The RJC 2008



And another "Americanized" QJ at Iowa Interstate

I know the folks in Nashville are looking to restore NC&StL #576 for operation - could they borrow the QJ to run mainline trips over the Nashville & Eastern in order to continue raising funds for the restoration?

I thought Henry did a very credible job "Americanizing" QJ 6988. I think it "passes" for a U. S. steam locomotive nicely, and could serve as the template for other efforts. It's really a shame that three big, fairly recent, mechanically sound tourist locomotives can't find a place to run, especially since there wouldn't be the renting of garments and gnashing of teeth among the U. S. preservation purists when it comes to modifying a foreign locomotive for daily use. The wheelbase issue is a problem for those locos that has to be taken into consideration, although I don't think they have any issues with being towed backwards one-way, like the CVSR does with NKP 765 for their September "Steam in the Valley" outings of the past several years. Essentially, they are like 765, the steam equivalent of a SD-40 in axle loading and horsepower. Maybe having something like the Corman QJ on the CVSR full-time might make sense, although they do have storage capacity issues, and there are curvature issues South of Akron Northside station, specifically in the Valley Yard area. But an operator could pretty much do anything they want to cosmetically to one (a la the Chessie Steam Special) and not get a lot of "foamer" blow back around here.

Just wondering.... has anybody in a position to speak for Corman actually asked about opportunities for them to run elsewhere? I seem to see a lot of talk based on what I'm not sure.

Back in October last year, I asked them via Facebook about the engine - they responded that they were "not at liberty to discuss the status of this locomotive. We have used it for a variety of purposes and at this time have no plans to sell the locomotive."

Whether that has changed in the last year, who knows. I wish someone the best of luck getting an official answer other than that.

As a local, this is news to me. I'll break out the camera Monday and see if I can prove this wrong.

Topic of this thread:
RJ Corman 2-10-2 Scrapped?

Answer:
It's not.

Is there a way to change topic headline? Half the people do not read the entire thread and the newest false rumor gets more air time base on a thread title. Hitler knew this worked and so does the media and government. So do we have to participate in this as well? Not trying to be crabby about this but the thread title is not true but looks like "news". I know this leans towards censorship or does the OP need to do the changing?

Regards, John.

Yes, I will change it.

It seems the Central States Steam organization hasn't been updated in a long time.Are the defunct or inactive?

While a 2-10-2 might present something of a problem on tight curves; 63,000 pounds of tractive effort is nothing to sneeze at, so I was a bit surprised they didn't find a market.

When I posted this spoof 9 1/2 years ago, I was actually thinking somebody other than RJ Corman or Henry Posner would buy one using the R&N as foil.


viewtopic.php?f=1&t=25074&p=112326&hilit=RRDC#p112326

Straight from the horse’s mouth - nothing has happened to the young lady that is 2008.

Given the demise of the Bluewater Michigan Chapter, and other such groups, I am not even remotely surprised we have so many ladies "all dressed up and burning tube time". What do you expect to haul behind them? Spine cars?

There are fewer groups doing less work to preserve and maintain fewer coaches for mainline service (at ever higher standards). Everyone who has a steam engine thinks "la la la, I'll just go out on the spot market and find the coaches I need to make these trips profitable." And that used to take one call to Bluewater. Now it's a couple days on the phone before painful reality starts to set in, all these coaches are available "but"...

Especially because Bluewater had a very odd financial basis of being volunteer supported, because Bluewater's purpose was run their own fantrips on host railroads (pulled by host railroad diesels), and supported by the private car owner enthusiasts who benefited from Bluewaters's safe hosting of their cars... Which in turn came from their free use of the SEMTA rail facility. Because of that peculiar alchemy, Bluewater was able to provide coach fleets subsidized. Now your fantrip has to pay the car owner's expenses, and the price is higher...

If there is one essential truth in steam excursion railroading on a non-tourist, non-museum operation, it is that 'These Events Be at the Pleasure of the King'.

Everyone involved looks up, and if it pleases the king, it shall be done. If it does not, it will not.

That's applied to ever major Class 1 down to every shortline I've dealt with. It's one of those things that lands on the Boss' desk as there's simply no standard policy to deal with at any intermediate level. The only operation that might be sufficiently institutionalized as to be standard corporate policy might be UP.

Specific to RJC, the new president/CEO has been on the job for a year with no real 'thumbs up or thumbs down' externally visible on this issue, and RJC has a real respect for Rick's legacy and openly states it, which even carries into this area. I don't see this as a criticism at all, just a reminder of how this really works in a for-profit world where the risk vs. reward is ultimately decided at the top.

It is good to see no apparent slackening of interest in the 'My Old Kentucky Dinner Train', if you look at the calendar there are over half the December trips sold out.

Compare that to NS, which under the same timeframe, auctioned off their excursion cars this year, just saying.