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Define "Locomotive":
1) Standard Gauge
2) Narrow Gauge-3ft
3) Narrow Gauge-2ft
4) Less Than 2ft
5) Antique
6) Modern Built (including 'park trains')

What is included in the "list"?

Actually, I believe Railfan & Railroad ran the annual list, with Jeff Terry compiling it. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I guess maybe the only truly accurate list would be the FRA's info, but I don't know if that is publicly accessible.

As somebody else mentioned, it's a moving target, and how do you define "operational"? I know of at least one loco that is FRA legal but hasn't turned a wheel in over two years.

Also, engines that were operational get taken out of service for lots of reasons, some minor, some requiring vast infusions of time, money and effort. On the other hand, restorations get completed and engines get put in service as well.

So, keeping track of all of that is an impossible mission. This site comes quite close though: http://www.steamlocomotive.info/unitedstates.cfm

It's not totally accurate, as for example it shows MRSR #17 as operable, but she's actually out of servive pending her 1472 day overhaul. I'm certain that's not the only change they haven't caught up with yet. But all in all, the list they have is pretty good.

http://www.steamlocomotive.com/lists/

i've found that this website is more up to date, but it doesnt cover the entire world, just North America

The original request was for the U.S., so a North America report would cover that. I suppose it's good that a truly accurate listing is so hard to compile, because there are enough possibly usable steamers in this country that it's hard to keep track of them all. Trying to list all the operable steam locomotives in the world would probably be close to an order of magnitude more difficult. As I recall, there was one inventory that left out Orange Empire's Ventura County #2; needless to say, the author of that list got brought up to date rather quickly. In the world of electric street railways, the list of operable vintage trolleys in San Francisco is not always up to date, and its subjects are all in one City, so one can imagine the challenge of covering a rather large country.
I wonder if what the original requestor is most interested in is locomotives that haven't received much publicity or are in remote locations. This would rule out such engines as the narrow gauge locos at Disneyland, Disney World and Knott's Berry Farm. Also, where does one draw the line between "narrow gauge" and "miniature live steam"? There used to be a couple of 15" gauge lines in England that had common-carrier status and operated in the "real world" as opposed to a museum or park.

Ok, now that's weird... That's actually the website I was trying to reference! If you look at the list of states under the US listing, at the end of the list there's two links, one says "all" and one says "Browse steamlocomotive.info"

I was trying to find an overview page of the entire United States and mis-read that as "Browse steam locomotive info" (as in a description not a different website.)

So I'm not sure why that link is even there, and I didn't notice the fact it had changed from .com to info when I went to the new page.

I agree with you that steamlocomotive.com is often more up to date (not always though)

I usually get going on the list in March, for publication in the July issue of R&R. I've found that most railroads know if they are going to be running steam by that time. That said, it's very difficult to get the list 100% right because plans can (and do) change at the last minute. For example, in 2009 we listed ex- West Side Lumber Shay 14 running at the Colorado Railroad Museum. When I spoke with the museum director in March 2009 they did plan to run that particular Shay in the fall. However, the shop crew decided over the summer that they would rather run West Side Shay 12 since it had been out of service for a few seasons, and as a result 14 sat cold all year. Why do I bring this up? I received a nasty email from someone telling me to "do my research next time." Sorry! They should have been more perturbed that we listed two operable engines at the Georgetown Loop, which was steamless all season!

My most difficult task for this year: determining what to list for the Mount Washington Cog Railway.

Jeff Terry

The list of current FRA Form 4s would be a start Bob, but there are a fair number of steam engines across the country that aren't regulated by FRA because of the insular nature of the lines.



Probably not as difficult as you think, Jeff. For most of the last decade, there were 7 operable engines on the mountain. As of now, I believe there are only 5 theoretically operable engines. Those would be numbers 2, 4, 6, 9 and 10. Number 8 was retired a couple of years ago, although the cab and tender were salvaged and used on Number 4, so 4 looks like Number 8 in service. The Number 4 on the steam dome is the give-away. I am told that Number 3 failed the boiler inspection in 2009 and did not operate. With the diesels taking over, the RR apparently did not want to invest in boiler work. This was the engine that appeared on eBay for a short while.

The only other steam engines on the site are Old Peppersass (the line's prototype locomotive) and Number 1. Neither engine has operated in a very long time.

As for 2010, who knows. The RR still advertises that one steam trip per day for the upcoming season. It is highly unlikely that they will maintain 5 steamers. Two or 3 engines are more realistic, with 2, 6 and 9 being the most likely candidates.