I posted a message that seems to have gone astray. The owner contacted me and said the deal with the American group fell thru and he was going to start scraping next month. Merry Christmas,i will try and stall him til we can get some sort of finger in the air from CP. Al Crisp

That's not good news. Merry Christmas to all us steam fans.

Robert

Bad news but also good news - now we have a value placed on it, and not much in relative terms.

Bless all of you for trying. Having been recently involved with the move of a steam locomotive by road I can tell you that Big Boy's guesstimates above are VERY low.

My educated guess is that to load/unload that engine & tender and prep for highway movement will run a minimum of $ 300k and the charge for highway movement will be in the $ 550/mile area. Plus, it will take the transport company a minimum of 3-4 months to establish a route that works for height clearances, get all the necessary permits, arrange for State police escorts where needed etc.

All in you'll be looking at more than $ 400,000.00 if the highway move is not more than about 100 miles. If it's more than that then add $ 550/mile and you'll have a good estimate.

I don't know the owner at all but he'd be wise to take anything he can get above her scrap in place value which I'm guessing is about $ 25,000.

The chances of the CP RR wanting a second steam locomotive in their fleet is next to zero, IMHO.

Best wishes to all for a blessed Christmas and a healthy, steam filled 2019.

Ross Rowland

Hi Ross,

Merry Christmas.

Robert

Robert, You're correct for sure that movement by flat car is far cheaper than highway. The problem there is getting the railroad to agree to put in/take out a temporary switch into their track. I recently had a mainline switch installed on a class 1 in CTC territory and the charge was $ 175,000.00 If they'd agree ( big if?? ) to a temporary switch my guess is that the charge would be a very minimum $ 50,000.00 Then you'd no doubt have to install some ties ( @ $ 200/tie installed) so the railroad would ok the siding for movements and all the crane charges on both ends.

Even by rail your looking at a minimum $ 400,000.00 bill when its all said and done.

Unless the owner drinks a very large cup of get smart juice soon she'll be scrapped in place.

IMHO- Ross Rowland

Ross, The short line agreed to reconnect the line temporally. Your right in needing some ties under the rails. Al Crisp talked with the short line and there really is no problem on that front.

Damn shame to loose this engine because of the history of it. Al is right in that she belongs in Canada in a museum.

Robert

Al Crisp here; I am a retired heavy haul trucker so I know all about the ins and outs of over the road haulage of just about anything and the endless array of administrations at all levels that want their pound of flesh for permits ,surveys, Fines for placing a tie down wrong in the eyes of that state, and on and on. If it was short haul I would over the road the tender and rail the loco. A highway bridge survey is an average of 6500$ each and they must all be done for something in the locos weight range. His estimate and the ones I have are only to get the thing off the ground and loaded to spec for transport. The tender is only a matter of loading for the lowest weight per axle jurisdiction and getting an over dimensional routing and the required permits. Also arranging for utility moves if needed. There are companies who do all that and then fax all the bits and pieces where they need to go. I used to hate waiting for these things and true to form there would be mistakes. I remember once getting arrested at Hope Arkansas for a permit violation. The state issued the permit and I followed it to the letter only to be in formed at the scale I could not drive on I-30 in Little Rock. Cost my company 800$ fine, and I sat all day waiting for a new permit But Arkansas was famous for this little scam !

Why do I see this as being a repeat of Louisiana & Arkansas RR No. 503?

Not likely. If CPR does not step in she is a goner.


Robert

Guys, guys stop beating yourselves up. It's painfully obvious that unless this owner has a change of heart this engine will get cut up in place,.... all of our wishes to the contrary not withstanding.

Sometimes in life you just have to let things go. This appears to be one of them.

IMHO-Ross Rowland

Unless he smells panic in the messages he's receiving and is working a ploy to get super-sale in short time. I hate to to be blunt, but this guys has no concept of what he owns and the historic value it carries. Unless another party buys it for just above scrap value and then holds onto the engine, we are going to be witnessing a tragedy in our time. Ross is quite probably spot-on.

Never expected to see another Richard Jensen type event. This is indeed a tragedy in the making.

Robert

He WILL get a lot of ridicule from the railfan community. I hope he has thick skin.

What railfan community? I don't see any cohesive mass worthy of the amount of respect any collective amount of power would engender...….. if we were that powerful, and cohesive, we'd already have bought and moved it. OTOH, we are probably annoying enough that he'd find dealing with a scrapper pleasant in comparison. What outcome do we want to encourage here?