Posted today on Trainorders.com - http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/r ... ?1,1235550 - I'm sure more images will be posted soon on other sites, but for now if your not a Trainorders member (I'm not) you get the postage stamp size shot - None the less, you get the idea. According to another post there, the 7081 will make the same run Friday, if some mechanical issues are worked out in time.

It appears the steam event of the year is underway.

-Justin Franz

According to Trainorders.com, QJ #7081 will make a test-run on the Iowa Interstate on Saturday. Below are some shots of Railpictures.net of yesterdays freight-run.

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=157473
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=157472
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=151652

Last shot actually has nothing to-do with the QJ's, except that it is of the Iowa Interstate. Those black-red-yellow GP38's would alone be worth the trip to Iowa. Sharp scheme, and the Rock Island herald doesn't hurt.

-Justin

The funny thought to me is how well accepted these engines have been in the heartland.

Remember 10+ years ago when those Romanian or Russian diesels were parked somewhere in Louisiana? Whatever happened to them? They were part a of a trade deal for grain. They sparked all kinds of rumors of a pending UN communist takeover of the USA by those inclined to believe.

So, no warnings of black helicopters this time around?

They were actually parked at the Port of Houston near the old Armco steel mill. They were eventualy scrapped,I believe.

Actually, most of us are only "accepting" these engines here in Illinois because we're so desperate for ANY running steam at all in this state. Currently, the only operational steamer in this state is the captive Heisler of the SC&S in Freeport.

Listening to most of the fans who chased these engines in September agreed that they'd look better Americanized. And there were plenty of comments about buying absolutely everything from China these days...

They were parked at a grain elevator near Baytown (outside of Houston), Texas; not in Louisiana. They were accepted in exchange for a shipment of grain; the intention was for the grain elevator to use one and sell the others. These are them in a view from Windows Live Local:

http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2& ... ne=1904863

American Grain Corp. then went bankrupt; the diesels themselves had minor issues like cab glazing that needed to resolved before they could be sold for Interchange service. I was actually involved in the effort to try and find a buyer for them:

http://web.archive.org/web/200212080815 ... 1/russian/

Initailly, 11 where imported. Of these, 3-5 are gone and are thought to have been sold; buyer unknown. My understanding is that a buyer back in the former Soviet Union was finally found for the remaining seven, and they were supposed to go back. I have not recieved an update since.

An interesting aside: although Soviet built, they are a "streched" version of Soviet copy of an American ALCO RS-1! They were built in 1992.

-James Hefner
Hebrews 10:20a

Surviving World Steam Project

Accept? ACCEPT?

If foreign power offends, simply stay home and look at old pictures. I'd be proud to be able to spend a pleasant afternoon experiencing a 2-10-2 doing a real job of hauling real freight to earn a return on investment whether it be made in China, Swindon, Hannover or Philadelphia.

Shame the railroad in question isn't the L&C or the Gainesville Midland. I'd have been out there standing in the rain all day today and loving it. And, I probably wouldn't have wasted too much time experiencing it secondhand through a viewfinder either.

dave