Have fun with your trains
QUOTE: Originally posted by vsmith How about this... exSP #3025 4-4-2 Atlantic w/ 81" drivers and 3 or 4 restored coaches, this engine is rusting in peace here in L.A. at Traveltown Museum in Griffith Park[:p]
QUOTE: Originally posted by DeLuxe I don´t know if 5 mills would be enough, but if I could restore a whole complete train, then it would be SP´s 1950 15 car Sunset Limited complete with Mail/Baggage car, Baggage Dormitory, Sleepy Hollow Coaches, Pride of Texas Coffee Shop, Audubon Diner, French Quarter Lounge and the 10-6 Sleepers with the Blunt End Sleeper too. And the probably best feature would be the 4449 deskirted and painted black pulling the train!!!
Go here for my rail shots! http://www.railpictures.net/showphotos.php?userid=9296
Building the CPR Kootenay division in N scale, blog here: http://kootenaymodelrailway.wordpress.com/
QUOTE: Originally posted by GN-Rick GN 2584, GN 3059, GN 2523, GN2507, GN 1147, GN 1246
QUOTE: Originally posted by davedaddykh1 Note: the C&O Allegheny has been moved indoors at the B&O Museum, which seems to have all kinds of money lately. Cross your fingers. My choice is the last mainline camelback, CNJ 592, a 4-4-2. I'd like to see this oddball suck the ditch lights out of an Amtrak train at 100 mph.
Dave
It's a TOY, A child's PLAYTHING!!! (Woody from Toy Story)
QUOTE: Originally posted by LL675 PRR M16755,PRR I1sa4483,(and I get to be the first to blow the Banshee!), C&O K4 2700,one of the two surviving NYC Mowhawks. Or maybe the $ would be better spent to "grease aome palms" so that some of what has already been restored could run....... Dave
Mechanical Department "No no that's fine shove that 20 pound set all around the yard... those shoes aren't hell and a half to change..."
The Missabe Road: Safety First
QUOTE: Originally posted by the feed A shay of any kind
QUOTE: Originally posted by Sancho1 You probably couldn't operate big boys everywhere though due to the size.
QUOTE: Originally posted by daveklepper How about a complete California Zephyr running from Newark to Emeryville, CA with a GG-1 pulling it Newark Philadelphia and the E-5 from Union heading the consist the rest of the way.
THE site for American Freedom Train fans http://www.freedomtrain.org
QUOTE: Originally posted by RaymondLowey The PRR GG1 would be my choice. to see that Engine under the wires of the NEC would be awesome.
QUOTE: Originally posted by Ray Dunakin I'd love to see a Big Boy under steam! More realistically, I'd use the dough to get some steam power into running condition at the San Diego Railroad Museum again, and then put the rest into a trust to pay for the upkeep on it so they'd be able to run on a regular basis.
My candidates would include a GG-1 and a string of "clocker" Budd coaches restored to their orgiinal deluxe Senator/Congressional interiors, operable still in the NY-Washington corridor (but not north to Boston, different power now., one of Amtrak's still-operating Heritage diners could be added.)
or the Pennsylvanina State K-4 with a string of classic P-70's, a heavywieght diner and a heavywieght 6-wheel parlor-obs.
or the E-33/EF-5 in Connecticut with modern electricals to operate in the corredor
or the Flying Yankee or the Nebraska Zephyr and the E-5
I would have chosen the California Zephyr, but isn't the Canadian as operated now a pretty good stand-in?
TomDiehl wrote:On the diesel side, I'd like to take a trip to Michigan and see if I could get hold of the last two Baldwin RF-16's, my favorite of the early diesels, and I understand, the last two of them in existance.
I'm afraid you can forget about seeing the sharks. The owner, John Larson, used to be very gratious towards railfans (he is one himself), however, there were some that were not so kind to him. After the Sharks had been vandalized (the airhorns, builder's plates, and I believe the bell also were stolen and never seen again. Airhorns and builder's plates were stolen from other Baldwin locos as well), he has locked them away in a shed. This is not the first time he was robbed either. After this kind of treatment he refuses to let any railfans on his property what so ever, and will personally arrest on the first site of one. He will change his mind if the property is returned and an appology made, but until then he refuses to let himself get burned again. I personally keep an eye out for anything that was taken, if I ever find any evidence of it, I will do everything in my power to return the property. I would appreciate it if others would do the same. The c/ns on the builder's plates are 75361 and 75372. If anyone has any information on the whereabouts of these items, please contact me. If you youself have them, please don't be afraid to return them. If you contact me, I will not press charges and will not even tell John your name if you so desire (you don't even have to tell me). All I want is for those sharks to be whole again. I'll tell you one thing though, if ANYONE vandalizes "MY" Baldwin DRS 6-6-1500 (actually the AZ RR museum's; I assist in maintaining her), I will run you over with the old girl!
Baldwins are the best!Matthew ImbrongoMechanical Vollenteer, Arizona Railway Museum
I'd buy an SD70ACe
really though, any steamer!
James
James, Brisbane Australia
Modelling AT&SF in the 90s
Dunko27 wrote:This is the one that I'd fix up. It's a Queensland Railways 1720 class GL18C (EMD 8-645E engine) built in 1966. QR 1722 at Redbank Workshops She's currently at Redbank workshops after a level crossing crash, however as QR are starting to retire the class, she may never be repaired. Some of the later members of her class have been re-conditioned and upgraded and will see a few more years. I'd spend a few dollars on her bringing her up to the same condition/status as her younger sisters (except for their new yellow and red paint job-repaint her in the old blue and white). She would then be passed to a local historical group with mainline access (there's only one that I know of in Queensland) to be used for regular running days. Any remaining funds would be spent on acquiring/upgrading some old timber long distance passenger cars. The intention would be to then go touring on a regular basis with selected groups of people around Queenslands' various underutilized outback branch lines. ...and US $5,000,000 is more like $6,800,000 Australian dollars so I'll keep the $1.8 for me!
I'm gonna miss those 1720's when they are gone, I hope they keep a few for Kuranda
If I had that money to invest, I'd spend it on restoring a couple of RS3's. Alco diesels are fast becoming an endangered species, so I think restoring and maintaining them is an important part of railroad history.
Plus, I happen to know of an RS3 (no engine or genset) up for sale in the Miami area...
BurlingtonJohn wrote:This is such a no brainer. I would restore the Mark Twain Zephyr, currently languishing in anonimity in Illinois. Regards, Burlington John
I totally agree here is a website for it.
http://www.railmerchants.net/mt-zephyr.htm
If I were given a sum of money this large, I would use it to restore to operating condition #5629, a Burlington Route O-5B class 4-8-4. And if it were possible to build from the ground up a CB&Q M-4 class 2-10-4, using the original blue prints from Baldwin, then that is what I might use the money for.
And if I had a few million dollars to spare, I would donate it all to keep certain big steam locomotives in operation and to cover their maintenance expenses, locomotives such as Milwaukee Road 261, SP 4449, SP&S 700, just to name a few.
CANADIANPACIFIC2816
I'd use 1 million to restore the Boone & Scenic's 2-8-0
I'd use the rest on \the Camelback
This is a perfect world dream... and a lot more than 5 mil. What I would like build would be a LARGE fully equiped restoration/training facility somewhere in the mid-west where museums and operators could send their personel to learn the process of steam locomotive restorations. The shop would be equiped well enough to be able to build locomotives from scratch if necessary, but the focus would be on restorations. Museums and tourist lines could not only send their workers there at no cost, but also their locomotives for full restoration. The ideal thing would for it to be backed financially so that the education could be done for free while the trainees were housed and paid while they learned their trade. Museums would be able to submit their locomotives for restoration and they would be chosen from a list of needs and worthyness. There would be a staff of "Subject Matter Experts" in each scope of repair where they could mentor the trainees in the process of a full scope of possible repairs. It of course would also have to have an operations/maintainence program in place where operators could learn best practices and safe operations. The facility would also have staff available and equipment that could be used to transport hulks inbound and the complete restorations outbound to wherever they are needed. Museums could then spend their funds on providing covered storage space and regular maintainence instead of funding the restorations. The end result would be a yearly output of qualified steam mechanics and a steady flow of operational locomotives for them to maintain.
Steve
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.
Not sure if it's been said or not, (no time to read all the posts yet), but I'd love to try to find, (if possible), an old 4-6-4 Hudson and re-streamline it as the 20th Century. There's something sad knowing that the New York Central was so efficient and confident that the Company would be around forever, that they cut them all up. It would be nice to think that somewhere in the world is an old J1 sitting and waiting for re-discovery.
Joe
clash wrote:I'd pull one of the CB&Q, S-4 Hudson out of the park and restore it.
YESS!!! That would be the one that I would want also.
Bert
An "expensive model collector"
So you spend a bunch of this money to buy a steam engine then you
have to spend a bunch more to rebuild it.Then comes the testing and FRA
inspections,then if it passes where are you going to run it.Most of the big railways
wont even let you on the lines.Well gents your 5,000,000 is gone now
what are you going to do.I worked on many steam loco's in the last few years
as a contactor you need very deep pockets to make this work.Do you realy
think that you are going to make any money from this,you would have it for sale
very soon and you just wasted a bunch of money.
Hmm, this is a tough one....I guess it would be to restore a 4 car North Shore Line interurban train. It would of course have to have the dining car (Car #415 would work as it still survives today) as well as the brass railed observation car (#420 would fit this as it too survives) a coach (many to choose from) and a combination coach baggage on the point. The remaining $$ could be used to have a long enough manline to let these beasts strut thier stuff at over 60mph. Then again a train of Montreal & Southern Counties wood interurbans would work pretty good too......
On a more realistic note, I would most likely donate it to the museum I currently volunteer at..Seashore Trolley Museum in Maine. That $$ would go a long way to protect the present collection(more barns) , give us a better shop to work in and possibly restore a car or two
Steve Loitsch
eric1987 wrote:No contest. I'd restore either N&W's 1218 or the 611. They are the finest steam locomotives in the East, and they deserve to be running. It might not take much ca***o restore them either; both are in excellent condition. It's time for them to come out of retirement.
Exactly! I would love to see the 611 and 1218 run again. Hopefully someday NS will change their minds or get some Steam fans in high places that will be more friendly to running steam.
I like to dream. I think there is a Hudson out there, but Bigfoot needs it to haul the Loch Ness Monster around!!!!
First I would ask around, if encouraged would do feasability study to see if a NYC Hudson operating replica could be built for $5 million ! That was one of the biggest steam tragedies - two 4-8-2 Mohawks were saved, but no Hudsons !
James E. Bradley Hawk Mountain Chapter N.R.H.S.
I think the greatest sight in railroading would be to see a Big Boy tearing along at about 60 with a nice size freight.A DM&IR 2-8-8-4 with an 18000 ton freight working hard at 35 mph would be impressive too.Consider too the ATSF 2-10-4's,PRR T-1,B&LE 2-10-4 and a P&WV 2-6-6-4.Iknow some of these don't exist.So maybe with a few more million you can build one of these new from the ground up.I f every railfan donated their annual salary-----maybe we should forget it.
Terry
biggest, baddest beast ANYwhere!
i'm with you. let's get 1604 back on the rails.
MopacBarrettTunnel wrote:How about something a little different - restore a Big Boy AND an Allegheny, and put them in a tug-of-war!!!! It would either settle or start anew many debates, believe me!! {We'd have to hire Ed King as the color-commentator, of course.}Make it a PPV-Webcast event, to recoup a little bit of the cost, and donate any excess to the NKP #190 Fund.......
A Baldwin 2-6-0 (class 8 20 D-117)
JanOlov wrote:Without any doubt I'd get this train back among the living. As Stevie Wonder sings......Isn't she lovely........?
You're on the same page as I am. But I would have restored the stream lined hiawatha set 1 from 1950 with the Super dome and the skytop lounge with a set of FP7s hauling it along. That would be wounderful. The stream lined hiawathas with the Atlantics and Baltics would have been quite a sight. If you can still find one of the steam engines still around.
Easy, since I live in the Philadelphia area with roots in Northeastern PA, with $5,000,000 I'd want to restore either RDG T-1 2102 or T-1 2124. Both of those are gorgeous engines that would look great running again.
In Savannah GA there is a Southern Railway backshop and roundhouse that is the home of the local "Coastal Society." About 2 years ago, I went to a Jazz Festival there and they steamed up a restored loco and a started up ((I think it was an F-7) a diesel that they owned. It is adjacent to the old Savannah railway station, but it needs to have a bridge and some trackage laid to connect the two. Savannah is also home to the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) that bootstrapped itself into existence and uses restore old houses as classrooms and offices.
I don't know where the tools and machinery went after NS auctioned them off, but they could be found.
Alternatively, wouldn't it be cheaper to send our old stuff to China for repair and restoration as they are winding down their steam program and have a lot of experienced boiler makers and machinists? That would stretch the $5 mil or whatever.
SteveC wrote: This is a perfect world dream... and a lot more than 5 mil. What I would like build would be a LARGE fully equiped restoration/training facility somewhere in the mid-west where museums and operators could send their personel to learn the process of steam locomotive restorations. The shop would be equiped well enough to be able to build locomotives from scratch if necessary, but the focus would be on restorations. Museums and tourist lines could not only send their workers there at no cost, but also their locomotives for full restoration. The ideal thing would for it to be backed financially so that the education could be done for free while the trainees were housed and paid while they learned their trade. Museums would be able to submit their locomotives for restoration and they would be chosen from a list of needs and worthyness. There would be a staff of "Subject Matter Experts" in each scope of repair where they could mentor the trainees in the process of a full scope of possible repairs. It of course would also have to have an operations/maintainence program in place where operators could learn best practices and safe operations. The facility would also have staff available and equipment that could be used to transport hulks inbound and the complete restorations outbound to wherever they are needed. Museums could then spend their funds on providing covered storage space and regular maintainence instead of funding the restorations. The end result would be a yearly output of qualified steam mechanics and a steady flow of operational locomotives for them to maintain. Steve
SteveC - I like the way you think in terms of the bigger picture. I would love to see your ideas played out anywhere in the States. Someone else mentioned pulling in the displaced Chinese steam workers as living examples and mentors of the lost skills. How cool would that be ? If we could find a benefactor ($$$) I'd quit my current job in a nanosecond and work at this mythical/mystical place full time !!
Dreaming .........
Mike
I like this idea too, believe you me. I was going to ask if we have the knowledge, tools, material etc today to build a NEW steamlocomotive like the NYC Hudson, NYNH&H I-5, any of the trains etc. etc. Not to forget a COMPLETE train like the UP M10004-6....is the blueprints still in existence?
i have agree with tomdeihl i seen both of them and it would be a fantastic just to restore one of them to their oringnal configurations be able see them run again.
PBenham wrote: MopacBarrettTunnel wrote:How about something a little different - restore a Big Boy AND an Allegheny, and put them in a tug-of-war!!!! It would either settle or start anew many debates, believe me!! {We'd have to hire Ed King as the color-commentator, of course.}Make it a PPV-Webcast event, to recoup a little bit of the cost, and donate any excess to the NKP #190 Fund.......Now, there's an idea! Why not have one of the surviving DM&IR Yellowstones, versus a Big Boy then N&W 1218 versus an Alleghany.With the first round winners going for the glory! And then we'll put it on PPV(Pay Per View) on regular TV. Hey! THAT would get me to get up and buy the cable box and HDTV, and the speakers and the beer and more beer and... There could be preliminaries like, say NKP 765 vs. PM 1225, UP 844 vs. ATSF 2906,
<>
<>Resurrecting this thread, how about something like an SD-90mac {6,000 hp version, please} / AC6000W -vs - Big Boy / Alleghany / Yellowstone?
Fun question! My choice would be the Texas Zephyr (1936 Denver Zephyr) By the way, anyone know who bought several cars of one of the TZ sets offered for sale on e-bay in late '06??
Hope it sold - hope it went to someone with the dollars to bring it back, even as a static piece. I rode it many times as a boy. It is part of a rich collection of summer vacation memories.
I would restore an actual train something like this:
Soo Line or Grand Trunk GP7 or GP9
Grand Trunk Flat Car
Norfolk & Western Steel Coal Hopper
1950's or 1960's era Boxcar setting somewhere.
1950's or 1960's era Covered Hopper
Pacific Car & Foundry Refrigerator Car, If not scrapped yet.
Soo Line or Grand Trunk Caboose
That would be a full train.
If I could rent it out for special events or video productions, then i might be able to make some type of money for operating expenses.
Andrew
Watch my videos on-line at https://www.youtube.com/user/AndrewNeilFalconer
I'd give it to IRM under the exception they rebuilt, umm, well, oh geez, well, they got SO MUCH.
Seriously, I'd love to see the little joe or the centennial. But I'd have to say the CB&Q steamer from Lincoln Park (west side pool) in Aurora. Tops on my list, being from there and crawling over it many, many times. plus it'd make the perfect sized steamer for their ops.
How about the "General" (4-4-0) at the Big Shanty Museum (recently(?) renamed to "The Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History) in Kennesaw, GA? It has been in a nice building and well cared for (at least cosmetically) since it was run to the museum under its own power. Granted it would require the latest FRA mandated updates and a full boiler inspection (and possibly major repairs since it has sat for so long), but $5M should be enough to get it running.
Semper Vaporo
Pkgs.
DeLuxe wrote:I don´t know if 5 mills would be enough, but if I could restore a whole complete train, then it would be SP´s 1950 15 car Sunset Limited complete with Mail/Baggage car, Baggage Dormitory, Sleepy Hollow Coaches, Pride of Texas Coffee Shop, Audubon Diner, French Quarter Lounge and the 10-6 Sleepers with the Blunt End Sleeper too. And the probably best feature would be the 4449 deskirted and painted black pulling the train!!!
4449 deskirted!
WHAT ARE YOU THINKING!??!?!?!
Have 4460 restored!
NEVER and I mean NEVER should 4449 be deskirted! Or repainted to anything BUT the Daylight!
I myself would FINISH restoring Great Smoky Mountains Railroad #1702 & Southern #722.
The rest of the cash goes to help the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad with other problems...
Take a Ride on the Scenic Line!
nutmeg1 wrote:Who Cares?! This posting is from 28 Feb 2006!!
Those that have an opinion, that might or might not differ from those already expressed.
wjstix wrote:What about starting from scratch??...
That's what I had in mind with the PRR S1 6-4-4-6 some pages earlier. Yes: the "A-1 Trust" in Great Britain is the proof that it works. And in Swiss manufacturer (DLM) produced some steam engines as late as in the 1990s! Completely newly designed steam engines! The takers of these are VERY satisfied with them, but up to date none has interest to do the same with a large mainline engine.
JanOlov wrote:What about that engine facility in old East Germany, could they do it?
I worked there for 3 1/2 years. In general they can do everything you would ask them to do concerning steam engines (and some other equipment, too), but a problem VERY DIFFICULT TO SOLVE - if it ever could at all - is the SIZE of modern North American steam engines. Although they have the same guage, it is BY FAR IMPOSSIBLE to get a boiler or main frame into these facilities, or out of them for the case of being built new, of - say - a medium size North American engine like a 4-8-4. In my time there we had many large European engines like 03 and 01 class 4-6-2s, and many 2-10-0s and 2-8-2s, and the famous 18 201, and this ALWAYS is a VERY close thing to handle them. The problem isn't the height but the length of the assembly line tracks. Even the large Europen engines sometimes lean into the field of the transfer table...
By the way: the Meiningen shops built the boiler for the British A-1.
Perhaps they would build a new large stand on their open-air ground if they ever would get any order to do something bigger... By the way: in my eyes it's not out of place to think so: when I see or read the costs of a rebuilding of a US steamer - one would get this for a fraction of the costs in Europe - and this done by workers with DAILY ROUTINE of working on steam engines. But then, of course, one would have to look what the costs are to ship the parts...
- Luke
Modeling the Southern Pacific in the 1960's-1980's
Ken A wrote:For me would be. The Aerotrain.
I think the above posting is quite correct, and so we should all thank the UP and CP for continuing to give us a taste of what modern steam operations are really like. I hope their steam programs will continue indefinitely. They are truly of tremendous value to North American history and culture. Both railroads are doing a tremendous job with these two programs.
But with the right parts and asbstos eliminations and new transformers, a reliable GG-1 could be possible and could be reliable enough to run regularly on the Corridor south of Sunnyside Yard, NYC to Washington, as long as Amtrak retains the current 25HZ electrification on this part of of the Corridor. I understand this electrification is still in good shape (except that much of the catenary is overdue for replacement) and there are no current plans to convert it to 60Hz, as was done by Metro North and used for the New Haven - Boston electrification. Amtrak might even appreciate the addition of one very reliable locmotive. Rewinding old armatures and field coils with new wire with modern insulation could make the old quill-drive motors more reliable even than modern motors!
There is only one train worth the five million dollar restoration: THE PHOEBE SNOW! And I would run it anywhere and everywhere!!!!
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Sancho1Great Northern Railway 2523, no contest. 1964 in Willmar, MN several years after retirement and before she was cleaned up and put on display. 2001 on display at Willmar, now has a new shelter over it.
Two choices both from my childhood and early train riding days. Southern's Crescent Ltd. big green Pacific powered. Atlantic Coast Line's East Coast Champion with those purple and silver E units. I road the Crescent as a child and the Champion as a teenager and later as a serviceman in the Coast Guard traveling on the East Coast.
I would do one of two things:
(1) Have Atlantic Coast Line P-5a Pacific No. 1504 restored to operational service. She currently sits in front of the Prime Osborn Convention Center (Old Jacksonville Union Terminal) in Jacksonville, Fla. The beauty of this idea is that it probably wouldn't cost $5 million. ACL did a complete operational overhaul of the 1504 before putting her on display in front of their Jax headquarters. Since she hasn't been run since (meaning no wear and tear on the moving parts), it would probably take very little work to make her fully operational again.
Failing that, I would love to have a shop which specializes in locomotive restoration, fabrication and replicating build a full-sized, operational replica of an Atlantic Coast R-1 4-8-4 Northern. But that would probably cost more than $5 million!
This would be my choice too, only the whole consist, from nose to toes..
Always will be a Road Fan
Great choice, the Atlantic Coast Line Pacific #1504, along with all the other fine trains that operated out of Jacksonville's Union Station. Ah well, now all we have to do is win the large power ball. Mind you, I'm partial to those green pacific engines that Southern ran.
All the best,
The Commodore
Mine has to be a layered answer because of different historic interests.
I'd probably rather see $5M spent on recreating a vanished New York Central J3a in full 20th Century Limited Raymond Lowey streamlining (though I'd bet $10M wouldn't even get the project halfway done).
If it were for an operating restoration of something captive in a museum, it might be the SP 4294 AC-12 cab forward at CSRM, though finding a place to run it wouldn't be easy these days. You'd have to have a $1M endowment just to keep it in good shape and fueled, too.
I wouldn't mind seeing a complete 5-unit brace of as-built Black Widow SP SD-9s, but I'd also want to see (and smell) a long train of lumber products behind them...
I'd love to have $5M to use toward replicating a complete pair of historically correct circa 1868-69 passenger and official cars and the miscellaneous clutch of freight cars that were at Promontory Summit in and around the scene of the great Last Spike driving ceremonies. The excellent replica 4-4-0s at Promontory NHS look too lonely...
sd40-2
My first choice would be the ERIE's last doodlebug #5012. Number two is Susquehanna S-2 #206. Number three, which would probably eat up all 5 million would be UP's Big Boy currently residing at Steamtown.
How about CNJ Boxcab #1000 with it's Reading inspired lettering. Then, have it team up with the CNJ Camelback #592 for a tour between Baltimore and Jersey City. Find a permanent home for equipment currently residing on the former Lackawanna Boonton Line.
PRR K-4s 1361. I`ve been cranky ever since it has been unservicable. I got to see her run in 1988,and I wonder if I ever will again?
Any money left over would go to getting another Pennsy steamer going or the LIRR 35.
Another wish is that I had enough money to make sure the East Broad Top is kept intact and even improved(restored).
It would have to be a UP Big Boy 4-8-8-4 to all its former coal burning glory ..
I'd restore CNW's 1385, currently sitting in pieces at Mid Continent Railway Museum. Any left-over funds would be used to purchase CNW's 8601 (the first C44-9W IIRC) and donate that to IRM.
Dan
Well, I'd restore SP's AC-12 4-8-8-2 cab forward #4294 to operating condition, but it would probably be a bit of a problem with UP, since they'd say, "Oh, we don't have Insurance to cover operation of that locomotive over OUR (their ex-SP) lines." That's what they keep saying about #4449, the only operational SP GS-4, currently residing in Portland (WAY out of its ex SP territory, BTW, but an always welcome guest steamer on BNSF).
But it would be kinda fun the next time UP sends their much-touted 4-6-6-4 out here to Sacramento to just grin and say: "Send the Baby back to Cheyenne and change it's diapers, we've got a REAL articulated, now."
Hee-Hee.
Tom
Tom View my layout photos! http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/TWhite-014/Rio%20Grande%20Yuba%20River%20Sub One can NEVER have too many Articulateds!
daveklepperso we should all thank the UP and CP for continuing to give us a taste of what modern steam operations are really like. I hope their steam programs will continue indefinitely. They are truly of tremendous value to North American history and culture. Both railroads are doing a tremendous job with these two programs.
K4s #1361, and if any money was left, restore some of the Broadway Limited cars that are still around to go with it.
If I was handed $5XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.
I would own a Big Boy. I know everyone would give me all the money to run it.
They would throw all the money I needed as I passed them by.
by all means a BIG BOY
That's a toughie...sometimes my mood dictates different answers. I love big steam, but $5M would typically just get the job done, and not cover long-term care or preservation. I think an endowment of a worthy rail preservation institution might be the better approach, so more could benefit, not just one "artifact" locomotive, car or structure.
That said, if I had to pick a steam locomotive today, and even tho' I'm a diehard Westerner I'd go for that New York Central "Mohawk" just because it's as close to an NYC J-class as we'll get unless someone springs for $50M to replicate a Hudson. I'd love to see an SP Cab Forward run before I die, but seeing as how there's only one and not enough money obviously available for its operational restoration and long-term fueling, and a semi-unfriendly UP to running anything other than their own steam power on former SP routes, I have a feeling that will go unsatisfied.
Someone has already beaten me to restoring the last Milwaukee Road 'Skytop' Olympian Hiawatha sleeper-lounge-obs, "Coffee Creek." That's my ultimate dream private car.
I would try to restore the T&P 2-10-4 # 610 back to operational condition. But the question was to restore a whole train, not just a loco. I don´t know how many T&P "Eagle" streamliner cars have survived, but it would be great to restore a complete consist, that could be pulled by the 610. I think that for an Eagle consist you need a baggage, a RPO, a coach, a "Planetarium" dome, a diner, a sleeper, and an lounge observation. So at least 7 cars are needed for this project. It would be great if excursion trips could be organized across whole Texas from New Orleans over Dallas / Fort Worth to El Paso over the old T&P line. But I don´t know if 5 Million $ would be enough for a complete operational Eagle restoration together with the 610.
As a New York Central fan, it would have to be the L-3a #3001 that is now sitting at the National New York Central Railway museum. It's rather sad that no Hudsons or Niagaras even survived the cutting torches for us to enjoy looking at.
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
Hello, My name is Andy and I live up in the PNW. I just thought you would like to know that this thread of yours is an outstanding place to engage in interesting, fun and light-hearted dialog and read what others think. This thread’s actually fun (not tedious) to read through. It’s not loaded with page after page of material that has been copied and pasted from other threads in an attempt to “stay on top”. Or worse yet, material that has already been posted to the same thread, then copied and repeated! Very interested in hearing what others would like to see restored and operating again. Very impressed with the knowledge that thrives here, from all over the country! I am one of those "silent types" who does a lot of browsing, but very little talking. So, just let me congratulate all of you for the material that has kept me interested for the last several years.
For my part, I think that a person would have a greater likelihood of being able to afford to run something not too big, small enough to venture off the mainline, but big enough to pull a few restored heavyweight cars.
There are a number of 2-8-2’s sitting around the country rusting away. Maybe a 2-8-2 able to run around 45 or 50 mph, pulling restored 1920’s era baggage car, heavyweight coach and lounge car with an open platform. Being able to venture off the mainline would afford the opportunity to operate on some of the country’s short line railroads if permission could be obtained.
There's this tendency among those contemplating projects like this to want to restore the huge engines of steam's latter days. The problem is, many of these engines were HUGE, and often were limited to certain territories. A lot of times the "latest and greatest" got early retirement, because they were unsuitable for anything but mainline service.
My thinking has been that restoration projects should center around moderately-sized engines that can be used on secondary lines. 2-8-2s and 4-6-2s would be better choices than 4-8-4s, 2-10-4s, or a Big Boy.
I don't know how much it would cost and whether $5M would cover it, but definitely the Santa Fe Super Chief including an ABBA consist. Then, Amtrak would run it from Chicago to LA. Since the trackage from Dearborn Station is no longer there, I'd settle for a departure out of LaSalle Street Station.
Rich
Alton Junction
I tend to think forward rather than back. I have no desire to return to "the good old days". I would use the money to put together a modern train that would address the needs of today and tomorrow.
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
But some of us have good reason to believe that 50-year old Budd domeliner equipment meets the needs of the tourist and other long-distance traveler better than anything since. The equipment on the California Zephyr and the Super Chief and the El Cap was as pleasant to ride for several days as Horizon and Superliner equipment today if not better. The Canadian still gets good reviews.
AltonFan There's this tendency among those contemplating projects like this to want to restore the huge engines of steam's latter days. The problem is, many of these engines were HUGE, and often were limited to certain territories. A lot of times the "latest and greatest" got early retirement, because they were unsuitable for anything but mainline service. ...
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Dan, you are right. I had not looked in this thread for quite some time, and don't even know if I have offered an opinion earlier...probably, but can no longer recall. But, it's funny you should say what you did because when I saw the 'rejuvenated' thread from the welcome observation preceding yours, I thought that $5M is not pocket change, and not even for refurbishing a steamer. So, I was in La-la Land thinking about some of my favourites, and what came to mind was the mighty Allegheny. I know there is at least one, and I would walk ten miles barefoot over broken glass just to get close enough to hear it lift a 7000 ton coal drag, let alone see it. I don't know what it would do to modern Class 1 rails in the eastern hills at 40 mph working near to capacity. It probably wouldn't be good.
Got any tweezers?
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