| Posted by on December 31, 2008 | |
Great shot! I only wish the 4012 at Steamtown looked this good cosmetically.
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It is to big for most Museum lines.
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Perhaps if one of your preservation groups were willing to pick up the tab for a load of fuel . . .
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UP sure had an eye for making their articulated locomotives look great. Oh by the way, I'm in favor of getting a UP 4-8-8-4 back out on the high iron!
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They did it with the 3985 Challenger, a group of UP employees took her from park retirement to running again. The 844 though has never been off the active duty roster since UP took delivery of her in 1944, my grandpa worked on the 844, and many other locos in Pocatello, Idaho. You have to give credit to the UP, they are the only class I RR in the US with an active steam program.
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I have too agree.The U.K steam enthusiastis seem to have an upper lip and willing too get thier hands dirty to built a whole new steam train with the return of the A1 Toronado.First steam locomotive in some 45 years.Plus the passion to bring older ones back onto the steel ribbons of British rail.The new A1 Toronado cost somewhere about 3,000,000 million British Pounds too build from scratch.That would be about 6 million USD,approximately.
Too build one Big Boy of these from scratch I figure would be about 12,000,000 million USD and with Corporate Donations whether with money or material then with commerical rights and again public donations with memebership and just all and all fund raising fun and I figure it could be done perhaps in half the time of the A1 which took 18 years from Pub (Bar) to rail and running.Although,restoration of an existing unit,possibly cheaper,but why.Why not find the Blue Prints and people who know how to buid one.That was one area even the British had to give in too.They had to Germany for help.All because the knowledge of buildng a steam train from scratch has died with the passing personel who used to build them.That is one area,that woul certainly need to be discussed.Is ther people out there who could do or remeber how too.
Then again,with the credit crunch,that could be the best excuse of all NOT to go ahead and better the British at thier own game.Oh,did I tell you there was a possible plan for another.
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Another problem to bring up with running steam locomotives right now is the insurance premiums. Insurance companys like to gouge operators with high premium costs. Great picture though!
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| Posted by Andrew on January 9, 2012 | |
I very good photo of a great machine.
With regard to restoring (or building from new), why doesn't the preservation people get together with the "education" people and use students learning things to help? I believe that some schools and further education places have "car mechanics" courses. You would not have to teach people how to build a loco, but students learning "pipework", welding and so forth could get 'hands on'practical experiance working on a project to restore a locomotive.
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