where is the 1800s steam is it not around anymore or is it just me not looking hard enough for it because i have not found any on any tourist lines why is that? is it that they are not reliable and fail easily or is it other things?
There were no railroads around in 1800[;)]
The first public carrier to be powered by a steam locomotive was the Camden and Amboy and was chartered in 1830
The few very early steam engines are museum pieces, the Stourbridge Lion, the John Bull, the Lafeyette, none of them are going to run on a tourist line, but the John Bull is STILL operational after over a century and a half!
Now that said, there are still a few steam tourist operations out there running some very old equipement, maybe the best known being the Denver & Rio Grande survivor lines out west, while most of the steam roster at both the Durango & Silverton and the Cumbres & Toltec are 20th century vintage K-27s & K-36s, the Durango and Silverton recently restored a 1880’s vintage C class 2-8-0, the COlorado State Rairoad ALSO restored a 19th century C class 2-8-0 recently, and the Georgetown Loop operates a Hawaiian plantaion 2-6-2, also 20th century, way out west at the Virginia and Truckee RR museum, they have a schmorgasborg of vintage operable 19th century steam engines, and the Nevada Northern in Ely has a vintage 4-6-0. Other engines still survive but generally, to find 19th century built engines anywhere but in a museum will be very very rare, there just often too old, rare, or too expensive to restore.
Remember this is the 21st century even a good used 20th century engine is going to be 60-100 years old. Even these operating survivors need daily TLC thats costly and laborious, so not alot of companies are going to want to commit to a very old engine if its a costly drain on their bottom line.
Check out the Virginia and Truckee, might be what your looking for.
Come to Colorado where at the Colorado Railroad Museum, former D&RGW #346, built in 1881, has just been placed back in service after an extensive overhall. It will be operated on several weekends this season – check their website: crrm.org.
Former Rio Grande Southern Engine #20 is currently being rebuilt in Pennsylvania and will join the 346 at the museum in Golden.
In Durango former D&RGW 315 has also been rebuilt by an all voluntier crew. It will operate several times this summer.
Sadily, C&S 2-6-0 Number 9 was back in service but only for one season and is now awaiting repair. See my story at
The Return of Colorado & Southern Number 9
Two more former D&RGW narrow gauge 2-8-0s operate regularly at Knotts Berry Farm in LA.
Glen
#346 and 315 are the two C clas 2-8-0s I referred to, forgot about #9 and shame on me the two C-19s at Knutts Berry Farm[:I]
There are also several Shays Heilsers Climaxs and other such engines scattered across the Country, dont forget the K at the Huckleberry RR back east or the tiny two footers still running in Maine and at the Cripple Creek RR
The Kettle Valley Steam Railway (Summerland, BC, Canada) trains are pulled by ex-CPR 3716, built in 1912. Its almost 19th Century.
The General and the Texas are both on display in GA (from the famous Civil War chase…)
The John Bull is in the Smithsonian’s collection, but in 1983, it’s replica (made by the PRR) was steamed briefly on the Strasburg…see link for details http://www.rrmuseumpa.org/about/roster/johnbull.htm
The RR Museum of PA also has 1880’s equipment – a PRR H3 2-8-0, passenger cars, etc.
Paul F.
The two 2-8-0’s at Knotts Berry Farm are D&RGW #340 and RGS #41
Huckleberry RR in Flint Michigan has D&RGW K27 2-8-2 #464 and a Alaska RR 4-6-0 #2 (formally #152)
on December 9th 1830 the first common carrier steam powered passenger train pulled by steam on rails in this country commenced on the Charleston & Hamburg line with the West Point Foundry built Best Friend of Charleston… this engine also had the dubious honor of having the first boiler explosion in this country on June 17th 1831…the Camden & Amboy started in 1831 with the British built John Bull No.1…not the John Bull of Baldwin fame a couple of years later…this info comes from the book The Story of American Railroads writen by John Holbrook published New York 1948…for what its worth the first “common carrier” was the B&O charted 1829 but used horses and even sail power until 1831…the Deleware & Hudson had charted in 1828 but was not a common carrier but an extension of the D&H canal and used for coal hauling…with horses until the Stourbrige Lion arrived from England in 1832
You know, I’ve asked myself that, and now that I’m out of Florida. Those “Old Timers” from the Golden Age of Railroading with all their brass and Victorian splendor are my favorite types of steam engines and without a doubt, the most beautiful in all of railroad history. You might want to check out the Walt Disney World Railroad at Orlando, Fl. They weren’t built in the 1800s, but they are four steam engines that were built by Baldwin and Disney rebuilt them completely in 1969 and gave them a really fancy and authentic 1800s look. Two of them were built in 1925, the youngest in 1928, and the oldest in 1916. It is the most beautiful Railroad in the world today, in my opinion. Other recomendations I can give you are the Disneyland Railroad, the Tweetsie Railroad, the Pacific Coast Railroad, and the California State Railroad museum, I believe they have some pretty neat 1800s equipment. Say, there’s this 4-4-0 American engine I like that is called the Palisade & Eureka #4, and I believe it was built in the 1800s. Does anyone know where it currently is. I think I’ve seen it at Durango & Silverton.
The Eureka is indeed a beautiful little engine. One of my favorites too. It is privately owned and privately restored and is kept on its owner’s property when not on tour. It burns wood and has operated on both the D&S and the C&TS.
see the reason that i ask this question is that i never hear of the 1850s or 60s or later 1800s steam and i was just wondering why you never hear about it. Because on all the tourist line s that i have ever heard or seen are 1900s or later like the 2-8-2 soo line 1003 that runs by my house every year around christmas time (santa train) is a 1913 ALCO steamer and i never see any really old ones
(to the first replier) i had not said 1800 i had said 1800s (later in the century)
Well before the end of the steam era, railroads would have scrapped most of the motive power left over from the 1800s. Some of the 4-4-0s, and early 2-6-0s, and 2-8-0s were rebuilt and moved into yard service, but by 1930, a major RR would not have had a need for a large fleets of 4-4-0s.
The Prairie Dog Central Railway near Winnipeg, MB, Canada has an operating ex-CPR 4-4-0, built in 1882. The South Simcoe Railway near Toronto also has an 1883 4-4-0, I think I heard that it was down at the moment though.
Same difference[:-,]
Same answer…check out the V&T in Carson City Nev [C):-)]
Quite right, vsmith. The Nevada State Railroad Museum is the place to go to see some beautiful examples of 19th century standard gauge steam. Some even operate on rare occassions. When I was there several years ago, I rode the cab of 1888, 4-4-0 Number 8. Number 8 not a V&T engine, but the V&T had some of the finest examples of locomotives of the era, and you will see several examples there.
Unfortunately, locomotive built in the 1850’s to 1880’s had some flaws that limited their useful life. They had lapped seam boilers instead of the butt-lapped seams on the circa 1910 locomotives that are more commonly seen. Lapped seam boilers have unequal amounts of metal on each side of the joint and thus, flex more when heating up or cooling down. That stresses the rivits and shortens boiler life. They most commonly had D-type slide valves on the cylinders with lots of wearing surfaces and a tendancy to leak at higher pressures. They still had to be hand fired, when stokers were gaining in popularity (especially with firemen.) Many 1850-1860 locomotives did not have counterweights on the drivers – talk about pounding iron. Finally, engines of this era were small, 25 - 30 tons. Thus, by about 1900 - 1910, when the railroads were offered $1000 each for these worn-out, underpowered, undersized locomotives as scrap, they were gone. Including the original Golden Spike locomotives. Also by then, the brass was mostly gone, the wood burners had been converted to coal or oil, and the distinctive smokestacks had been replaced by straight stacks.
Fortunately, many were saved including the ones mentioned in earlier posts. We also have near exact replicas with the Jupiter and UP119 at Golden Spike. I have just finished sanding the solid walnut window frames on UP119. Yes they were built in 1978 but the carpenters were master craftsmen who knew how things used to be built - and built them that way.
Sorry we don’t have more examples - but I’m glad that we have the ones we have.
dd
Disnyland Railroad #3,an ex plantation engine,was built in1894.
Thanks, it says on Wikipedia that it’s now stored away in Las Vegas. And it’s interesting that it’s known to be the only wood-burning 4-4-0 American engine left in the United States. It’s indeed a perfect example of an American “Western” engine.
Oh yeah, that’s right, I had totally forgotten. [banghead] It’s just that I’m into the WDWRR way more than the DRR.