One of the sponsors on the TrainFestival site is listed as the American Steam Railroad.

http://www.americansteamrailroad.org/

Listed under their equipment section is Frisco #1352, apparently in Taylorville, IL but the contact address is in Ohio and they're selling tickets for the 4449 trips this year. Who are they? Where did they come from? T

Will

As far as I can tell this is a group of one person named Steve Harvey who lives in the Columbus area. I don't know of any other members. He has also talked about running trips out of Dennison. Anyone know more about him?

Chris.

Steve was involved with OC steam steam for many years. He has a great business ambition and with the help of many others will be very successful with this company. He is young and has a vision and that will take the company where he wants it!

Steam trips out of Dennison perhaps? Using Ohio Central steam? That would be awesome.

And they say "Our company follows the 'iving museum' principle, showcasing the history of American railroading through restoration and operation of our equipment, which we plan to accomplish at our facility in Eastern Ohio." The only eastern Ohio facility I know of is the Sugarcreek roundhouse that is under construction. Do they mean that?

All,

Thank your for inquiry about American Steam Railroading. ASR is a flegling steam and rail preservation group based in central Ohio. We are a group of far more than one, but yes, Steve Harvey is the founder and driving force. If you check out the website further, you will probably see a few more names that are known in midwestern railroading and steam circles alike. Further, more than a couple of us frequent these pages on a regular basis and collectively have a pretty good pulse on the steam and preservation communities these days. We have a team of steam and railroading professionals with experience and determination.

Our ultimate goal is the acquisition and restoration of the Frisco 2-8-2 Mike currently residing in Taylorville, Illinois. As such, we are currently in the fundraising stage of the project right now which brings me to the factor of the 4449 tickets on our website. We have been granted permission to help market and sell seats on the 4449's trek across the northern US this summer on her way to Trainfest and your purchase of said ticket(s) will help our effort move a little further down the track.

So, if you're itching to become a part of restoring a compact yet beafy Mike that will be right at home on almost any midwestern regional or shortline wherever we can find an invite, please, get involved by either buying your ticket(s) for part of the 4449's trip this summer and/or simply join up and get in touch with us.

I've probably shared a bit more than Steve would like, as our official press release is about to take place, but I wanted to get more good info out there for all of you wishing to know more about us.

FWIW, my background is in live steam (large scale and grand scale alike) and full size track work and civil engineering. I've been working with Steve and his team for about 3 years looking at and evaluating various locations and opportunities for our start up.

Sincerely,

Rob Gardner

Hello to all,

I wanted to say thank-you for taking the time for looking at the http://www.americansteamrailroad.org web site. It has taken many years to bring this 501c3 to a level of being open for business and for finding our first project Fricso #1352 in Taylorville, IL.

I can say without any issues I'm not the only person who is behind the scenes at the American Steam Railroad just the person who answers the emails, takes the questions and updates the web site. No, I'm not the sole owner of the organization but I am one of the founders.

If you look at the about company section of the site you will see many professionals who either have day jobs at railroads, retired VP or CEO's of railroads and many good advisers and business men either in the railroad industry or out in the business world.

I would encourage you to look around on the site and read every little bell and whistle as 5 programmers have donated over 600 hours of there time to make all of the flash, mouse overs and graphics to make the site work as best as possible.

While the Web Site is a living work in progress and this is version 1.0 we are working on 1.5 of the site to make it a place where news on steam and general railroading can be accessed with ease. Also it will be geared toward the general public cause if steam is going to survive we have to reach out to new folks to help out the cause.

Yes it is correct we are selling Daylight tickets and if you would like to purchase one you will be riding on the Sliver Fleet at the tail end of the train and as the site states all proceeds go to the rebuild fund of 1352. So, you get a good bang for the buck. Ride behind the Daylight and help rebuild another Steam Locomotive.

Interest from non-railfan types have already donated 3500.00 dollars toward the cause as shown with our choo-choo graphic on the main page.

As far as the site for the locomotive is concerned where the locomotive will be going it is in Eastern Ohio and the space that is being rented the owner has been asked not to be named and no that is not JJJ's roundhouse in Sugar Creek. I understand people want to have the inside scoop but please look to the Web Site for the official announcements and happenings with the organization. This will help all of us at the American Steam Railroad keep all rumors under control.

The ASR Web Site will be the official place for updates on the project and in the coming weeks we'll be adding more about 1352 and kick in more of the online store which will help with the rebuild cause as proceeds go to the rebuild fund.

Our support Q&A link http://www.americansteamrailroad.org/faq.aspx will help you with the major questions and if you have more please send us an email by using the contact us link on the web site and we'll add it into the Q&A section of the page. Also please see the press release just posted to RYPN about the ASR Web.

Best Regards,

Steven M Harvey
Current Chairman and CEO
American Steam Railroad Preservation Association, Inc
web: http://www.americansteamrailroad.org