Hi Friends,

I was up at Steamtown for a quick visit Saturday before a ballgame. From what I learned, it looks like the Lackawanna Railfest will have some very interesting events.

In the "yes, finally" corner it looks like the Delaware Water Gap trip on Saturday 11/3 will be growlers east, steam west (maybe doubleheaded steam). Riding up the east slope of the Poconos behind steam should be quite a thrill and to my knowledge a trip from the gap west behind steam has not happened since #759 did it some 35 years ago!

Sunday is supposed to feature many photo opportunities with the Steamtown locos, R&N #425 and visiting diesels.

I also heard that there is a trip with #2317 planned for 9/16 to run west of Scranton, but not sure if that is true.

The railfan rumor mill reports that #2317 is to be retired after this year. No one at the park spoke to that. She is down with work on her trailer truck right now. #3254 is expected back this month.

All in all, I am really looking forward to Railfest.

Rob

Hi, Rob, et al:
I don't know how I missed this post the first time around, but there is a slight change in the date for the September westbound train. This will be a steam trip to Nicholson, PA's Bridge Day on Sunday, Sept. 9. This is no longer rumor, as we finally got word from NPS management and the Canadian Pacific Railway to start selling tickets on August 17. No. 2317 was inspected and approved by CP's steam people, and will lead the train to Nicholson, where it will stop for 15 minutes atop the Tunkhannock Creek viaduct, then proceed to Hop Bottom's passing siding to prepare for an eastbound return to Scranton.

Train tickets cost $41 for adults, $36 for seniors and $30 for children. Departure time is 1:00 pm, with expected return of 4:00 pm. More on RailFest when the details are firmed up.

The NPS sent out formal letters asking potential visitors to make a commitment by the beginning of last week. Based on that, I would suspect we may see a formal list of visiting equipment around Labor Day. Two factors that will effect potential visitors will be insurance and transportation costs. The required insurance is higher than during previous "Railfan Weekend" events of years past. Also, anything coming by rail will have to pay either NS/DL or CP/DL to get to Steamtown - easily an amount in the thousands of dollars that may eliminate some of the non-profit groups that might want to come.

Hi Tim, et al...

I don't know if an official confirmation of the future of CP 2317 was ever issued. Seems it will be undergoing extensive work starting this Winter lasting till ?, and it would seem likely that the 2317 will not be retired from operation anytime soon, rather it will supplement the B&M 3713 while the 3254 serves as back up. Can you or someone at Steamtown put this rumor to rest officially?

Also, regarding the Nicholson trip - will there be a diesel in the consist and if so where will it be each direction. And if not... I assume the 2317 will be pulling the consist backwards back to Steamtown?

Thanks.

/Mitch

Hello, Mitch:
I was away from work for the past week, chasing a 2-8-0 around Chattanooga, so I haven't seen Steamtown's train order on the Nicholson/Hop Bottom trip. If I heard correctly, 2317 will handle the train solo with 7 coaches, including our handicap accessible 303 combine. The steamer will use the passing siding in Hop Bottom to reach the south (East) side of the train, after a 15 minute stop on the bridge. No one is to leave the train, per Canadian Pacific's request. Round trip should take 3 hours.

I think there is some confusion around the future of the 2317 because a long time ago on a list far, far away someone posted that the 2317 would be retired this winter. I believe the actual fact is that the 2317 will be re-tired this winter (getting new tires), not retired (put out to pasture).

There is some preliminary work being done on a photo charter for the 2317 this winter. Keep tuned...

From what I was told at Steamtown in July, the 2317 needs to have its five year inspection/overhaul done at the end of this season. What I heard will happen is that it will be shoved aside (NOT RETIRED) for the time being, so they can focus more on the B&M 3713.
I repeat, 2317 will not be retired, just temporarily stored.
Also, IIRC, 2317 received new driver tires earlier this year, so it shouldn't need to have it done again.

Only the rear tires were replaced. The other four need to be replaced (actually, all six need to be replaced, as the changing of only the rear two has caused problems that will result in them having a very short service life).