Lee’s right on this one. The possibility of the line being rebuilt is, at best, a dream. Would be nice, but alas it is only a dream

Nobody ever said otherwise.

Back to the crowns, what’s the grade on the Omaha zoo Railroad. I need to check it out sometime!

The zoo also has a Krauss "U" class 0-6-2T https://www.steamlocomotive.info/vlocom ... splay=1386 which has much better pulling capabilities than the Crown

Crowns were designed to pull short trains of their own lightweight amusement park cars - I don't recall what their TE is, I'm thinking maybe 4000 pounds or thereabouts....... hauling legitimate railroad cars would eat a lot of that up on just tare weight alone.

A copy of a Crown catalog with specifications can be found here: http://www.trainweb.org/NarrowGaugeNews/crownall.html. It states the 36" gauge engine has a tractive effort of 5,700 lbs.

- Alan Maples

I'm sure you guys are right about the prospects of rebuilding the line. However, unless the roads in question are four-lane freeway type roads, I would note that it is a lot easier to relocate a road than it is to bring tourist dollars into a depressed area like the NC/TN border area.

I can only assume you've never been to the area.
Building the highway through there was a very difficult and expensive process.
If you really look into the lay of the land there and where highway is, you'll see how you wouldn't bet a penny on anyone moving the road.
There's a really good reason why the highway was built on the railroad right of way...