That's why 4501 is getting a stoker. Back in the day, the Southern carried at least two firemen on the locomotive. They'd swap out every few miles as needed. As I recall, 630's new tank is also designed to have a fuel oil bunker added if TVRM should decide to convert to burning oil in the future.

I'm not certain that I'd want to run a 2-8-0 continuously at any speed greater than 35 mph period. Those low drivers aren't designed for speed and the resulting physical forces can't be good for the locomotive long term. That's not much fun for the crew either-getting bounced around in the cab for 12 hours.

As Mr. Andrews of TVRM told me one morning, its not a passenger engine, if you are looking for high speeds (35+), don't look for 630. Don't forget the trouble she had before they changed the main bearing lubrication, they were fine on TVRM's Missionary Ridge Local, but not on the main line at 40 mph. Don't forget the cost of overhaul either, liberal use of a helper reduces the locomotive's work and may save a lot of wear and tear in the long run.

On the rare occasion, we'd get the 610 up to 40 for brief sprints. That was like riding in a truck with a stiff suspension on a washboard road. The only true passenger locomotives that are at TVRM are the 5288 and the 349.

Another factor for owner/operators to consider is what the steam locomotive does to your track. Those rotating counterweights make for fine hammer blow effects on the rails and the lateral motion will really do a number on your roadbed over time. Once you take that all into consideration, small wonder Brosnan took very dim view of any steam locomotive running on the Southern-regardless of its heritage.

I'm not sure what the axle loading of a Ks-1 is, but Rich Melvin of the Fort Wayne group has said the NKP 765 is no worse on track than your average freight car. With the heavy-duty mainline rail these days (much better than back in the 50s), I doubt the use of 630 running excursions has much affect at all, even if it did happen every day.
Kevin

I believe that the greater issue was that steam didn't fit in with the corporate image of the "modern" railroad in the 1960s (as the Southern defined it). Of course, heavy duty main line rail is where you find it. As far as main line steam in the US is concerned, I believe that the major issue will be main line capacity (as it is in the UK on the main lines).

As for 765, she's a significantly different animal than the 4501 or 630. She's Superpower steam-not a 1904 or 1911 model.

I believe that the greater issue was that steam didn't fit in with the corporate image of the "modern" railroad in the 1960s (as the Southern defined it).[/quote]

Of course. I'd say a lot of railroad executives in the 1960s shared his view. I'd go as far as saying that viewpoint is still rather prevalent today.





I'm not sure main line capacity is the issue nearly as much as sending a 40mph steam train into the midst of a 60mph railroad. Things quickly start bogging down for hundreds of miles behind.

Your options are either
a) run the steam engine at 50-60mph....which is not a good idea with a 2-8-0, although perfectly acceptable for something like 765, 611, etc.
b) keep the steam engine off the mainline as much as humanly possible
c) schedule operations for days with lesser traffic
d) it is what it is, and the PR benefit is worth a minor inconvenience to freight ops





Of course, and much better designed for mainline operations. Doesn't affect axle loadings however.
Kevin

Axle loadings may not be affected, but the dynamics may be given the improvements in frame casting that occurred between 1904 and the 1940s. One also has to consider that 630 will have different dynamics than a Ks that had no wreck damage. When TVRM stripped her down for the rebuild, they discovered that the frame was in much worse shape than originally thought. Nothing that couldn't be fixed, but it was a setback. The damage evidences that 630 was involved in a significant incident during her service life, but I do not recall that anyone was able to determine when and where. G. Mark Ray would remember the exact details of the frame damage better than I (not having been involved in that project). Granted, the effects would probably be impossible to detect without instrumentation.

Tangmere was sent out on a quick test on Thursday evening, and today ran its first passenger paying charter train since the unfortunate incident.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQRsrdb3Kl0

Thanks for posting the clip of the Tangmere; she sounds great, nice and snappy!