Has there ever been any serious consideration about bringing a 2-10-2 to America from China? I know they are not exactly like 2-10-2s that ran in the U.S.,but I would like to see one painted up as a Southern Railway 5000 class engine.With a new cab,boiler tube pilot,steam dome re-arangement and a proper tender I think it would be a good stand in for the Southern engines.If I had the money to do this I would display it somewhere like Knoxville,Tenn or Asheville,NC where 2-10-2s ran in regular service.A Chineese 2-10-2 would be a good excursion engine on the twisting,mostly 40mph and less railroad between Knoxville,Tenn and Salisbury,NC.Maybe one day a group could workout a deal between NCDOT (if passenger service ever starts) and Norfolk Southern to operate a few excursions between Asheville and Spencer,NC. Run the 2-10-2 with a volunteer organization like the Nickel Plate 765 but with a NCDOT passenger train. This could possibly succeed better than in other parts of the country because tourism is really growing in this area.I never considered this seriously until going to railpictures.net and seeing one of the China 2-10-2s running without it's shroud and elephant ear smoke deflectors.They really do look American that way.I could not make a photo link work,maybe someone else interested can.Look for unshrouded 2-10-2s at railpictures.net

Wish someone would have brought over one of the Chinese SL class 4-6-2s. Those were beautiful engines.

has at least been stabilized. Until then, a waste of money, IMHO that could be used for preservation on projects of greater value here. Of course, if you come up w/ the green, the Chinese will surely accept payment. Just ask the guy that runs "multipower international".

I believe the Grand Canyon Railway seriously discussed obtaining QJs, but ultimately decided on rebuilding CB&Q 4960.

Restoring the Burlington Mike was a better decision in terms of American preservation, but I have to disagree with Superduperheater to a minor extent. Running an extinct class of US loco by cosmetically refurbishing a Chinese loco isn't such a bad idea. There is also the issue of immediatly available spare parts. Of course, there is the bug-a-boo of trackage and insurance. The Brits have a Chinese 2-10-2 in the National Museum in York. I do agree that sheltering and refurbishing every US and Canadian steam loco is preferable, but seriously, we know that isn't going to happen unless every community works at the grass-roots level to do so.

After visiting China earlier this year with the Pacific Locomotive Assoc. one of our group asked the price of getting one of the SY class engines. The numbers from Multipower Int. should give you an indication of the expense of bringin over one of the 2-10-2's.The quote is as follows for the SY Class (2-8-2): <mailto:info@multipowerinternational.com>info@multipowerinternational.com <<mailto:info@multipowerinternational.com>info@multipowerinternational.com>1. SY class buy as it is: $125,000.00.2. Factory Overhaul Including Boiler Inspection and Repair to USA FRAspec.: $105,000.00.3. New Boiler Plus Factory Overhaul: $145,000.00.4. Convert Coal Burner to Oil Burner: $15,000.00.5. Sea Freight from China to West Coast, USA: $45,000.00.Estimate:A. 1 + 2 + 4 + 5 = $290,000.00B. 1 + 3 + 4 + 5 = $330,000.00All prices are estimates in US dollars; price for locomotive variesdepending upon location and build date. This quote expires May 31, 2005.Multipower International, Inc. reserves the right to modify any pricewithout notice.Any questions? Please feel free to contact us.Regards,BenjaminMultipower International, Inc.

Not quite. What they have is KF1 607, a 4-8-4. These were not built in China, but rather by Vulcan Foundry in the UK in 1935. When the class was retired, 607 was sent to the National Railway Museum in York.Another example of the class, KF1 006, is preserved at the Beijing Railway Museum. Pictures of both appear on my Surviving World Steam Locomotive CD-ROM.BTW great brief by John Bowers on another Chinese import, S-160 class KD6 463.-James Hefner Hebrews 10:20a Surviving World Steam Project

Checking my images from York, I find you are correct and I am mistaken. But an easy mistake to make!

I would rather see the money spent to return Southern 4501 to service for trips like these should the opportunity ever present itself. If you need more tractive effort the 630 could be used to doublehead with the 4501 since she will be returned to service soon. GSMR may also someday get 722 running which could also be used. Chattanooga and Dillsboro are a lot closer to Asheville than China and all of these engines would have a place to run between excursions to help offset the cost of keeping them serviceable. John Bohon

The reality is that, aside from some slightly demented steam-loving millionaire trying to make a case for burning coal instead of diesel fuel on his railroad (you know who you are), the ONLY operation in North America that can POSSIBLY even consider, from an economic standpoint, the Chinese 2-10-2's would be the Grand Canyon Railroad.One could conceivably make some case for an entirely new operation, such as a steam-hauled luxury train through Mexico's Copper Canyon or steam on the Napa Valley Wine Train, or maybe steam ski trains from New York City to the Poconos (over a route yet to be restored), but in consideration of the points of Brother Ledbetter's "Trains" article, it's pretty much a dead issue.(Still, I hope for some long-range strategic stockpiling by the Grand Canyon..............)

Railfans are for better or worse, interested in American equipment. Everytime Mark Smith put a European article into the original Railway & Locomotive Preservation the readers had a fit. It must be ten years now that the British are trying to build a replica of a medieum sized Pacific. A missing class from I think the Great Western. They find it slow going indeed. So I think the thing to do is continue to rebuilt American locomotives. There are still a lot of poorly maintained park locomotives out there. And in terms of the dollars needed for the projects, narrow gauge is a good idea. The public really likes it. Even if they don't quite know why.There were two or three Chinese engines imported about 10 years ago. Are any of them still running? I don't think the one at the Valley Railroad in Essex, CT is still running is it?Ted Miles

Not to be a pedant, but actually an LNER Peppercorn Class A1. These were ordered by the LNER and built at Doncaster and Darlington for British Railways (BR) in 1948/9 after nationalisation.

Valley's was sold to the Suzzie Q to replace the one that sunk near the Bay of Bengal. Knox & Kane's may be idle due to viaduct damage, Boone (Iowa) has a stock Chinese version (the others were "Americanized").

Knox & Kane's website says they are not going to be operating this year because of poor ridership since Kinzua Bridge went down. Anyone have an idea what they are going to do??Boone & Scenic Valley does have a Chinese-built 2-8-2, but it is a JS class instead of the smaller SY that went everywhere else (K&K, Valley RR/Susquehanna). Kevin

Erik,Yes, they are building the Thompson "Tornado", but another group is recreating a missing link GWR "Saint" 4-6-0.Steve Zuiderveenhttp://www.didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/great_western_society/saint_project.shtml