I was recently informed by an a 'friend' of mine on FB of what you are about to read. I was so excited that I requested more information on it. This 'friend' conveniently cannot seem to recall where he heard it, all of a sudden. I trust his opinions on railroad, railfanning and the like to an extent; in many ways he's a still wet behind the ears. He's essentially a railfan, like most of us; still in High School so still young. But then again, he knows a lot about railroads in his region of PA. I searched for about 6 hours today for info on the web regarding this but came up empty. Here's what he sent me via FB.

"The state is had a meeting about trying to gain more people to enjoy PA'S historical past to the modern generation....one of the guys remembered the K-4 and sparked a big conversation on the museum at Strasburg....so now Kelly Anderson chief mechanical officer of Strasburg rr and some of his shop crews are to inspect the museums collection for feasible restorations for operation....the 3750 and the 6755 are the biggest of interest as well as some minor power for excursion service on (not yet found) state rails. The 1361 is said to be finished with the 3750 and they would like the HQ to be at the Altoona RR memorial museum...however the museum will not have anything to do with the PA steam program....Kelly said that if everything looks up, this summer they will announce the PA steam program officially."

Now either the State is keeping this hush hush and wants no one to know about it, hence the lack of information out there or there IS no PA Steam Program and he was lied to. I have yet to ask Mr. Anderson directly, but considering he's on here, I'll just wait until the subject gets his attention and replies himself.
This 'friend' also said, (which I failed to copy here, sorry) that the reason PA wanted to initiate is own Steam Program was to compete with NS's Program which has had quite a remarkable success for the time it was reinstated with 630 and 765 hosting trips over The Curve.
Again, I am only a messenger and could find absolutely no information regarding this new venture. Does anyone have any word on this coming to fruition or if it is true or not?

Hooooooold the bus. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say your friend is getting a bunch of what would Col. Potter would call "Horse Hockey" or "Pony Pucks".

Wow! Hand your ‘friend’ a roll of paper towels! All news to me, including my apparent promotion. Pure foamer wet dream BS if you ask me.

April 1st as about 2 1/2 months away. And isn't the Commonwealth just about broke, like every other state? Interesting idea, though-

I agree! This guy is probably experimenting with "the devil's lettuce" a little too often. If The RRMPA has their strict policy of not disrupting the historical fabric of their rolling stock and motive power, why would you be inspecting their engines for possible restoration Mr. Anderson? The last time they let their horses out to play was in the early '80's if I'm not mistaken and has taken a firm stance against letting them out again. As I said, he's still in high school and not only wet behind the ears, but SOAKING wet!!

Thanks to Tom and Kelly for your quick responses. As much as I wanted to believe this, going as far as getting over excited, I had to ask here...I got the answers I was looking for.
Oh Tom, you forgot my personal favorite..."Horse Feathers!"

I wholeheartedly agree EDM!! WAY too early for April Fools jokes.
Maybe I'll post this again in April...

With all that has happened, I wouldn't say never but with the economic climate the way it is.... Fans of the Keystone are a rather patient lot. Who knows!

While it won't be PRR steam, this will be close- Rich Melvin of the Ft. Wayne group has said that there will be public steam trips over Horseshoe Memorial Day weekend and NS is expected to the release its 2013 21st Steam schedule within the week.

Joshua

Don't forget my favorite: "Mule Muffins!"

This is not about preservation news, its speculation based on bad information. Why let it continue?