PTC won't be required on all lines, just major class ones and commuter agencies. Railroads like Strasburg and other short lines don't have to worry about it.
I wonder if there is a way they can wire it in to a trailing diesel, so the diesel PTC equipment controls for responding to PTC for monitoring and stopping?
Otherwise the big steam opportunities will be greatly diminished.
Surmising off the top of my head, and by no means a complete list:
The UP fleet will operate, of course, and the 261 crew seem to always make things work out.
2102 on the Reading and Northern, perhaps?
Strasburg 89, 90 and 475 should be okay.
The D&S, C&TS, and White Pass & Yukon narrow gauge lines should be okay.
630 and 4501 in Chattanooga seem to have access to a line, and the Texas State Railroad might be okay if they can stay afloat financially.
Great Smokey Mountain 1701 should be okay.
1225 might also be okay.
3415 in Abilene KS should be okay.
2100 and 4070 in OH should have access to the Cuyahoga Valley line.
D&NE 28 has access to the line along Lake Superior.
4449 and 700 have access to a short stretch of track for Christmas trains.
However, one would think that 3751, 4449, 700, 2926, 765, 611, 557 and 470 could have some challenges getting out on the high iron.
Hopefully there is a solution out there.
PRR steam locomotives had auto-stop equipment back in the 40s - 50s. The big problem is the cost. Bennett Levin will be running his PRR E-8s in the next couple weeks. This may be the last run of these locomotives. Even he can't justify adding PTC equipment to locomotives that only run 1 - 2 times a year.
MILW 261 is doing a fundraiser for their PTC.
Their excursion from Minneapolis to Duluth on June 9 and 10 will raise funds for the PTC install.
https://261.com/excursions/261-duluth/
Maybe someone knows more about this than I do, but the last word I've got is if a steam locomotive is going to be run on a line where PTC is required (and some are exempt) it's going to have to have PTC installed.
I haven't heard anything about "grandfather clauses." Presumably there aren't any. Oh, brother.
With the deadline for PTC looming, it seems like many questions about it have been popping up. I'm wondering about whether preserved steam locomotives will need to have PTC installed to go out on mainline excursions. I would think that they don't need to install PTC (grandfather clause?). And if they do, how would PTC be able to control a steam locomotive?
Matthew Cheng
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