No, that is not correct.

See FRA's Bridge Safety Standards.No offense intended Brother Mitchell, but you don't know what you're posting about.
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Chris Webster (also a P.E., but not licensed in Pennsylvania)

Sandy- Yes, those are abutments; I was thinking of another bridge as I wrote, my 74 year old mind sometimes loses focus. Simple rule for whether or not the FRA gets involved: Does the railroad cross a public highway. If "yes" then the FRA gets into the act. That's one reason why the WW&F is not (for the time being) going any further- they'd have to cross a public road. FRA is involved with the Cumbres and Toltec and they don't connect to the national system. Finally, the damage to the stringer is a little more than a "dent".
And that's all I'm gonna say.
Ned

This could work:

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=yo ... &FORM=VIRE

No, I don't think so.

The short answer is to go look at the pictures of the EBT bridge and note all the flammable timbers sitting atop the beam.

Longer answer is that heat straightening is for rolled or built-up (welded together) I-beams. The EBT bridge's beam is riveted together.

The EBT crosses a public road -- it is even a numbered state route -- just going from the round house to the depot. So the FRA is should be involved with the railroad.

Honestly and respectfully, I don't know why there is all this paper napkin design for new bridges by experts in the field or in other fields. I simply know that when it comes time to fix the problem, the source of money and the cost of the repairs and any permitting hassles will drive the design. Hopefully historical integrity can be accommodated, but seeing the EBT running again would be great enough for me.

If I were to spec this project, I would include the historic bridge sides as sacrificial beams placed in front of the new bridge. Hopefully the new bridge will age enough to look old when the originals finally collapse due to repeated hits or rust.

Just to clarify, the 49 CFR Part 237 Bridge Standards apply, even to insular rail operations that have bridges as defined and outlined in the regulation.

See footnote number 5 in the FRA guidance.
https://railroads.dot.gov/legislation-r ... -railroads

MD Ramsey

Yes, they most certainly do apply, even to the insular, two-foot gauge, historic, WW&F.

Fortunately, one of our members is also a licensed bridge engineer and inspector.

I do hope for great things in the near future for the EBT. A recent video I saw made me think that the EBT is perhaps the closest thing the US has to the Ffestiniog railway in the UK. There has been a recent award of a large sum of money to restore and interpret the older buildings at the Boston Lodge facility where the railway began (before steam locomotives) and later expanded, providing a variety of support functions which it continues to do today. It is somewhat like the Orbisonia/Rockhill shops of the EBT. Perhaps it is nothing like the EBT so far as ridership, popularity, and available funding for such a project, but it still makes you think a bit about what might be possible in PA. This video is an hour long, but worth the watch!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_J8_0pmEqU

Just updating this since I mentioned it in another thread:

Per the Foundation via the railroad's Facebook page, and also via Trains Magazine, #14 and #16 are the chosen pair to return to operation first. #14 ran during the Kolvalchick era (last run was...2001?), while #16 hasn't steamed since her last service call on March 29, 1956 a couple weeks before the end of common carrier operation.

The Trains article is NOT behind a paywall:

https://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2 ... sYPAUaezLQ

This photo posted by Christopher Brang is looking down into the open steam dome of #16--first time filled with water since 1956:



EDIT: They found the person responsible for the damage to the Runk Road overpass. What comes of that remains to be seen.

Nos. 14 and 15 overlapped (14 at the end of it's 1472 time and 15 having just been overhauled) in 2005, the last year the Railfan Weekend had two engines operating at once. Those of us much older remember when they could field four locomotives for the Winter Spectacular. Maybe someday... Maybe all six?

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Ok, Kelly, my misunderstanding. At any rate, I was sure about the year involved.

I'm kind of surprised that #15 wasn't chosen since it was the engine most recently overhauled. Were #14 and #16 chosen because they are favorites; or does #15 require far more work than it's required FRA work ?
I like them all; just curious !

Kevin K

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