" At this very moment, the fine folks of the Chadd's Ford Scenic Railway are beginning their rebuild of that once-famed line from Concordville to Chadd's Ford and return?

They'll be narrowing the rails to 30" to accomodate the two Chinese narrow-gauge 0-8-0's that are scheduled to arrive in the port of Philadelphia next month. These locomotives will prance proudly up the grade from Concordville to Chadd's Ford, drop off at the museum, and return at a later time to pick up the happily ferried guests. "

This was copied from "another" railroad board site and just putting this out there to check the validity. Thanks.

(O.O)

Well, it's actually possible........ and, in relation to a certain other press release, certainly plausible....... but..............

[makes phone calls]

Just who are these "fine folks"....

Chadds Ford Scenic Railway?....never heard of them...

I have heard of the Chadds Ford & Brandywine, which ran trains in 1993, and later became the Brandywine Scenic Railway that successfully operated out of Northbook, PA, until the operating rights of the freight line changed from the Delaware Valley Railroad to the Steel Plant's Brandywine Valley RR, and they pulled the rug out from under them.

The BSRR was under the direction of Maurice Cannon and Dave Hope (since passed away) former W&W people.

Mr. Cannon was the Exec Director of the W&W prior to the current director - and he was a good one at that, but powers to be at the W&W, at the time, did not see his full potential and he left to start his own operation. Sad. I can only imagine what could have been. Had he personally owned the trackage he ran on, the BSRR would still be in operation today.

If it is under his leadership, I can see this happening. He has the know-how and the financial backing.

The above is of course, just personal opinion.

I could be in error here, but if I recall correctly, the line in question belongs to SEPTA, even though it's been out of service for 40 years. I wonder how they feel about this proposed change of gauge? And aren't those ubiquitous (and homely) Chinese 0-8-0's two-foot gauge, not 30-inch?

They are 762mm gauge, which is roughly 30 inches. Here is a link to a techical page on the C2 project website, owners of one of these 0-8-0s. Said 0-8-0 is being reguaged and cut-down to fit the Ffestiniog Railway standards.
http://c2project.org/index.php?page=data&q=1

Chadds Ford Scenic Railway... meh... . I live just a few miles from Chadds Ford and am pretty in touch with all of the rail goings on around here. Not heard of any such thing. I see an avalanche of wealthy NIMBYs fighting this one. Not to mention the chances of reopening the grade crossing on Route 202 for a narrow gauge railroad as slim to none and Slim left town on a hand pump cart a while ago. I would spin the wheel on a bio-fuel powered Santa Fe 4-6-4 long before we see Chinese C class 0-8-0's trundling through Southeastern PA.

I want it to be true... of course, there is a fleet of narrow gauge steam locomotives with PA pedigree not too far from Chadds Ford. Now THAT would really hard to believe, but wonderful to see.

Well, they are on Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/chaddsfordscenic#!

Slim says hi.

So Slim puts up a Myspace page about his interest in doing this. There is something so cool about young people who have a vision and can't see how the world would stop them. He is realistic enough to know that rebuilding a washed out bridge won't happen. I just wish we could bottle that energy, even if it has a few rough edges. But soon enough us old geezers will set him straight and teach him the ways of the world.

from their MySpace text:
''Much of this revolves around the desire to eventually operate steam motive power on the intended route, which under FRA control, would incite many more headaches, and much more intensive spending of precious railroad funds.''

I hope that they discuss this idea with others who operate boilers under the inspection requirements of The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, before they think that its just a walk in the park.

...and if anyone does have a 30 inch gauge loco sitting idle, I know where there is an operating 30 inch gauge railroad, not too far west from Chadds Ford.

Most of the steam guys on here probobly know about these guys, but I figured I would put it up anyway. Same people who are selling the SY, JS, and QJ locomotives. They are also selling the locomotives in question. I have gotten some parts from them, and they are not bad at all.

http://www.multipowerinternational.com/narrowsale.html

This time I'm going to have to side with the folks who are calling (as Col Potter would say) Buffalo Biscuits. If that route crosses any (and I do mean ANY) public roads then they will most likely fall under the Part 230. Ask guys up in Maine how that worked out for them. I highly doubt the claim that 2 of them have been purchased and brought to the US for a non-existant railroad. And knowing that the ROW in question is not "up for grabs", especially to be re-gauged, only adds to this whole thing not sounding right.

Too bad. I don't think those 0-8-0's are inherently ugly. It depends on how they were presented and cared for. I rode behind a number of them on several different NG operations in various part of China in 1987. The ones in the Central part of the country were very plain and a little forlorn, but the ones at the late Chehe Forestry Railway in NE China were very well-kept and, I thought, attractive little machines. I think any U. S. tourist operation that used them would probably have a nice draw, every bit as attractive as the former S. African NG engines currently being used in Welsh heritage railways.

Given some other recent discussions here about the scope of FRA regulation of tourist railways, wouldn't such a NG operation come under what is referred to as "FRA Lite" regulation - not connected to the national system, but crossing a public highway? This would put them in the same league as the EBT, D&S, and C&TS right? Not totally exempt, but probably doable. Also, since they are not U. S. "historic artifacts", modifying them for local conditions, like converting them to burn something less smoky, such as waste vegetable oil, so the local NIMBY's have one less thing to complain about, and perhaps giving them a more attractive paint scheme (the British Royal Blue on Mallard comes to mind) shouldn't raise a ruckus in the U. S. preservation community, now should it <g>.

They could in theory be concidered semi insular (FRA Lite)....as long as they met all the criteria.

The can not be concidered insular if they have
• A public highway-rail crossing that is in use;
• An at-grade rail crossing that is in use;
• A bridge over a public road or waters used for commercial navigation; or
• A common corridor with a railroad, i.e., its operations are within 30 feet of those of any railroad.

Boy, that sure is a nice logo they have on their Myspace page... *snicker*

I'd venture a bet that this whole thing's a big, albeit well thought out, joke.