In an astonishing public announcement today, Mr. J. R. Weart, spokesman for the Reading & Northern Railroad declared that the R & N was investigating the possibility of reverting to coal-fired steam locomotives for their daily freight operations.

"We have had a very poor availability rate from our fleet of second-hand diesel-electric units, and the cost of brand-new diesel power is beyond our limits".

"The skyrocketing price of diesel fuel is also a factor. We have access locally to a tremendous supply of Anthracite coal, at a nominal cost. In fact we have had a hand-in-hand relationship for over ten years with the coal-producers to help them market their product. A portion of our daily freight traffic is the hauling of this very coal to power plants".

"We have also studied the issue of water supply. We have found that there are plenty of brick or stone water tank foundations along our entire system, and still in good condition. We only need to install new tanks, with water treatment systems".

"We are looking at several options for the new locomotives. One is the possibility of buying a fleet of 2-8-2 and 2-10-2 engines from China, provided that the boilers can be built with a modified semi-Wootten (wide) firebox, for burning the anthracite fuel".

When asked by a reporter about the problem of air-pollution from the excessive smoke of a fleet of coal-burning locomotives, Mr. Weart replied: "We don't expect much trouble with that. Remember, we started out as a steam tourist line. We still have some experienced firemen. And by using clean-burning Anthracite rather than soft-coal, we expect to remain an environmentally friendly company".

"We are excited about the prospect of not only improving our operations with reliable power, but also supporting our on-line customers, the coal producers, by using their product to fuel our railroad".

Mr. Weart could not give a time frame, but expessed that more details would be announced as they became available.

Oh no!!! Here we go again!

Happy April Fools Day!

rickrailrd@aol.com

...And a complete trio of Pennsy T-1's was found in an old steel mill, abandoned out near Pittsburg! Each had all their service documentation sitting closed steel boxes on the tender plates, and each had been converted to oil firing! These are wonderful and amazing times we live in!

glueck@saturn.caps.maine.edu

Didn't get me with that one! I knew it was a joke as soon as I saw it.
However, this really isn't so far fetched as one might think.
Our country runs on petrolium. Granted, there are many coal fired electricial generator plants, but our transportation system is dependent on refined petrolium. Gas and Diesel make America run. If we were to be "cut off" from our fuel sources for any number of reasons such as political,environmental, or even dwindling supplies, I would not be surprised to the see DOE (Department of Energy) look towards coal as the primary fuel to power mass transit systems.
Perhaps we'll see an astounding return to steam after all!

Brian



btamper@hotmail.com

Why would the Pennsy run the T-1's again?It didn't work the first time!Oh look at that flying pig fly by,he must be doing 100 mph.!!!!!!!

!Happy April Fools!

Norfolk_Western_611@hotmail.com

No fooling Brian, but the coal would be converted to electricity in an efficient and clean plant, and we would see interurbans come alive again.

Long live the Piedmont and Northern.

Dave

lathro19@idt.net

I was looking for an April fools steam message.... Maybe somebody will pass it on to Railpace as a real story.

-Alan

AlanL759@aol.com

> No fooling Brian, but the coal would be
> converted to electricity in an efficient and
> clean plant, and we would see interurbans
> come alive again.

> Long live the Piedmont and Northern.

> Dave

Fortunately for all us traction fans, this isn't far from the truth... the hearts of all "juice fans" out there have surely been warmed in recent years by the appearance of light rail lines in cities like Buffalo, Denver, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Jose, and others. While it doesn't look like the P&N, the Lake Shore Electric, the Indiana Railroad or the Sacramento Northern will be reappearing anytime soon, at least we've got the next best thing in these light rail lines. No foolin'!