Nine steamy things you can do this fall

Looking for lots of steam? Head to the southwestern corner of Colorado and northern New Mexico. This is the Durango & Silverton roundhouse in Durango, Colo., at night. Jim Wrinn photo

OK, so you had your heart set on riding or photographing Southern Railway 4501’s first excursions down south or catching a rare Spokane Seattle & Portland 700 excursion out west, but now neither one will happen this fall. Your other favorite locomotives, Southern Pacific 4449 and Union Pacific 844, are both in the shop. All four will hit the main line again at some point, but you’re ready to roll now. So what’s a steam fan with a decent travel budget, time to burn, and a sense of adventure to do for the last half of 2014?

You can pack the Nikon away and save your frequent flier miles and travel money for next spring, or you can get out and enjoy the show that is still going on. Here are nine ideas for steam enthusiast travel before next year.

1. Stick with the stars. 21^st Century Steam star Nickel Plate Road No. 765 will return to Ohio’s Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad Sept. 6, 7, 13, and 14 for a series of short trips. OK, gang, here’s your chance to have it both ways with a big engine: You can ride one trip in an open window car (something you cannot do on NS trips) and then photograph the others.  Details: http://cvsr.com/steam-in-the-valley

2. Stick with the stars II. Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum will be using another 21^st Century Steam star, either Southern Railway No. 630 or 4501 (hopefully ready for the road sometime in August) on its shortline partner trips into north Georgia. Dates for the Summerville Steam Special excursions are Oct. 4, 11, 18, 19, 25, 26, and Nov. 1. Details: http://www.tvrail.com/pages/summerville-steam-special

3. Narrow your horizons. In August both the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic and Durango & Silverton 3-foot gauge remnants of the Rio Grande run special trains. C&TS is running rare Mudhen No. 463 from Chama to Antonito on Aug. 12 and back the next day with both freight and passenger cars. The segment from Chama to Cumbres Pass will be handled with a chase bus so you’ll have no, yes, zero, zip, passenger cars in your viewfinder of that gorgeous narrow gauge freight train on the 4 percent grade. Details, tickets: http://cumbrestoltec.com/

The D&S’s 2014 True West Railfest is Aug. 14-17 and features a work train photo special, a presidential special to Cascade Canyon, and for something a little different, Rio Grande Southern Galloping Goose No. 5 in operation. Details: http://www.durangotrain.com/events/2014-true-west-railfest#.U8f9gqg-Mpw.

Additionally, D&S offers its fall photographers train Sept. 27-28, and at the C&TS there, Chama Steam Fall Madness with No. 463 Sept. 27-30 and Chama Steam Fall Classic, Oct. 24 and 25 featuring season-ending tripleheaded, yes, you read that right, tripleheaded Rio Grande Mikados.

4. Take the Four & a Quarter. Lehigh Gorge Scenic’s gorgeous 4-6-2 No. 425, better known to crews as the “Four and a Quarter,” is running regularly at Jim Thorpe, Pa., this summer and fall. Of particular interest is a photo outing with coal hoppers on Labor Day that originates at Port Clinton. I know the engine’s bright blue paint is tough for some to take, but beneath the hue is still a classic 1928 Baldwin passenger engine. Details: www.lgsry.com

5. Five in the PNW. Between Oct. 11 and 16, Pete Lerro has organized photo charters utilizing five different steam locomotives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. Do them all you’ll get the only operating Willamette (a Shay look-a-like) in the world, a big 4-8-4 (SP&S 700) knocking around the yard, and runbys galore on the stunningly beautiful former Southern Pacific Tillamook Branch using everybody’s favorite 2-6-2, McCloud River Railroad No. 25. Don’t dawdle, though. These are low capacity outings. Details: www.lerroproductions.com/photo-charters/upcoming-charters/oregon2014

Milwaukee Road No. 261 is the biggest steam locomotive of them all running this fall. This was a 2008 trip near Wisconsin Dells, Wis. Jim Wrinn photo

6. Have an Old Milwaukee. Milwaukee Road 4-8-4 No. 261 pulls its only excursions of the year, an overnight trip from Minneapolis to Duluth on Sept. 27-28. The good news is that the trip ends up in Duluth, a delightful city on Lake Superior, with lots to do and see (some call it the “San Francisco of the Great Lakes), not the least of which is the excellent Lake Superior Railroad Museum.

7. Southern Pacific on the Southern Pacific. Golden Gate Railroad Museum’s SP 4-6-2 No. 2472 performs at Niles Canyon Railway Aug. 31 and Sept. 1, running three times daily (again, the perfect combination to ride and photograph).

8. Preview coming attractions. With Western Maryland Scenic 2-8-0 No. 734 thundering upgrade to Frostburg, Md., and Chesapeake & Ohio 2-6-6-2 No. 1309 on display at the railroad’s Ridgeley, W.Va., shop, the Steel Wheels Festival Sept. 26-28 looks like a winner for this year. Work should be underway on the C&O Mallet so come and see the Big Boy of the East. Details: www.movingfullsteamahead.com/content/steelwheels

9. Mount Washington Cog Railway. Still kicking yourself for not getting to Mount Washington Cog Railway, home of those odd cogwheel 0-2-2-0s, before it went mostly to diesel? Plan to be in New Hampshire Sept. 12 for a steam photo event sponsored by the railroad.  Details: http://thecog.com/cog_events.php

If those nine aren’t enough, as they say in baseball, there’s always next year.