Just made it onto the newswire. I thought I’d save you all the trouble of having to go there and look again today. Cheers! Jim
TRAINS News Wire Breaking News, April 21, 2006
More Chinese steam coming to the U.S.
PITTSBURGH — Mainline steam in China is finished, but two Chinese locomotives will have a second life in U.S. in 2006, with three more possibly coming later. Railroad Development Corp. of Pittsburgh said Friday it has acquired a pair of Chinese class QJ 2-10-2 locomotives, including No. 7081, which had the distinction of hauling the world’s last regularly scheduled mainline steam passenger train. The other is No. 6988. RDC (www.rrdc.com) is a privately held railway management and investment company which owns or has financial interests in rail properties in the U.S. and six other countries in Latin America, Africa, and Europe, including the Iowa Interstate Railroad linking Chicago, Des Moines, and Omaha.
According to RDC Chairman Henry Posner III, the two locomotives were overhauled in China by the Jinzhou 701 Works to meet U.S. Federal Railroad Administration standards, under the supervision of steam consultant Dennis Daugherty and under contract with U.S. company Multipower International. They were being shipped through the Chinese port of Dalian, and upon arrival in the U.S. will be shipped to the Iowa Interstate on special eight-axle flatcars. Once in Iowa, the pair will be fired up and operated once, to demonstrate that they are FRA compliant and operate properly. Posner says the locomotives will probably be tested in regular freight service on the Iowa Interstate.
Why bring Chinese steam to the U.S.? “It’s a test of the market, without any preconceived notions,” Posner said. “I didn’t see anyone else putting their hands up to buy these engines in the last year.” Ideally, there would be a market to resell the engines to regional or tourist railroads. Absent that, other methods of generating revenue would be examined, such as serious
All well and good, but, where will they run them (if they can do so at all) and where will they be able to run without being impoverished within a short time? People ride a train once, then not again, unless it has something special to offer the riders.
Oh man… If I won the Mega-lotto, guess where phone-call #2 is going to go!!!
I’d snatch up one of them QJs or even an SY ASAP ( I could always rebuild the SY like a Soviet P-36 class! One of the coolest streamliners not many know about) and run it all around the country on my own private “Orient Express” tour type business!
What a lot of museums with dormant steam locomotives need is that Chinese steam expertise. I have not been to the Mid Continent RR Museum’s (North Freedom WI) “snow train” since they made it diesel out of necessity because their last steam engine ran out of flue time.
Dave Nelson
I really can’t see anyone buying these locos with the intent to operate them (which is a shame). With the cost of fuel these days, it would cost a small fortune to steam them. Besides, there are very few places in north america with track that can take a ten-coupled locomotive.
Why are you thinking this? On the opposite I consider it’s a good thing someone wants to keep them in order…I recommend you watch videos showing these engines working hard on the Jing Peng Pass 200 miles north of Beijing (and unfortunately I missed this as it ended only on last december…[:(]).
As an american trains fanatic, I consider the vision of a double header of these 2-10-2s working a long freight on the grade at this Pass is worth the sight of a video showing Santa Fe 3751 or UP 3985…