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[quote user="Paul Milenkovic"] I guess I don't have a problem with the Lempor ejector nozzle on the UP Challenger.These locomotives are antiques yes, and they are historical recreations of the heydey of steam, yes as well, but the alternate history in which steam stayed around another 10 years and locomotives got fitted with those ejectors is also part of the history.Try this analogy.  Suppose there was some group of wealthy EAA types who somehow got ahold and restored to flight status a B-36, complete with those monster R-4460 radial piston engines driving pusher props and those outboard jet engines.  Suppose some maniacs with time on their hands actually built the Variable Discharge Turbine (VDT) upgrade to the turbo-charging system of those engines that had been planned but never done.  Not quite sure what the VDT was, but it seems to be a kind of turbocharger that used the engine exhaust for supplemental jet thrust to the propulsive force of the engine.If there were some maniacs with enough time and money to do this, I would say, more power to them rather than complain that they are corrupting a one-of-a-kind antique aircraft.  Likewise with putting fancy ejectors or firebox systems on the Colorado narrow gauge of the UP Northern or Challenger locomotives.  Those systems are all part of the history of steam as they were conceptualized in many cases but not applied.This is almost like saying, no, don't hot-rod a 1932 flat-head V-8 Ford with chromed carbs, manifold headers, and other performance parts.  The 1932 Ford is a priceless antique and the Beach Boys committed sacriledge by memorializing the highly modified Deuce Couple in song.[/quote]I know this can be like splitting hairs.  Certainly locomotive owners can do anything they want with their locomotives.  But if they are using them to attract the public for an experience that is something other than transportation, then I think it pays to analyze what that experience is and what most of the public want it to be.  I am only offering my one vote in the matter.  I want the experience to be historically authentic as if frozen in time.  Others may want only the thrill of the ride, and may not ever care whether is it steam, no matter if modern steam or original antique.  Wasatch Railroad Contractors made the argument that railroads continuously upgraded their operations over their entire history, so this continual upgrading is a part of railroad history and should be preserved as well.  Therefore, they argued, rail preservationists were being hypocrites for refusing to embrace the practice on continual upgrades to their equipment.  But how do you preserve something if you upgrade it into something else?  Railroad preservation and railroad industry are two different businesses with two completely different missions.  It makes perfect sense to upgrade locomotives if you are using them for the purpose of transportation of passengers or freight.  But the customers of D&S are not buying transportation.  They are buying an experience preserved in a time capsule.  If D&S were to emulate railroad practice of continual upgrade, they would dieselize.
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