Not without spending megabucks for repair parts that aren't available and are no longer manufactured. 1218, especially, is reported to have been effectively gutted after its last, uncompleted, overhaul when NS decided to get out of the steam business.
Chuck
All it takes is money. Both could be made road worthy. As I understand it, 611 is due for an inspection/overhaul. 1218 was in one when the decision was made to stop the steam program. All the stuff for 1218 is with her. The guys that worked on her knew class when they saw it, too.
And before someone says there is a busted feedwater pump, or piston, or whatever, with enough money and skill you could still fix it. There are shops that if you give them a broken casting, they will give you back a new casting... and an engineering drawing, and a mold to make another one if you ever need it.
Virginian wrote: All it takes is money. Both could be made road worthy. As I understand it, 611 is due for an inspection/overhaul. 1218 was in one when the decision was made to stop the steam program. All the stuff for 1218 is with her. The guys that worked on her knew class when they saw it, too.And before someone says there is a busted feedwater pump, or piston, or whatever, with enough money and skill you could still fix it. There are shops that if you give them a broken casting, they will give you back a new casting... and an engineering drawing, and a mold to make another one if you ever need it.
Not to mention a bill about equal to the original price of the locomotive!
Now, show me a railfan with:
For somewhat less, he could buy a partnership in Virgin Spaceways - which is NOT obsolete technology.
wyomingrailfan wrote:If the plans aren't locked up or destroyed, and new ones were made, and VRM releases 611, it'll run again.
All of which will happen when the hogs all earn IFR/Commercial Pilot licenses.
The four-legged variety, not your school's alumni.
It's dead, folks. Let's let it rest in peace at VRM and press on to something more achievable.
tomikawaTT wrote: wyomingrailfan wrote:If the plans aren't locked up or destroyed, and new ones were made, and VRM releases 611, it'll run again.All of which will happen when the hogs all earn IFR/Commercial Pilot licenses.The four-legged variety, not your school's alumni.It's dead, folks. Let's let it rest in peace at VRM and press on to something more achievable.Chuck
dredmann wrote:Some folks' negative outlook is a bit extreme. Words like "dead" just don't apply, you just can't say never about this sort of thing. VMT (not VRM) does not even own it, the city of Roanoke does. Even if VMT owned it, they need money, and could profit greatly from an operational 611. NS doesn't need to agree to run it; it just needs to be hauled (cold or even on a flatcar) to some place that will let it run.If you want something like the old NS steam program, well, that is truly a long way off. If you want to see 611, or 1218, or any number of other steam locomotives run, all it takes is money (figure, oh, $100,000 to $5,000,000) for restoration of a non-operational locomotive and track (which means convincing a Class I--not impossible--or finding a willing smaller road). It does happen. It just doesn't happen often.
My outlook isn't negative, it's realistic. Look at the continuing, "Why won't they rebuild a Big Boy?" discussions. The people who want 611, or 1218, or (fill in favorite display loco here) to run again don't have the money (or political clout) to pull it off. The people who do have the money and clout have other priorities. (Incidentally, $100,000 wouldn't even begin to pay for pre-overhaul disassembly of a large steam loco.)
I, personally, would love to see that big bullet nose under steam again. I would also love to see the battleship Texas go to sea... (I can do without the porcine pilots, unless they wear diapers...)
No doubt there are lots of people who want to see a steam locomotive restored, who lack the money and/or clout to get it done. No doubt there are more than a few people who have the money and clout to get a steam locomotive restored, who lack the interest.
But the simple fact is that, over the last ten years, more than a few steam locomotives that sat dormant for extended periods have been restored and/or returned to operating condition. It can be done. It has been done. Several times. It will likely happen again. Want to bet Ohio Central gets NKP 763 running?
As to cost, the $100,000 figure was for a restoration of a little indistrial tank engine, or the reactivation of a locomotive that had been restored and was stored serviceable some years before. SP 1744 sat outside, partially covered by a tarp, for six years, but was returned to operating condition fairly quickly and without (as I understand) huge expenditures. N&W 611 was operational when NS pulled the plug in 1994. Since then, it has been stored mostly inside. I suspect that it could be made ready to run, physically and legally, without spending millions.
Of course, making 611 ready to run is a far cry from putting it in the mechanical condition and legal status to run something like the old NS steam program. And running occasionally on some short line is a far cry from regularly running a thousand miles from home over Class I main lines.
As for U.S.S. Texas, that would be nice, but I think I'd rather see U.S.S. Alabama or maybe even U.S.S. Olympia. But the expense of putting any of them in operational condition would make restroring a Big Boy look like buying a cup of coffee. And I don't imagine the government would be too keen on the idea of somebody other than the Navy having the capacity to launch armor-piercing, exploding shells that weigh (well, for the Alabama, anyway) more than my first car, and send them 25 miles.
Another problem, the biggest one, is "WHERE" are you going to run it? (a restored mainline steamer) The 765 is (has) been ready to go for 2 years. Fully restored and can't even get onto a mainline. The only "smoke" from it is they are planning something.......STILL
Worse than that, the FRA clock ticks away.That is a lot of wasted money and effort folks!
763 will run, they have their own trackage and a commitment in their minds to do so.I wish them Good things!
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