I move the motion be adopted by acclamation. There being no objection (or dispute of the facts), motion is adopted by acclamation! Mr. Pincus, you still have the floor.

Thanks, HP, for the dose of reality.

Mike

I had heard this story a few times already and the one thing always missing from the mix is...CSX. Why would you see this number of stories and never once is the host railroad named? This also comes at a time when CSX has been extremely testy towards old "historic" equipment. I just do not know what to think.

Otherwise $15 million is a lot of jack but...would it fully fund the operation described in the news stories? That is a long way to drag a passenger train...especially with a steamer. I am the veteran of enough main-line steam excursions to know that those things eat money and they break a lot (no matter how hard you try to hold them together).

Costs would continue if the train continued to operate...it would certainly need to be subsidized on a regular basis. CSX is going to want a diesel "helper"with a pilot crew...the unions are going to want union crews...the EPA is not going to like a lot of black smoke floating over the WV countryside. Insurance??? I could go on but you get the point.

Bottom line: Even if CSX is willing...is this even possible?

T7

My list of non-starting projects in the last 20 years is much, much shorter.

And I have the Crow Sauce sitting by, just in case............

[System Administrator] Image deleted as a result of copyright violation complaint.

What, we actually got a copyright complaint, but the other websites didn't? Okay, link to the image at the merchandise site for the creator:
http://images.tfaw.com/covers/400/11/11761.jpg

Let's get to the important part - how do I buy advance sale 1st class tickets?

While we're at it can we get some advanced sale tickets for that Big Boy movie they're making in Texas?

Sign me up for first in line for 1) that GG1 excursion on the Northeast Corridor and 2) that UP gas-turbine excursion on Sherman Hill....... >;-)

Hi friends,

Just a little reminder that the guidelines specifically cover challenging posters to “put up or shut up”.

I'm personally holding out for the turbine on the corridor, or the GG1 on Sherman Hill.

T7 brought up something that so far no one else has made any additional comments on: the missing element here is CSX. The same CSX that won't let 734 on its rails for a ten mile, light engine, non-revenue move?

I'd like to see 614 run again, on a decent railroad with a decent sized train, but if CSX isn't onboard, it simply isn't going to happen. Although as HP stated, Ross does have a good history with the Chessie Safety Express and many other ventures.

Time will tell...

I'm sure that Ross will get 614 amtrak certified because that is what we have to do with Mainline Steam these days. I don't think we should make decisions based on CSX's decision here w/734.[/b] There are probably many other aspects for this train to get to the rails someday.

Also I don't see the 614 as the only engine that will get to pull this train if it happens. I see her as the [b]main motive power though. We all know what is currently going on w/765. She will be certified in the very near future. We all know that 765 has been a well traveled locomotive w/ a strong performance record. She has been as far east as Hoboken, NJ and ran on Southern Rails substituting for the 2716 back in 1982. So, I think we shall see at least a couple of engines pulling this train.

Roller bearings on the 734?

Dear fellow Foamers,

Please just relax and enjoy the ride. Here's what I'm at liberty to disclose at this early stage.

The GBX is a funded project ( the check has cleared) and no longer a " concept". It will be a 17 car long, ultra first class day train that will make 1 roundtrip/week, 10 months/year from Washington DC to the Greenbrier resort at White Sulphur Springs,W. Va. The train will be made up of 7 parlour cars each seating 30 guests, 2 dining room cars, an all kitchen car, an open platform tavern lounge car and other speciality cars. The train will be out of service each year from Jan. 15th.-March 15th. for heavy maintenance/refurbishment. Roundtrip fare will be $ 750.No childs fare.

It will operate on the same routing as Amtrak's Cardinal, departing Washington,DC on Tuesdays at 10:00 am arriveing at WSS at 5 pm. It will layover at WSS until its Sunday 10:00 am departure back to Washington,arriveing there at 5 pm. Capacity will be 210 guests.

Its by-line will be " World's Finest Train", and we will spare no effort to earn that.

Service is scheduled to commence on July 2,2012. The trains cars will be outfitted in Pottstown,Pa. Motive power will be a mix of modern diesels and classic mainline steam. On the steam portions of the journey there will be NO diesels in the consist. No " kissing your sister" here mister!!!


Further details will be released over the coming months.

Thanks, Ross Rowland, President

Greenbrier Express Company,Inc.

Leaving aside a bunch of other questions for now:

Which 17 cars? Old American Orient Express leftovers?

And why Pottstown?

Hello,

May I say exponential foam now being generated on this Interchange? Let's reflect on the factors leading up to extreme Interchange member foam over this announcement.

1. The Bigger the Deal, the More Work it Takes to Execute it - Mainline steam is very comparable to Rock and Roll in the 1980's. You had the mega groups, Genesis, U-2, Queen, The Police, Yes, Peter Gabriel, etc., etc. Quite honestly we were spoiled by the huge shows and their wide reaching popularity. You don't see performers like this now.....with that kind of staying power. These huge events like.....packing Wembley stadium to the gills, Live Aid, Amnesty International took serious planning and am sure multiple millions of dollars. Likewise mainline steam then, took a great deal of planning and mega investment to pull off. With conditions today for excursions, which we have all talked about until we are blue in the face, it will take even more planning and negotiation to pull off...one weak link in the chain could kill the deal.

2. Technology Overload - If Ross so much as brushes some paint on the 614 sitting quietly at Port Clinton, the whole east coast railfan community will know about it within days or hours depending who is grabbing photos at the R&N that day. I think back in 1985, no cell phones, no internet, ..... the only way I found out about the 614T tests was through the bulls sessions at my local hobby shop! I lived in Gettysburg, almost over the mountain from Hagerstown and to me it came out of nowhere. Likewise, he will bear the full brunt of criticism if the venture does not fly by this same group. I would be surprised if some of the posters have not already though of sneaking up to the 614 in the dead of night and tucking a magnetic GPS transponder neatly in her tender frame so they can track her every move and be absolutely sure which photo spot could be reached if she would be going at track speed in 2012! Too much tech....too many eyes and way too much expectation.

3. Massive Mainline Steam Starvation in the Northeast – Again referencing our being spoiled in the 80’s. We are fortunate over these quiet years that railroads like the Strasburg and regionals like the R&N have grown and matured as stable ambassadors to the cause. But again, like the song goes……Shooting Star from Bad Company……if this venture flies, lets not let it pass by like a warm summer day, we had better support it and enjoy it while we have it because it will get even harder for it to happen in the future……for many reasons, not the least to which is …….the 614, Ross and you and I are not getting any younger!

It is probably best the Ross announces something…..otherwise, we will become unglued. As conditions as they are, it would have been great to only have a press release after they were replacing flues in the 614, quietly in railroad shop in nowhere USA….but no, the 614 would have barely made it out of Port Clinton and the internet would have been on fire.

Ross, best wishes….you got a job ahead of you.

Like I am finding in trying to sell large power projects, you invest an enormous effort in to trying to sell and market a progressive concept, once you win the deal and the client actually has the financing, the newness wears off real fast, reality hits and you see blood running down the walls and its your own, since it will probably be you that has to work 12 hours a day+ to actually execute it.

Regards,

Randy