Ross Rowland, Steam Entrepreneur, Dead at 85

Railfan and Railroad Magazine ^ | July 21, 2025 | staff

[Morgana]

Steam preservationist and entrepreneur Ross Rowland passed away on July 19 following a brief battle with cancer. He was 85 years old.

Rowland made his money in the commodity trading market, but his true passion was steam railroading, and in the 1960s and 1970s, he was responsible for some of the biggest steam-powered spectacles of the preservation era. Through his High Iron Company, he operated excursions across the Northeast and Midwest using an eclectic fleet of steam locomotives, including Nickel Plate Road 2-8-4 759, Reading Company 4-8-4 2101, and Canadian Pacific G5 4-6-2s Nos. 1238, 1278, and 1286. In 1969, Nickel Plate 759 led the Golden Spike Centennial Limited to mark the 100th anniversary of the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad.

That tour planted the seed for an even larger one a few years later, when Rowland helped lead the ambitious American Freedom Train tour in 1975 and 1976. Over two years, three steam locomotives (Reading 2101, Southern Pacific 4-8-4, and Texas & Pacific 2-10-4 610), along with a few diesels, pulled a 26-car exhibit train featuring artifacts from U.S. history to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. More than 7 million people visited the train in 48 states, and tens of millions more watched it pass trackside.

After the American Freedom Train, Rowland teamed up with the Chessie System to run a series of excursions behind former Reading 2101 in 1977 and 1978. When locomotive 2101 was damaged in a roundhouse fire, Rowland was compensated with Chesapeake & Ohio 4-8-4 614, which returned to service in 1980 to lead the Chessie Safety Express.

In 1985, Rowland again used 614 to gather data for a proposed coal-powered locomotive called the ACE 3000. That project never took off, but it resulted in an impressive month of steam-powered coal trains through West Virginia’s New River Gorge in the middle of winter. In the late 1990s, C&O 614 led a series of successful excursions between Hoboken, N.J., and Port Jervis, N.Y., on New Jersey Transit. Those would turn out to be Rowland’s last act with 614, and the engine would spend the next quarter century out of service.

Rowland made multiple attempts in the 1990s and 2000s to replicate the success of the Golden Spike Limited and American Freedom Train, but none of those efforts ever took off. Among them were the 21st Century Limited to mark the turn of the century, the Yellow Ribbon Express to honor veterans after September 11, the Greenbier Presidential Express to bring people to the famous West Virginia resort, and a second American Freedom Train to celebrate the upcoming Semiquincentennial. In 2000 and 2001, he also led the short-lived Pacific Wilderness Railway on Vancouver Island.

In November 2024, Rowland sold C&O 614 to RJD America, a private company that plans to restore the locomotive to operation. In June, the locomotive was moved from its long-time home in Clifton Forge, Va., to the Strasburg Rail Road, where work on it has since begun. Rowland was along for the ride.

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TOPICS: Hobbies; Local News; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: cando; rossrowland; steamengines; trains

[Morgana]

You may be cool but you are not Ross Rowland driving a C & O 614 down the tracks.

Oh you have a Lamborghini? I drive a C & O 614 BWAAHAHAHA

RIP Ross Rowland. Thanks for the awesome train memories.

[wjcsux]

The steam locomotives were truly awesome. I remember seeing one of the “Big Boy” locomotives in a museum when I was a kid. Truly amazing piece of machinery.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

I never knew about him. Sounds like a great guy!

Most of my steam excursion trains were on western logging railroads pulled by Shay, Heisler and Climax locomotives. I rode the steam train at Pt. Defiance Park in Tacoma, WA. The “Camp 6 Logging Museum” there operated a steam train from 1964 to 2010.

I was in the steam power business from 1973 - 1978 and got to ride in the cab of the Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad (YMSPRR) near Yosemite around 1974. That was great fun. The YSMPRR is still operating. The railroad features two historic Shay locomotives, No. 10 (built 1928) and No. 15 (built 1913).

When I worked in China from October 1976 to April 1977, I rode across the country on steam locomotives. These were the real deal, not excursion trains.

[Morgana]

I agree. BTW the “Big Boy” is back on the tracks somewhere.

[Track9]

Steam train sounds and bagpipes can raise the dead.

[wjcsux]

I remember one steam locomotive that I saw when I was a kid, I can’t remember where it was. It was in one of the many museums that I visited with my family on vacation. If I remember correctly, it was a Baldwin locomotive built in 1900. I remember reading that was sent to the scrapyard then and WW2 started. It was pulled out of the scrap pile and put back into service. It ran coast to coast during the entire war. According to the placard, it ran more miles during the war than it did prior to being designated as scrap iron.

[sjmjax]

You all might enjoy this video of the Big Boy Locomotive.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Hszu80NJ438

[HANG THE EXPENSE]

I got to fire southern 630 way back at TVRM. I know this and that is those fireman earned every penny they made.

[HANG THE EXPENSE]

I got to fire southern 630 way back at TVRM. I know this and that is those firman earned every penny they made.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

I was following links about western logging railroads that I had ridden and, while looking up the old road at Point Defiance in Tacoma, came across the Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad. My sister and BIL are visiting us in North Idaho and are headed west to Mt. Rainier on Friday, so I sent her the info about the RR. She just booked a ride on it on Friday! They were already staying a short distance away from the RR.

Thanks for the post tonight! I never would have stumbled on the Mt. Rainier Scenic RR without this post and she wouldn't have known about the MRSRR without it.

[conductor john]

I made a “ drill” for him once , on the siding at Lebanon, NJ. A nice man, but had a lot of trouble with the state run railroad in NJ. Unpaid bills, yada, yada.

[DeplorableTrumpSupporter]

Another great railroader is at the Great Union Station in the Sky... I love trains and I'm helping dad rebuild his garden Railroad. The hurricanes took out about 3/4 of the road including 8 bridges.

My favorite locomotive is the New Haven 2525, a U-Boat...the last locomotive New Haven bought. It's at the Railroad Museum of New England, being restored.

[GingisK]

The linkage system that moves the slide valves have always fascinated me. Those old guys knew how to make use of the enthalpy behavior of steam for maximum power. They also knew the mechanical kinematics needed to adjust the flow of those valves with the timing necessary to maximize energy usage. I find the material difficult to follow.

Then, as if the former wasn't enough, the steam-powered water injectors work the same problem to a different purpose.

Those designers and builders were brilliant!

[ABN 505]

My Dad would bring us to Bellows Falls Vt. every year to visit Steam Town and see the Engines and memorabilia of that era. I loved to see and get close to them. Unfortunately the collection was sold told to someone in Pennsylvania I believe back in the 80’s. I think they had one of the largest Steamers every built on display in Vt.

[Morgana]

I love trains too. Tell you what, I’ll post more train stories in the future. There is a steam engine that is going to tour the USA in 2026. I’ll find out more info and post it.