My wife and I just finished watching both seasons of this show, on Amazon Prime:
https://www.facebook.com/HaveSteamEngineWillTravel/

My wife had some questions that I couldn't answer nor find info online for:
1. Is there any future for this show?
2. What the heck do these guys do for a living? Surely, they can't afford all this stuff on the fees to get the engines to tourist RRs alone? They don't farm anymore and the show seemed to support a decent lifestyle with no apparent means of support other than the locomotives

I was wonder a few things, too:
1. Why the heck don't they have any track at all on their farm? They only have enough rail to literally set the locomotives in place, all but one outside. You'd think they'd want at least a short test track?
2. In one episode, the crew at Spencer NC dropped the back axle of a SRR F Unit off the end of the turntable bridge. When did that happen?

I loved this show! I have met Barney a few times and he's quite the character.

If you do Facebook, there is a page dedicated to this show. The producers are looking for funding to do another season. I think they said it cost about $80k an episode to produce.

Eric

“These guys”??? The Grammlings have been involved in steam locomotive preservation across the USA for decades!

Since the show was filmed the shop has been improved quite a bit. In addition to housing a fully equipped yet ever expanding machine shop, it is now capable of holding two locomotives ( twice as many as before). More track is just one more thing to spend money on and be in the way. They're good enough at what they do that they don't really need a "test track."

Barney is basically Mr. Railroad, with 25 years on the railroad as an engineer, track worker, and locomotive mechanic among other things, he has plenty of railroad experience to put to work when the little engines aren't running. The shop they have built provides plenty of opportunities for contract work on other locomotives. Barney makes and sells reproduction builder's plates, does air brake work on passenger cars, performs contract work on other steam engines and takes on various mechanical projects that interest him including vintage tractors. He also has a wife that loves him.

Hope that helps.

That makes sense, thanks for the info.