Not a word about the end of 2816 and the end of the CP steam program , but plenty of ebay pictures and people getting their panties in a bunch, because they had their tender sensibilities in a bunch.

Wow.

Frankly, I haven't heard a peep about the "end of 2816/etc." from any "reputable" sources, such as the Trains Newswire, Railpace HotNews, etc. I've seen rumors posted elsewhere, with others refuting the rumors as "it's just down for routine maintenance" and the like.

What's your source on the end of CP's steam?

Actually, I'm pretty sure the 2816 thing was a hoax/rumor. One of the e-mails I read contained a quote from a CP official something to the tune of "Everytime we lay the engine up for a few months, the rumors circulate that we're cancelling the program". He also points out any official mention would be made on the CP's website.

I remember seeing this posted on a few websites this summer as well.

Crosby

From Trains Newswire, Nov. 11th, www.trains.com:

SO -

You have my sympathy and empathy. I have a friend who is retired and has limited mobility these days. He was a volunteer at our museum and in his youth worked in the boiler shop for an electric power plant. I would frequently send him excerpts from various posts. The thread about the ATSF engine with its discussion about using Tide(!) as a boiler wash was the first decent thread that I could send him in 6-8 weeks.

Wesley

Come on Superheater, my news was good! We may be at the beginning but at least its a start.

I've enjoyed your posts, Supe.

There's been plenty to read and discuss on RYPN. It's like a news paper here, just pick out the topics that interest you and pass on the rest. Just remember, if you are not part of the solution, you can be part of the problem. I'm not as well versed in the industry or hobby, as much as I am, as you are and I look forward to future informative posts.

And, to Alexander, another must read poster - Thanks for clearing up the rumor regarding CP's steam program. Most of us are still trying to recover from the Grande Canyon discontinuance of steam, among others - the CP rumor was too much to take in such a short time. (Now we can resume our dreams of CP aquiring "the larger" engine it was looking for. : )

Too bad there's not a site like Urbanledgens.com or Snopes for trains...

PS - Clinchfield articulated engines, Strasburg footage from the 60's, EBT #12 - it's all news to those who have never seen such before. Cool linked pics to RP... well, if it educates, GW #90 before and after, L&N's new longer tender... well, who knew - it's all good.

/Mitch

I find the links to Ebay and other sites helpful. Many times they lead to a photograph, or information on a project that I am currently working on. A few years ago, when I was a lurker here, a gentleman was rebuked for posting such links. Thankfully he was encouraged to continue to post these valuable links.

I look forward to "almost" all the information that is posted here, and if I don't like it, I just scroll down to the next.

Romi

[/url]http://steamcentral.com/2008/11/09/cpr-2816-sidelined/[url]

Notice, I didn't say it was true. I said " Not a word about the end of 2816 and the end of the CP steam program ". The auditor in me said that such an assertion should be confirmed by CP to be believed.

Now if CP felt compelled to dispel the rumor in Trains, that means it was pervasive enough to have reached CP's corporate offices and required their time; that means the following:

Posters here were unaware of the rumor or failed to properly apprehend its apparent significance and plausibility. Why is that?

When this rumor was building up steam, there was a 38 post string that actually started in 2004 which in large part, with a few exceptions, were exercises in political vanity or speculation and thoroughly unrelated to rail preservation.

In some cases, the quality of an information source derives not only from what it asserts to be true, but what it asserts to be false. That’s why testimonial oaths specify “the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth”.

As for politics:

"All Elections are auctions in advance of stolen goods"

-H.L. Mencken
-

I ofer a third possibility: posters here (specifically me, in this case) WERE aware of the rumors, but did not view the rumors as sufficiently plausible to be worth repeating or commenting upon.

If I didn't have a life, I could clutter this forum daily with rumors of AT&SF starting a steam program, Reading & Northern reactivating 2102, the latest speculation on the fate of the Grand Canyon steamers, EBT scuttlebutt, Flying Yankee figments, etc. Until someone actually starts a fund drive and rounds up the appropriate experts to put money and sweat where their keystrokes are, it isn't worth our energy to speculate. (We can, however, help with such matters as talking the idealistic back down to reality, or telling someone what works and what doesn't when it comes to organizing a nonprofit, finding a source for parts, etc.)



Exhibit A. Is that kind of stuff what you really came here to read? If you enjoy that, there are scads of political blogs, or even just the mindless comments made to articles at newspaper websites, to fill your desire. We don't need that here.