But at the same time it poses an issue, a locomotive is thought to “belong” to the area in which it originally ran, and moving 1522 hundreds of miles away-outside of it’s original territory- is unthinkable to the people who adore and own it.
Are you suggesting that 2100 should be returned here to Reading,Pa. where it can sit and rust away or should we be thankful to those that are restoring her to running condition and will hopefully do so. Even though 2101, 2102 and 2124 are not far from home there is little or no chance that life will ever be breathed back into them and 2124 is the only one even on display at all.
Glad to see people are still interested in #1522. I was fortunate to take a trip behind #611 this summer and a lot of work went into restoring her. But I’d like to see #1522 stay in our area if she is ever restored so she can run on “home roads” like #611 was able to do.
I’d have to choose option A. Sure, it’d be away from home, but she’d at least be running again. I’ll have to bring up leasing 1522 from St. Louis to Andy Muller next time I see him.
A bit late to the party here, I admit, but wasn’t 1522 and it’s excursions one of those programs killed by the liability insurance crisis back in the 90’s?
At the time, that was the very publicly stated reason. I do not think anything has changed ‘for the better’ for the Museum in the intervening time, nor do I think there is an organized plan to revive or operate 1522. I think it can be, and has been, argued that excursions with 1522 are too high-risk for covering their cost, let alone provide an incentive or additional ‘reserve’ funds worth the danger, for the Museum to go ahead and sink the necessary funds into All That Will Be Necessary.
Pretty much. This is the way my SLSTA friends say it was:
Rising insurance costs in the aftermath of 9/11 made excursions more and more expensive to do. Railroads were also becoming less and less willing to let them use their tracks. Just to get one of their test trips to Newburg, MO they had to get permission from UP (To exit the museum property), Pay to get an Amtrak pilot so they could move over 300 feet of Amtrak right-of-way, and finally move onto BNSF for the test run. You can quickly imagine the difficulty in logistics for just one test trip.
Fewer people were riding and more were chasing, to get better pictures without the cost of a ticket. This resulted in less revenue, and the SLSTA did not own their own passenger cars and had to pay to rent Amtrak-certified passenger cars and have them moved to St. Louis. More money spent, and less people were riding. The only trips they ever really sold out on in 14 years of operation were the “farewell” trips.
The 1522 became a “locomotive for hire” in the end, running for the railroads and movie companies who could pay for it.
Also facing an overhaul after only three years due to new FRA regulations was morally and financially depleting for the SLSTA. And in the end, they decided to quit while they were ahead.
The crew of the SLSTA did a FINE job for their circumstanc
It has always bothered me that so many rail fan chasers do not bother to ride or donate to the steam operators they chase. Its so sad to see empty coaches on excursions trains and 100’s of chaser alone for a free ride.
With that said, I always been an advocate of tieing or rotating more steam locomotives Thur Steamtown. Steam town had reported how thier attendance was increased last year when # 765 was in town and even now # 26 is back in service. Seems like a win win if the numbers work for both parties.
I have lived in Texas for over 20 years. I rode on the TSRR, and got to see UP 844 in person when she came in 2010. I have been a fan of steam locomotives for a long time. Here is my take on everything.
Frisco 1522
I never got to see her run…was in school 6 hours south of Houston when she ran from Fort Worth to Houston and back in 2001. From the moment I bought the DVD from Pentrex and watched it, I “fell in love” with 1522. I was deeply saddened to hear she was put back into retirement.
ATSF 3751 is still operating to my knowledge. Frisco 1630 is running on the IRM.
SP 4449 and 2472 need to go back into regular service, especially 2472.
With the UP restoring Big Boy 4014, 3985 and 844 on routine excursions, and MILW 261 running, why not bring back 1522 and T&P 610? If i had the money, I would buy all the parts necessary to restore them, and then find an entity to do the restorations.
Steam locomotives were the mainstay in railroading for over a century. They are part of our history. Great efforts should be made to restore them.
I saw a video on YouTube of railroad action in Utica, NY. In it was a clip of former NYC 0-6-0 on a flat car. To have an 0-6-0 restored to operation would be awesome! Come to find out, she was hit by a runaway railcar.
Final Thought:
Steam locomotives deserve to be operated, not stored to gather rust and to rot away.