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4014 is getting worked on 844 is also getting worked on not sure of 844 will do any excursion runs this year maybe this year any locomotives besides the ones in Cheyenne being worked on ? Is the turn table in Cheyenne big enough to fit 4014 ?
Posts: 16 | Registered: Dec 2014
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AFAIK, the Cheyenne turntable is big enough, as long as there is nothing closer than around 3 or 4 feet to the turntable. Big Boys fit, but they extend over the edge of that turntable.
Don't look for any of the 3 steam locomotives in Cheyenne to run -- for a long time. Not possible with the current management and crew. Sorry to be the bearer of sad news, but that is what I have read from reliable sources.
This year -- 2016 -- may be the very first year since the end of the steam era that no steam locomotive turns a wheel under its own steam on any main line in the US. I very much hope to be proven wrong, but what with the very high cost of liability insurance and passenger-car rental, this may actually happen. Some sources say the NS will not renew its liability insurance policy for passenger excursions for this year. That would be a real shame, as 2016 marks the 50th anniversary of NS steam. Or so I have read.
NS's revenues from coal are down 31% from a year ago, which is quite significant, as coal has always been an important sources of revenue to the NS. Blame the low cost of natural gas for that, and the low cost for imported crude oil.
I very much hope to be wrong about main line steam. That would make me -- and a lot of people -- very, very happy.
Posts: 211 | From: California | Registered: Dec 2004
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