Actually, the engines to import would have been Chinese KD6 and/or KD7 class 2-8-0 Consolidations. These were both built by U.S. builders post-World War 2. So we would have had U.S. built locomotives of an economical size and which were relatively modern. I believe that J. David offered reconditioned KD6's and KD7's when the original deal with China was struck, but there were obviously no takers. Exept that I believe one engine may have been shipped to England! My guess is that now, the two classes are probably no longer available. Sad!

Les

Howard is in the ballpark with his price of $400K. I did some tourist consulting for an outfit in South Jersey maybe ten years ago, and spoke to Multipower. They offered a reconditioned demo locomotive, with perhaps 1000 miles on it, for $335K. That price would have included conversion to right hand drive, and shipping to Baltimore or Philly. It might have included a quick conversion to oil firing as well. And we may have talked about squaring up the tender. Of course it never happened--

I still think the SY would be a better choice as a tourist engine. Smaller, lighter, cheaper (?) but still big enough to do just about anything reasonable with. The real answer, for 2-8-2 vs. 2-10-2, would be to compare required minimum curvature and axle loadings. IIRC, the Iowa engine is an SJ class.

Dear Howard:
You are far closer to being correct than Daniel. SY1647M, cost The Valley Railroad US$300,000.00 on the dock at Camden in 1989. The Knox & Kanes SY1658M cost $320,000.00 (same deal). I understand that SY1698M (lost at sea) cost $380,000.00. I have never heard what JS8419 cost. The shipping and insurance on the three 1989 locos averaged out to about $68,000.00 each. Putting together a deal to ship three at once was a stroke of luck, although it meant that our loco. had to sit around for several months.
Daniel and Les note other Chinese locos which were offered. There are only 3 RM left in China (one more in Japan), all in museums. There are 4 or 5 KD7 left in Chinese museums. As noted, one KD6 went to England. Another was purchased and restored to serviceable conditions by the Tiefa Coal Mining Administration for use on excursions, etc. at Tiefa.
J.David

J. David:

Thanks for the info. The one loco not mentioned on this thread is the 2-6-2 (I don't know the Chinese class) which I believe was also offered at the time that the deal was made for the SY's. In my estimation, they would have been the next best choice to the American built KD6's and KD7's. A little smaller (and therefore a bit more economical) than an SY 2-8-2, they probably would have been sufficient for most museum/tourist trains here in the states. Today, the Prairies may have gone the way of the KD6's and KD7's.

Les

That would be the YJ class; built at Tangshan in 1960 by shortening the JS class. About a dozen have been reported recently; though it is anyone's guess how many remain. The museum in Datong has YJ 124; most of the remainder were reported at Dahuichang limestone quarry nr Beijing and Baotou Steelworks & Depot.

J. David; regarding the RM class, there is RM 1001 in the Bejing museum and RM 1163 in Japan; where are the other two?

-James Hefner
Hebrews 10:20a

Surviving World Steam Project

Dear Les & James:
A couple of comments:
Yes, we did try to sell class YJ 2-6-2s. In fact we had a customer for YJ 250 which was stored inside a building in Harbin in 1989. Unfortunately, the state boiler rules did not provide for "non-standard" (read non-ASME) boilers, and although drawings, etc. were provided, the sale fell through. I don't recall the YJ being anything like a JS. The drivers and cylinders were the same size as an SY, but the boiler was larger in diameter. It is true that some were built by Tangshan, but I believe that most of them were built by Taiyuan. Teifa has one in their collection, I hear that it is operable.
In checking my notes, I listed RM 1001 as displayed at Datong, now it is at Beijing. I also noted an RM stored with other steam locomotives near Badaling. It is likely that RM 1001 was this loco. Therefore it would appear that only 2 class RM remain in existance.
J.David

I can confirm that RM1001 is indeed at the museum in Beijing. There is a photo of it amongst my gallery of photos of the Beijing Railroad Museum.

http://gallery58429.fotopic.net/p25353631.html