Steamtown had their Baldwin #26 out pulling a train for students today. It wasn't listed on the Steamtown website and those not part of the school groups were not able to ride. However, it was spun on the timetable and cab visits were allowed. There were quite a few folks at the turntable, many asking if rides were available.

Bart

That is good news! Hopefully this is a sign of good things to come!

John

one operating steamer out of 20+...not popping the champiagn yet....

No, but it's good to see an extra steam operation and demo with the turntable anyway. It was just a couple seasons ago that the turntable was not even operational for most of the year. They have a long, long way to go but maybe the new super will get things moving in a more positive direction.

John

I was on the crew, starting in June public short rides will be available fri-sat-sun, all scheduled with Baldwin 26. Although things are slow to change in government, Steamtown is moving in the right direction.

It was a surprise to see steam action, but the parking lot full of school buses explained it. It would have been nice to let others ride - there were some disappointed people. I talked to some of the crew that would have liked to run some more. I guess that was the Superintendent that came out to chat.

I agree on changes. I performed some training and consulting at Steamtown during the early 1990s. The track was an issue and there were regular derailments. I found that the FRA track standards weren't really known (the head of track was a trails guy from the Grand Canyon - they had a railroad there so he was qualified - he did take it very serious after getting out with railroaders with me). It was a bit of a challenge getting everyone to follow the FRA standards since that wasn't their department. A couple of old steam engineers were making suggestions - "they used to widen the track gauge for steam locomotives, two to three inches should do." Yep - I remember them saying that. Unfortunately, this led to new tracks being built this way, with derailments immediately following. The track looks better today.

Bart

That was the new Superintendent, and yes, these days we take our responsibilities as an actual railroad far more seriously, and only very infrequently have clashes with "park people" about why we have to do certain things.

The LVHA Heritage Explorer trains have been an extremely successful program within the community, so I'll make no apology that we ran those on Thursdays and Fridays, since historically we don't run on Thursdays or Fridays until later in the season anyway. (We will start regular steam-powered Friday shuttles now that it's June, and I haven't heard a decision on Thursday shuttles later in the year, though historically Thursday shuttles are diesel-powered anyway.)

Any updates on anything going on in the shops, as far as #3713 or other steam locomotives, or any possibilities of visiting steam?

John

No updates on 3713 or visiting steam unfortunately, but I did just start a new thread about the projects in general that have been/will be going on at Steamtown. Feel free to check it out.

It is true that they used to widen the gauge in sharp curves before concrete ties became common.

However - 1/4 inch or 1/2 inch wider was it. The Maximum gauge as specified by class of track in the Track Safety Standards still applied.

Hopefully the Engineers that specified such $&*$@# practices had to get down on the ground and help re-rail the equipment.

Brian Helfrich

I had a boss on New Hope & Ivyland RR who wanted to use the Federal Track Safety Standards for Class 1 track for new construction.

I've seen several government-built industrial parks do the same thing. I've also seen track upgraded to the very minimum standards for the class, and then not be able to pass an inspection after only a few train movements.

The Track Safety Standards (49 CFR Part 213) are minimum safety standards that should be used for inspecting track. Any maintenance work should exceed the standards, and any new track is simply that - built new.

Bart

I was measuring and sorting the heights of the used rail to go into the new trackage to the nearest sixteenth of an inch. Code of Federal Regulations Title 49 Subtitle B Chapter II Part 213.115 Rail end mismatch allowed a maximum of 1/4 (4/16) inch at joints for Class 1 track. He wanted rails picked so that all of the joints would have 1/4 inch mismatch!

Tell him to come to the Track Inspection and Safety Standards workshops that I hold through the University of Tennessee's Center for Transportation Research. We can set him straight.

Bart