Alas, we get the same type of question on the Adirondack. And most of them have to walk right past the locomotive on the way in from the parking lot...
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
Just another example of a news reporter who knows nothing about trains -- and it would probably be safe to say that 95% of the people who see the photo don't know, or care, about trains, either.
Many younger versions of "John Q. Public" don't know what a steam locomotive is. I frequent a tourist railroad with "Steam Railroad" as part of its name. They do run diesel sometimes for various reasons, but since the railroad name says it is a steam railroad people automatically assume that the diesel is a steam locomotive. I work at a railroad museum. When some people under 30 see the old manual typewriter on the agents desk they ask what it is. My response? A one hundred year old keyboard with a built in printer! Think about this: texting is actually telegraphy, punching out words and abreviations letter by letter. The only differences are no wires and the phone deciphers the message rather than the brain.
You can see that diesel, or one like it, at the Outeniqua museum web site. There are some better examples of what their steam looked like here.
The odd thing is that the trip the article describes apparently hasn't run since 2006. That's a somewhat worse lapse of fact-checking than mistaking the motive power in a stock image.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/10-classic-train-trips/ss-BBgZ7Oi
"OUTENIQUA CHOO-TJOE, SOUTH AFRICA
In operation since 1928, this quaintly named steam train chugs at a leisurely pace."
A very pretty picture, but the photo definitely shows a diesel locomotive.
Patrick Boylan
Free yacht rides, 27' sailboat, zip code 19114 Delaware River, get great Delair bridge photos from the river. Send me a private message
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