cars built in the EBT shops. The East Broad Top was the only American narrow gauge to convert to an all-steel freight car fleet.

Remarkably, track remains in place over nearly the entire 33-mile main line, which connected the coal mines in Robertsdale to the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Great Broad Way in Mount Union. The former PRR main line is now Norfolk Southern’s core east-west route between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh.

“The East Broad Top Railroad is a unique historic asset that is a national treasure representing our area’s rich railroad heritage,” says Sen. Judy Ward, who represents southern Huntingdon County in the Pennsylvania Senate. “The sale of this railroad to this group of longtime EBT enthusiasts who are committed to preserving and operating it as a steam railroad is very exciting news for the region because it preserves this irreplaceable treasure for future generations while opening up significant tourism and economic development opportunities.”

Says Posner: “August 13, 2020, will be the 60th anniversary of the East Broad Top’s first reopening, which took place during the bicentennial of the founding of what became the ‘twin boroughs’ of Orbisonia and Rockhill Furnace. This was an era of revised expectations in the face of the decline of the railroad industry nationwide. At that time Nick Kovalchick could not have imagined the possibility of reopening the entire line, but fortunately our industry’s renaissance has helped create an environment in which this important and audacious project can succeed. We are honored to follow in the footsteps of two generations of the family that has made this all possible.”

“This will be a monumental undertaking,” says Esposito, “and I encourage anyone interested in helping us to join the Friends of the East Broad Top and come work on buildings, track and equipment.”

 

[s1120]

Ive been following their fate for many years Charlie, and was happy to hear that yesterday. Ive wanted to go forever. But never got to when young, then life came along...  Later years I wanted to bring the kids, and then herd it was closed down.. Pretty sure there will be a nice ride on the bike out that way in the coming years. Its a nice day trip for me.

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

I'm hoping this will finally be the year that C&O 1309 returns to the rails on the Western MD Scenic RR in Cumberland. Unfortunately, they're still falling short of the $$ needed to reach that goal.

http://cs.trains.com/trn/b/staff/archive/2020/02/05/it-39-s-time-to-steam-baldwin-39-s-last-steam-locomotive.aspx?fbclid=IwAR0RNpOlkvK8YpBbvaUYmUu5JB7Go8PBoYhA2L8QvYFKvbVfH2Z6oohOYwI


On Facebook:

Trains Magazine
February 7 at 11:46 AM ·
Figured you guys might like an updated post on the rebuild of Chesapeake & Ohio 1309 at the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad in Cumberland, MD. Here is some photos of some recent work being performed by crews of Diversified Rail Services. Notice the lagging on the firebox, new piping, front engine truck has been completed, and crown brasses pressed in and ready for machining (which has since been completed). This is a good thing for all of rail preservation to see the largest steam engine in regular everyday tourist service back on the rails once more, so consider donating for this final push. Photos by Grant Geist, Nathaniel Watts and Jason Sobczynski.-Kevin

Donation link...

www.wmsr.com/1309

Best news of my 2020? 1309 moved under it's own power tonight for the first time in 64 years!
https://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2020/12/31-last-baldwin-western-maryland-scenic-no-1309-makes-first-move-under-own-power

[John A]

Thanks for the link, Charlie. Good news alright.

[Kiwi_Roy]

I was lucky to serve my apprenticeship on the New Zealand Railways at the end of the steam era, the workshop where I worked used this old F class loco "Meg Merrilies" to move wagons around
She was built in 1874 and put a lot of years into building the main trunk railway, in 1965 she was retired to Motat in Auckland where she was recently restored.
My favourite steam loco was the KA class built in the Wellington workshops, my older Brother was a fireman on the main trunk.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6awrtzXP3Sc
KA 942
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/Locomotive_Ka_942.jpg

[Huzo]

No doubt  finding the skills and people to equipped to do it is likely to be tricky.

Yep.
Look what happened to the Saturn 5 boys..and that was only 50 years ago...
The expertise got....”lost..” 

[grebmrof]

No doubt  finding the skills and people to equipped to do it is likely to be tricky. However I have no doubt there is some kind of tax write off under marketing or similar.

Yes, no doubt...however, a project of this magnitude is still an expense and a drain on capital (cash) needed for operating the part of their business that actually earns money for the company.  There is no free lunch and I am pretty sure there is no "tax write off" to subsidize a venture like this.  I hope someone more knowledgeable will chime in on this...anyone?