I had the pleasure of attending for 3 days and riding several of the many excursions.


Jason Johnson and his crew did a great job promoting and executing a very ambitious event that overall I'd rate as an 8.5 and that I think the vast majority of the estimated 40,000 attendees were glad they came.

From a steam preservation perspective it was an 11 as there were thousands upon thousands of youngsters who were given their first exposure to steam alive and there's no doubt some are now hooked!! Tomorrows W. Graham Claytors in the making!!

All in all a wonderful weekend and a big step forward for preservation railroading!!


Ross Rowland

You must not have been there Thursday then.

There certainly seemed to be a good number of people, even with the heat. Rock Island is a nice town, and having TrainFestival right on the banks of the Mississippi River was pretty cool, and certainly provided a number of options for those who wanted a break from the train action. The use of the lighted signs on the interstate to advertise the festival was a particularly nice touch. I wonder how effective it was.

The only thing I might suggest for future events is an increase on what I call the P.T. Barnum effect--aka showmanship. By far, what I've heard more from the Owosso event was the triplepleheader of tank engines that was used to move 1225 back to the roundhouse for the night photo session. The crews started putting on a show, and everyone--and I mean EVERYONE--stopped what they were doing and ran over to watch the show, and there was a buzzing in the crowd for quite some time afterwards. It was just one of those really cool things that jacked the "fun" level was up. Owosso also had the 75 engineer training sessions, which meant something was moving on a regular basis.

RI didn't have that much from what I saw. I heard they put one or two of the small engines switching cars one day, which drew a lot of attention. There was also the Bill Purdie whistle tribute one evening which was not announced and done well after closing time, but I heard it getting ready for the night photo session. There were a couple of minutes of every engine whistling, and with the echoes, it sounded downright awesome. Why not do something like that during the day when everyone is there? You might even draw in someone from across the river who has no idea the event is even going on.

Those events are what really get everyone's attention from the hardcore railfans to the mom/dad/son who have never seen a steam engine. I know you are limited by the site as to what can be done, but organized whistle blows at the opening and closing of each day are easy to do. Same with scheduled times for one of the small engines to go shuffling a couple hundred feet around one end the site moving a few freight cars. Another option is a parade of power, which has been done at Railfair. It's what makes the difference between a static museum, and a real event that captures the imagination for the general public. I'm sure there are some other similar things that could be done also, and these are easy things to implement the next time around. More than anything else, an event like this is showbusiness, and if you can wow them, you have a lot of latitude for other things that might otherwise add up (heat, crowds, parking, etc). You'll get the railfans either way, but the general public who came over to see what all the fuss was about are your real audience.

Just some general thoughts to improve for the next time around. For anyone that didn't get out to Rock Island, you missed a fun week.
Kevin

You know, it's a shame the Delta Queen couldn't have been there steamed up and going on short cruises up and down the river......calliope and whistles, steam locomotives and steam boat.

dave

While the Delta Queen wasn't there, you can still go aboard and spend the night on her in Chattanooga, something to keep in mind as NS begins to crank up their steam program.

Also, the American Queen is coming back to the rivers in 2012. The new operator is planning to announce the cruise schedule next month.

Both steamboats are now owned by the Anschutz interests but the DQ remains leased out to the Chattanooga hotel operator. If congress ever grants another exemption to the Safety at Sea Act, she too, could return to cruising as she's being kept in excellent condition.

The other boat, Mississippi Queen is currently being scrapped in Louisiana.
-Jim Herron

I was on duty with the 765 at the time when the whislte was blown by Mr Purdie's son. The reason for it being done at that time of the night (as this was prearranged), at 8:25 pm, was that was the time of Bill Purdie's death, this was not a random time. He came to the 76to do this as I said it was arranged. After he did it, a few of my fellow crew members whislted also, along with the QJ's doing it, all in tribute to a great steam man.

That's pretty cool. Mr. Purdie actually finished his Southern Railway career on NKP 765 and I had the honor to ride in the cab with him on the last leg from Lima to Bellevue, OH when 765 returned to "home" turf after it was leased to the Southern to fill in for the ailing 2716 in the summer of 1982.

It was so neat to talk to somebody like him that had actually worked on steam for a living when it was front-line motive power and find that he STILL loved it and loved to be around it.

Seeing the three tanks pull 1225 was indeed tremendous, and then the three going on spin cycle. Yes, whistling was something I thought was absent at Owosso event, especially for the small engines that don't go out on the rides. As much as I would have loved the opportunity to pull the cord certainly I can understand volume concerns, hearing loss, etc. How about a noon whistle salute from all the engines?

Joshua