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| 614: Let the speculation begin!
https://www.rypn.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=961 |
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| Author: | jimwrinn [ Sat Jan 01, 2000 10:35 am ] |
| Post subject: | 614: Let the speculation begin! |
<P>I pulled this off the trainorders page. Note the referece to donating the engine to a museum. Perhaps this is the opportunity to see her go to Scranton, which in my mind, is the only place big enough to handle her and run her periodically. <p><p>In Market for a Steam Locomotive<br> Filed at 1:36 a.m. EDT<p> By The Associated Press<p> KEARNY, N.J. (AP) -- Fancy a locomotive? <p> If so, you can snap up the one-of-a-kind Chesapeake & Ohio No. 614 for<br> at least $1 million. The owner will even throw in two auxiliary cars for free.<p><br> But rail buffs and model train lovers take note: This little beauty isn't going<br> to fit under your kid's Christmas tree. <p> It's an 890,000-pound, 112-foot long, fully functional steam locomotive that<br> can reach speeds of 125 mph. It's got enough muscle to pull an Amtrak<br> train.<p> The train, one of the last steam passenger locomotives built in the United<br> States, is being sold because its owner plans a new tourist railroad in<br> Canada with bridges that can't support the weight of old No. 614.<p> An auction last month at the NJ Transit's Meadows Maintenance Facility<br> drew a high bid of only $200,000. But owner Ross Rowland Jr. rejected<br> the offer, saying his train is worth between $1 million to $3 million.<p> With such a hefty price tag, the average rail buff won't be able to afford it.<br> It's been offered to Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Wall Street whiz Warren<br> Buffett, and actor Kevin Costner -- all acknowledged train fanciers -- but<br> they haven't bitten. <p> So bids from anyone interested will be considered, auctioneer David<br> Barnhardt said Tuesday. If a suitable deal can't be struck at a future<br> auction, Barnhardt said, Rowland will donate the engine to a rail museum.<p> "It was the last mainline steam engine built in North America in 1948, as<br> railroads were transitioning from steam to diesel," said Rowland, who has<br> owned No. 614 since 1979, when he bought it from the CSX railroad. <p> "It's been thoroughly refurbished and updated, and it's the only steam<br> locomotive in North America that has all the equipment and appliances<br> you'd need to pull an Amtrak train."<p> Indeed, it is the only steam engine ever leased by Amtrak, having pulled<br> "The Cardinal" through West Virginia at speeds approaching 80 miles an<br> hour. <p> When Rowland bought it, he oversaw a crew of 15 mechanics and more<br> than 100 volunteers who completely rebuilt the locomotive. It took 18<br> months and $1.5 million to bring No. 614 up to snuff; it can now pull a<br> 25-car passenger train all day without having to stop for service.<p> Rowland has been a train nut ever since he was a kid. Yes, he said, he<br> had a set of Lionel toy trains when he was 4 years old.<p> "But I quickly grew tired of those, and wanted the big ones, the ones," he<br> said. "I've been in love with trains ever since I was a kid."<p> Ron Anderson, who maintains trains for the New York City Transit<br> Authority, stopped by the July 15 auction to take a peek at some living<br> history. <p> "It's the last of its type," he said. "I've seen it go on a lot of excursions,<br> and I just wanted to see it one last time."<p> Rowland appreciates the thought -- he loves the romance of the rails. <p> "Without the steam engine, there would have been no westward<br> expansion," he said. "It enabled the industrial revolution and the population<br> of the western two-thirds of the United States.<p> "Combine that with the sights and sounds of a steam engine as it passes<br> by you -- the hiss of the steam, the sound of the whistle, the way the<br> ground shakes underneath you -- and it's almost an alive machine."<br> <br> Wrinnbo@aol.com |
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