Posted on 05/31/2008 10:14:27 AM PDT by BenLurkin
MOJAVE - The East Kern Airport District directors approved in principle a plan to add a small live steam railroad to the Legacy Park under development at the Mojave Air and Space Port.
The railroad is proposed by the Mojave Transportation Museum as a tourist attraction and means of conveying the community's long history as a railroad town.
"We just saw it as a wonderful opportunity for tourism," said Cathy Hansen, museum board member and airport district director. Hansen abstained from the district directors' 4-0 vote on the proposal.
The proposed railroad track would circle the park area. It could handle trains that, while small, can carry passengers, according to the proposal.
The railroad would not run continuously, but would be available for occasional use for meets of steam train enthusiasts, fundraising and other such special events.
The attraction is seen "as a way to bring more people into Mojave," Hansen said.
While the directors agreed to the proposal in principle, they asked for further details on the plans, including adjustments that may need to be made to other planned park features, such as a stage area.
After consulting with district staff, a more definitive plan will be brought before the board for final approval, said Board President Jim Balentine.
"I think (the railroad) would be kind of cool," he said. "It does go with Mojave and who Mojave is. It's kind of a snapshot of who we are." An enclosure is planned to hold a full-sized model of SpaceShipOne, the spacecraft that made history over the airport in 2004. The original hangs in the Smithsonian Institution's Air and Space Museum.
(Excerpt) Read more at avpress.com ...
Uh oh....what would the steam locomotive burn to generate the steam? Can’t have what amounts to a toy contribute to the greatest evil on the planet!
Note: I like toys. He who dies with the most toys, wins.
They might burn wood. Wood is best.
Could burn corn, wouldn’t that be acceptable?
They could burn mummies like they did in Egypt. I suspect they burn fuel oil in this one.
Most of the live steamers out west use propane and man does it stink.We here in the south burn coal for the most part and that smells so much better.
Propane it probably is.
It may take more than that to get people to come to Mojave for anything other than gas or food while on their way somewhere else.
Live steam railroad!. With the price of gas we don’t need one to go around a park—we need one to go from LA To Las Vegas! The Chinese still use steam trains—run it on coal if you must. We have lots of coal.
Uh oh....what would the steam locomotive burn to generate the steam? Can’t have what amounts to a toy contribute to the greatest evil on the planet!
Surely you jest. A steam train is the perfect green machine. It goes like this:
What could be more green than that? :-)
We have a small live steam RR here in Knoxville, TN that burns used crankcase oil. Steam locomotive are really very fuel tolerant.
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