WNEP-TV 16, Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, PA announced on itsÂ’ 11:00PM news on Thursday, May 7, 2004 that Steamtown NHS has cancelled itÂ’s very popular summer excursions including trips planned to The Delaware Water Gap because of insurance demands from the railroad owner.

No formal announcement on SteamtownÂ’s web site. But, the summer and fall excursion schedule for Carbondale, Tobyhanna and the Delaware Water Gap seem to have been removed.

Anyone know whatÂ’s up?


http://www.nps.gov/stea/

> Anyone know whatÂ’s up?

http://www.nps.gov/stea/pphtml/news.html

Click on "Steamtown Rail Operations"

http://www.nps.gov/stea/pphtml/news.html

> Please see my thoughts on this on the Chaski site.....www.Chaski.com-mn-edi_r

Ross Rowland http://www.nps.gov/stea/pphtml/news.html

> Click on "Steamtown Rail
> Operations"


rrowland@weidel.com

Check out this article

Steamtown news article

Sadly, this developing situation speaks volumes about the failure of the "railfan community" to effectively support SNHS. To paraphrase William Bendix, "What a revolting development this is."

Consider this -- while Steamtown seems like it will have no mainline railroad trips, construction on the National Park Service's Natchez Trace Parkway (NTP) continues. Just as it always has...unabated...year after year...through numerous so-called "budget cuts,"...still untouched by pledges to trim the federal budget.

The difference? The NTP project has effective and polished political support in towns and counties all along the route.

When searching for a culprit about the Steamtown situation, check out your "Letters & General Correspondence" file. See if you have ever sent anything to your local Congressman and state's U.S. Senators about Steamtown.

If not, then you are part of Steamtown's problem.

amiller@rtms-movietrains.com

> Sadly, this developing situation speaks
> volumes about the failure of the
> "railfan community" to effectively
> support SNHS. To paraphrase William Bendix,
> "What a revolting development this
> is."

Interesting comments, Art. Support of the railfan/preservation community for Steamtown has wavered back and forth going all the way back to the days of it's founder F. Nelson Blount. Blount was a controversial figure himself, so I guess it's only natural that controversy has followed the Steamtown project throughout its lifetime. Over the years, Steamtown management had to make many difficult decisions--most of them based upon the limited amount of dollars available to work with at the time. The railfan/preservation community usually reacted in some way to each decision--based upon how they viewed the decision. I know how supportive, or unsupportive, they can be having worked for Steamtown Foundation for 17-1/2 years.

I never thought the railfan/preservation community made a substantial difference as far as Steamtown was concerned until after the planning phase for making it part of the National Park Service had commenced. During the public hearings in Scranton, the railfan community came out of the woodwork with suggestions. After Congress established Steamtown NHS, top preservations registered their opposition; then, as Steamtown NHS became a reality, it began to be endorsed as a worthwhile project. The railfan community helped smooth out some bumps along the way, most notably some rather ridiculous plans the NPS proposed for the turntable area. And in undoubtedly the biggest railfan support EVER for Steamtown, the Lackawanna & Wyoming Valley Chapter, NRHS has been working for ten long years to fund the rebuilding of B&M 4-6-2 #3713 for operation. That leads us to today's important dilemma: does the railfan/preservation community want to see #3713 perform regularly on the high iron or are they going to be happy to see as as a "demonstration piece" in the Scranton yards?

When I worked on the plan for Steamtown's inclusion in the NPS, there were two major considerations: (1) preservation of the Steamtown collection, and (2) preservation of the Grand Age of Steamtown for future generations to enjoy as F. Nelson Blount had envisioned. The latter included operation of "mainline excursions" and, yes, there was considerable debate in Congress at the time due to the cost factor involved; it eventually lead to a three operating locomotive limit being enacted. However, the NPS did keep the mainline program and it became hailed as the best in the east. Who can really argue about the show that steam puts on climbing the grades out of Scranton?

Perhaps what few of us realize right now is the fact that we're discussing the ultimate future of mainline steam railroading in the United States. Yes, we'll have the F. Nelson Blount of the 2000's Jerry Jacobson of the Ohio Central System
carrying the flame for a while (thank you, Jerry!) and a few other locomotives making increasingly rare appearances often accompanied by diesel helpers--but will there be anywhere one can go to regularly see mainline steam?

The real question, as I see it, is: are there enough people out that that care about mainline steam to make a difference? Very possibly not as the number of people coming to Scranton to ride behind it has been steadily dwindling in recent years. Unfortunately, the NPS bases its programs upon the number of people served and to some extent upon how loud people make their voices known in the right places.

Can the railfan/preservation community make a difference this time around? It's really depends upon a consensus of how we feel about government-supported mainline steam. Let's find out what Steamtown NHS's recently completed (and to date, highly secretive) Comprehensive Interpretive Plan has to say about the future of mainline excursions. Do we want another "stuffed and mounted" museum or do we want to be able to show future generations what the Great Age of Steam was really all about?



fred.gracebailey@earthlink.com

Your piece is one of the most thoughtful I have ever seen here on RYPN, or in any other railroad preservation setting. Your questions are spot-on. This document should be sent to TRAINS, or otherwise more widely circulated.

As I have said here, there and just about every where it is a tough task running steam in this day in age, From the Biggest to the smallest. ITs even harder when the Goverment is involved, Like Steamtown. What was the message that Steamtown and NPS wanted to get out when they first started this project? The story of steam, railroading, and a way of life for so many americans during the steam era. The Men and machines that moved a nation through the best and worst of times, from the Great Depression to the second World War. That is what steamtown is about. It is a story to important to be told behind glass display cases, it is one that needs to be seen, heard, and felt. It is too important to be lost.

It is a story that can't be told by just seeing a locomotive roll out on to a turntable and then return inside the roundhouse. Its a shame that this threasure is being forgotten. This is a place of national importance.
-Justin Franz

qcmrs18@yahoo.com