They contacted me separately AFTER I asked here. I DID NOT know and only asked based on the rather obvious appearance of running it late on Dec. 31st.

Their word against the PR folks, but.............

I’m not sure why it strikes a nerve with so many.... whatever goal or deadline there was they made it! Great!

I'm just Thankful and Happy that she's running again.
Alan

I could care less about deadlines

I'm sure it strikes some as being of this nature (which, sadly, is on display in our nation's capitol today):
https://www.ehow.com/how_2049858_make-tinfoil-hat.html

But I actually know of locomotive donations with a deadline for being in steam, as a way to make sure the group receiving it are serious and the engine isn't just going to continue to deteriorate without any work accomplished. In one case I follow an engine was donated by a private party to a group IF they returned it to steam by 12/31/20xx, a date which actually has passed. But the group in question is far along after encountering some time-consuming difficulties (firebox problems chiefly among them). I'm sure the private party said, look, we can see you are making progress so ignore the deadline. Rushing to complete a job as in Soviet 1930's dam and apartment complex construction could raise serious concerns about workmanship.

Yesterday, I spoke directly to someone who worked very hard for very long on the #1309. There was no secret reason to have her moving on 12/31. There is no behind the scenes secret deal or anything other than the crew wanted to do it.

Alexander asked a simple question, nobody needs to be accused of wearing tin foil.

Questions should be encouraged on this board! It’s how we learn :)

There's a time and a place for investigative journalism, particularly on a site like this one that is concerned with 'best practices' both in preservation and locomotive restoration and other technical work.

That said, this thread is not really the place to start wondering about getting the 'poop' as to why the hurry-up, or drop coy little hints about secret information or conspiracies without providing at least a clear summary of the supposed 'chicanery'.

It would be very simple to start a thread about "why the hurry to get 1309 steamed by 12/31 -- I heard it was due to xxxx". And leave this one to be, as intended, a celebration that it got done.

Congratulations to Western Maryland Scenic Railroad in having No. 1309 rolling. It was either a highlight of the last days of 2020, or of the first days of 2021. Either way, it is a tremendous achievement and an amazing piece of machinery to have back in steam.