.

I'm extremely curious exactly what the turnout was for the event. Yes, there's the philosophy that if even one patron braves the elements he/she should be rewarded. But I wonder if the tickets were advance-sell and non-refundable or walk-up-purchase, and how that affected attendance. I know we had a non-refundable motel room in northern Pa. for a business trip. and that made us press on through the storm in spite of average-speed-30-mph on Interstate 83....... if you had asked me, I would have wagered big money the Strasburg would have had more sense than we did!

There's the old story of the preacher who comes to the church during a blizzard, and only one lone cowhand shows up for the service. The minister offers to absolve the cowhand of his obligation to the Lord for the week, and the cowhand says, "Well, Father, I figger it this way--if I had a whole barn full o' hay and only one little calf or colt shows up, I'm shure gonna give him his due. So let's go ahead."
The minister goes through the entire service, and at the end greets the cowhand in tears, "I've never had a more special and meaningful service in my life. I hope it meant as much to you as it did to me." Cowhand replies, "Well, Father, I'm shore glad it was special to ye, but lemme go back to what I was saying afore.... If I had a barn fulla hay, and only one liddle calf shows up, I'm a-gonna give him some. But I ain't gonna dump the whole dang barnload on him!"

Whatever the justification for the plow run, I have to say the photos of a steam passenger train in a blizzard, are possibly the most unique I have seen in the past few decades. Leave it to Strasburg, to marshal their antiquated equipment into the service for which it was designed, and do what railroads do; deliver the goods and passengers under all conditions. I hope the revenues justified the operations, but whether they did or didn't, the whole production is above standard for any modern steam operation.
Thanks for posting the photos, and thanks for reminding us what steam era railroading was (is) about!

Have a great holiday, you Strasburg guys!

“I'm extremely curious exactly what the turnout was for the event. Yes, there's the philosophy that if even one patron braves the elements he/she should be rewarded. But I wonder if the tickets were advance-sell and non-refundable or walk-up-purchase, and how that affected attendance”.

Kelly’s original post -
“As predictions for last Saturday’s nor’easter became more severe, it was decided Friday afternoon that a snow fighting crew needed to be called to keep the line open for our pre-soldSanta trains”.

According to the ticket agents, the trains ran at an average of 50% capacity.
Deciding to run or not in those conditions is a very difficult one. On one hand, if you run, the people who didn’t make it will be less than happy. On the other hand, if you cancel, the people who did get here will be even less happy because of what it took to get here. In addition, how do you get the word out on short notice that we are going to cancel?

In years past when you only could get a ticket if you went to the ticket window, the decision was easy. You cancel. Now, so much of your sales are done through the internet that canceling is very difficult.

I do know that those of us who kept the line open this weekend would have been very happy to be watching the snow from their Lazy-Boy instead, but that’s railroading. I also noticed that the people that tell you that “they’d give anything for your job” weren’t able to make it this weekend!

Rick

Seems like Strasburg had great sense. The show must go on!

ADM , ya gotta read the posts before you ask the questions? :-)

Is RYPN really the place to question or critique every little thing that a railroad or museum does? It's getting old, and that's not a swipe at ADM, just an observation. As of late, there seems to be a lot more arm chair quarterbacking... heck, arm chair general managing... than usual.

If I was busting my ass in the snow at Strasburg, New Hope or anywhere else, the last thing I would want to read is this supposedly "friendly" forum questioning everything.

Maybe I am overly sensitive?

Rob

Much the same scene a few miles to the east:

NH&I 40 awaiting departure of the 5:15...

We did much the same drill at the NH&I. Crews came in early Sunday and cleared the station, parking lot, switches etc. We ran one of the diesels up the line to check track and clear out switches.

Both on Saturday and Sunday the railroad ran on schedule. The vast majority of our Santa /North Pole patrons have prepaid non refundable tickets so a good number braved the weather Saturday and rode. Many of those who couldn't make it Saturday did show up Sunday and were carried due to the extrodinary conditions!!

Ross Rowland

Ross,

I'm a native of near Huntington, WV. You wouldn't know of a certain 614T that I saw in similar weather conditions headed towards Hinton in the early 1980's would you??

Okay, my bad on not catching the advance-sell of the tickets. We still haven't heard whether they were refundable. Even that's a whole 'nuther discussion: Refund if weather prevents attending? Refund if canceled within 24/48 hours of the event and/or if the ticket can be resold? Could I have driven up and bought a ticket that morning if I were that crazy? We railfans are encountering this problem all the time, committing for winter steam charters in places that may have a 50-50 chance of snow on the ground, and I for one have not participated in a few simply because there was too much of a crap shoot whether or not there would be snow. (I'm 4 for 4 on winter specials having snow so far.)

I mean, the whole dynamics of "we spent $150 on these tickets and they're nonrefundable, so we're taking our chances with the weather" enter into play as well.

This is in no way an attack on the Strasburg or anyone else. I'm glad they offer a product that people will brave the elements, and maybe risk their lives, to purchase. I'm glad the customer comes first, and that they doggedly kept the line open at considerable expense to keep the customers happy.

No refunds.

However, absent patrons' tickets wil be honored this weekend and the next on our Santa-free trains. See http://www.strasburgrailroad.com for more details.

"Santa - Free"?

Thanks for clearing that one up.....I always thought it was

"Santa Fe"

Mark

Mark,

Things have changed. It's now BNSF.

Blizzard No-show Santa-Free

BTW - Jimmy Buffet just bought all the BNSF stock. I expect further winter runs to be known as the "Snow Queen."

Rob

Rick, Kelly,

Wonderful job clearing the line and keeping everything running. Nice pictures as well.

SRC should really come up to the MTA Long Island Rail Road and tell them how to clear and take care of there railroad. I have never seen such dis-orginazation and chaos in my life. I am glad to know Strasburg knows how to run a railroad...something the MTA will always lack.

You guys do such amazing work in everything you do.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all!

Anthony

Believe it or not gentlemen, it's the day before Christmas and we don't have ANY snow up here in Southern Ontario.

Great photos and a great show for all those who made it. This was very cool that you and a couple other railroads kept going. This kind of stuff is what makes for good stories and great memories. Might not seem worth it at the time though.

I remember back in I would guess the mid 1970s when Mid Continent had it's very first Winter Run. If my memory is correct the BOD was not real keen or supportive of the idea of a winter run. So the people who wanted to try it had to come up with the operating expenses out of pocket in case it didn't work. Don't remember exactly what it was, but a bunch of people put $100 in the kitty and made it happen. As Mr Murphy has always had a good sense of humor, they got approx 2' of snow starting on Friday night. Do not believe the number of people was all that great on Sat because the roads were pretty much impassable. It was a gas. We had no snow plows at the time, except the rotary that was not operable. Actually the Cadillac & Lake City Russel may have been there, but if it was it was not ready to plow yet. Actually I don't think it was there yet. I think it was the first year we tried steam heat in the Lackawanna coaches. Don't recall what engine we used, but unless we added steam lines to the existing fleet it would of been the CN&W #1385. There was so much snow it was ridiculous. The trains ran, we had some problems, but nothing that kept the show from going on. I do remember that enough money was made that everybody got their front money back if they wanted it back. Many of the older members would of just donated it and called it a day. Hats off to you folks that made this happen, then and now. Merry ho ho ho, John.