When talking about any steam locomotive "in excellent condition" but not having moved since BEFORE CFR49 Part 230 was implemented, there is no getting around the required 1472 service day inspection. And if anyone has been keeping any kind of tabs on the cost of the 1472 day inspection, they will know that the cost starts at about $200,000 if you can do all of the work yourself and can go up to $2 million or so if you hire all he work done by contractors. A perfect example is NW611. A locomotive known to be in really excellent condition with restoration costs in the $1.5 million range.

And once the locomotive gets its FRA ticket, the operator must prove that he has the chops to operate reliably in todays heavy traffic environment. Cotton Belt 819 is a long shot at best.

The n&w 611 restoration casts 600000 and 1.5 mil. will bring back most steam locomotives

My source was from Steve Rohr. He said it was taken out of service because some of the flues were still good from back in the old days. Oh, and notice that lots of steam went out in the early 90's for repair. A few examples were 611, 1218, 2102, and 819 were a few. 2102 was taken out because her flue time was up. 611 and 1218 were taken out because of accidents and legal issues, plus damage to passenger cars. 819 was mothballed because her flues were still good from 1942. She operated for 8 years, and in her rebirth, she operated for 7. See where I'm getting at? 8+7=15.? Hello?

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