After watching this video today, https://youtu.be/MGdTpQSeJkI I got to thinking about what important events in rail preservation have happened in the US in the last decade.

What important milestones were reached in the 2010-2019? Achievements, setbacks, unexpected surprises. I will start it off with two items that I have been personally involved with.

1) Restoration of the J&L 58
2) Moving the NKP 757 back home to Bellevue, OH

What would you say is a significant railway preservation achievement of the last decade?

Rick -

There have been quite a few but since you mentioned only two, I will do the same:

1. Deep River Logging 2-4-4-2 #7 "Skookum"
2. Union Pacific "Big Boy" 4-8-8-4 # 4014

Both were fantastic restorations to service!


Les

OK, I'll add two as well.

1. The acquisition of B&LE 643 by the Age of Steam Roundhouse. The future for this engine looked very bleak before the AOS stepped in.

2. The completion back to operating condition of Moore-Keppel & Co. Climax No. 9 at Cass, WV. This 18 year restoration was begun by the Mountain State Railroad & Logging Historical Association, an all-volunteer organization. It was completed by the staff at the Cass, WV locomotive shop.

I would vote for:

1. WW&F 0-4-4T No. 9

2. D&RGW 4-6-0 No. 168

-Philip Marshall

How about the remarkable restoration of SP #18 and its travels to Laws and Durango.

Does the 8905 restoration count? https://thecrhs.org/8905
It's the first functional CR locomotive restoration.

Chris Eden Green's videos are some of my favorites on YouTube; and they always give me a case of envy in that he is able to go to so many tourist & heritage operations in the UK and film such a diverse roster of operating and preserved steam engines. I appreciate his video gave a few shout outs to major US events, including the return of steam of UP 4014 and NW 611.

As for my own picks; this isn't necessarily a national list but more of my own experiences here in the western USA. Sorry a lot of them were from 2019, but that was a busy year for local rail preservation due to a lot of changes we had.

2010: Heber Valley ran its last steam train early in 2010 for a few specials, their last public steam runs being in 2009; the following ten years had a complete lack of steam on the railroad and plenty of local griping and complaining about the situation; which doesn't needed to be regurgitated here. It didn't help that the railroad management publicly promised several returns to steam over the years, before they wizened up and stopped providing estimates. But nothing is really more pressing as a given in the Utah rail scene than "Heber doesn't have steam anymore" this decade.

2014: Nevada Northern first began looking into the restoration of 2-8-0 NN 81, a project that would be ongoing for the rest of the decade.

2014: Big Boy's famous move from California to Wyoming.

2016: Rio Grande 168 begins restoration on the C&T. DRGW 315 also begins its "residency" on the C&T, being hosted on that railroad for the rest of the decade.

2016: UP 844 returned to steam after a 15 year rebuild/inspection was complete. As important as UP 4014's return would be in 2019, I think 844's return was perhaps more important. Considering the massive amounts of online conspiracy and hand wringing many armchair and ex-UP Steam guys alike were doing about Ed and the new team; 844's triumphant return was proof positive Ed had the skills and the crew capable of restoring big steam. As exciting as it was to see 4014 three years later, it was the 844 return that proved that 4014 was going to be more than a pipe dream, and that much of the conspiracy online was just hearsay and rumor that had little basis on the crew's actual skills. High ball Ed!

2018: NN 93 returned to steam in January after having gone down for a 15 year in October 2016. The Nevada Northern shop proved their skills and talent by doing a fast and efficient rebuild on 93 with the locomotive only missing the 2017 operating season.

2017-2019: SP 18 deserves a place here for its restoration and eventual "Durango residency." I think its one of the most unique steam engines running currently, although I don't have much to say about it that hasn't already been said elsewhere.

2019: Skookum and Big Boy... don't need to add anything here its all very well known why these restorations were super big news.

2019: SP 9010 made its 'debut' after years of work and a test bit of operation in 2017. While work is ongoing on the engine, I think it is safe to say the US now has an operational KM diesel hydraulic in the 21st century!

2019: In bad news, Ogden City locked out the Golden Spike RLHS chapter from the Union Station shops and prevented continued work on DRGW 223. Shortly afterwards 223 got involved in a three way ownership dispute, with the Golden Spike guys joined with the Cumbres and Toltec in making a joint bid to get the engine out of Ogden and to the C&T to finish the restoration, Ogden City was trying to gain ownership, and the State of Utah asserting its ownership and suggesting they wanted the engine for a future museum decades away in Salt Lake City. Sadly, it seems the "little guys" in the Golden Spike RLHS lost this round; and it unfortunately put the kibosh on the 223 project. Unless a sudden change of heart happens in Ogden City in 2020, for now it seems 223's chances for a return to steam were killed by city-state politics in the final leg of restoration.

2019: Our forum's own Randy Hees at the Nevada State Railroad Museum in Boulder City got the budget from the state of Nevada to expand the museum in the coming years. Also Chris Fussell's DynaRail, having been evicted from their home at Ogden Union Station, relocated to Boulder City. Ogden City's political woes became Boulder City's benefit as the two DynaRail locomotives joined the collection in Nevada. Chris's SDP40F was restored to operation in Boulder City during the following year.

Having people with the abilities of Rick Rowland and others whose name I don't know being in the railroad preservation community
And Bennett Levin and Wick Moorman taking over 1361 so it will finally have a chance

The East Broad Top operated its last public excursions in December 2011.

Bad: ORHS exited the mainline passenger excursion business.

Good: ORHS purchased it's own rail facility. Focus has shifted to the the restoration of track and equipment for unique operating events.

A few to add to the list:

Polson 70 major rebuild feb 2011 after 27 years or so

Hammond 17 major rebuild to service 2013

Santa Cruz Portland Cement 2 total rebuild 2013

Np 924 boiler and tender work

DRG coach 292 total rebuild return to service

D&RG 168 major rebuild, last ran 1936, back in service

Rotary OY return to service for first time since 1997.

Just the highlights, lots of other stuff in the pile too

and the Two Reading T-1s under restoration

Rick's original post on this thread also mentioned "setbacks", and a couple that come to mind are:

1. The loss of its home and trackage rights by the Indiana Transportation Museum at Noblesville, Indiana.

2. The destruction of the locomotive cab of historic Monon SW1 diesel #DS-50, which had to be moved from Noblesville as a result of the above.

We shall see what this new decade has in store for both ITM and DS-50.

Les

The transformation at CSX with regard to rail preservation. There were a myriad of things that happened, but big picture....

Alaska Railroad 2-8-0 #557 was returned to Alaska in 2012 after 45 years in a museum in Moses Lake, Washington and is well on its way to being restored for operation on the Alaska Railroad.

Great Smokey Mountains #1602 returned to operation a couple of years ago following an overhaul after being out of service for several years.

US Army #612 was acquired by Age of Steam Roundhouse and cosmetically restored.

All three are examples of the 2120 "S-160" Consolidations built for the US Army Transportation Corps during WWII. About 15 of them stayed in the U.S., the remainder were exported during the war to Africa and Europe.