Pere Marquette 1225 will not travel to Virginia this fall

PMC · **Joined:** Sat Oct 17, 2015 5:55 pm **Posts:** 2876

https://railfan.com/pere-marquette-1225 ... this-fall/
No reason is given, but I can only guess that it may be due to a change in policy regarding moving steam at one of the Eastern carriers.

NJDixon · **Joined:** Mon Dec 06, 2021 4:36 pm **Posts:** 364

The Newswire article off of Trains Magazine had more details and mentioned that a deciding factor was that by the time the trips at VA wrapped up and they got 1225 back to Owosso, it would be getting too close to the start of their North Pole Express season.

Quote:

“We eclipsed the deadline for the critical path planning in transporting our equipment to Virginia and back in time for our North Pole Express excursions," Randy Paquette, SRI’s interim executive director, told Trains, while also giving high praise to the Buckingham Branch, the Virginia Scenic Railway, and Norfolk Southern

SRI provided additional comments from Operations and Facilities Manager Aaron Farmer. “There was no ‘ban’ on steam locomotives or outright refusal by the railroads to move the equipment that led to this decision. The reality is that we needed sufficient lead time to properly announce and market the excursions, as well as firm commitments from all of the railroads involved before we could responsibly move forward. Every railroad involved viewed the proposed operation positively and expressed interest in seeing the venture come to fruition.”

BnOTolSub · **Joined:** Mon Dec 18, 2017 11:41 am **Posts:** 162

NS was agreeable to make the moves, just not on the timeline for the SRI group to do what they needed to do.

PaulWWoodring · **Posted:** Sun Aug 16, 2026 7:11 am

The logistics of having to get a crane at both ends to remove and reinstall the main and eccentric rods for a dead-in-train move probably had something to do with it, if not the time involved, certainly the costs. It's going to be an issue. Maybe the RDG 2100 folks will actually have a shot at operating on the CVSR if Ft. Wayne doesn't want to go to the trouble of doing all that to bring 765 to Cleveland next year?

southern154 · **Joined:** Mon Jun 24, 2013 12:54 pm **Posts:** 321

PaulWWoodring wrote:

The logistics of having to get a crane at both ends to remove and reinstall the main and eccentric rods for a dead-in-train move probably had something to do with it, if not the time involved, certainly the costs. It's going to be an issue. Maybe the RDG 2100 folks will actually have a shot at operating on the CVSR if Ft. Wayne doesn't want to go to the trouble of doing all that to bring 765 to Cleveland next year?

How difficult is it to disconnect the piston rod from the crosshead? If I recall correctly that is how they moved C&O 2716 to Ravenna and ran at trackspeed of 50mph. Would that be an option for dead in tow, easier that disconnecting the main rods from the #2 or #3 driver?

mcgrath618 · **Joined:** Mon Feb 15, 2021 6:54 pm **Posts:** 231

Does anyone have a source that says the main logistical hurdle was rod removal (or that NS required as much)?

jayrod · **Posted:** Fri Aug 21, 2026 3:25 pm

I'm far from a steam expert, but if you have a mechanical oiler I'd think you certainly wouldn't drop the rods. Pistons, yeah OK maybe. That requirement to remove rods wouldn't make sense to me but what do I know. I'm a diesel guy.

BnOTolSub · **Joined:** Mon Dec 18, 2017 11:41 am **Posts:** 162

Quote:

Does anyone have a source that says the main logistical hurdle was rod removal (or that NS required as much)?

The hurdle was that NS would not guarantee a timely move back from Virginia to allow proper prep time for the SRI North Pole Express schedule.