Is this the last of the bigboys?They might make a comeback one day.(If the oil for internal combustion engines runs out!)
Posted on 04/30/2010 7:14:14 AM PDT by Willie Green
The Santa Fe 3751, bought for $1 by train fans in 1986, will rumble to life again this weekend, hauling passengers from L.A. to San Diego.
About 25 years ago, a group of Southern California train enthusiasts made either the best or the worst investment of their lives, depending on how you look at it.
For the grand sum of $1, they bought the Santa Fe 3751, a 430-ton locomotive that had once played a seminal role in introducing high-capacity, high-speed passenger rail service to the West. Then they set out to get the thing working again, which wound up taking five years, $1.3 million, including cash outlay and in-kind contributions, and the work of nearly 400 volunteers.
Now, the 3751 is about to make a triumphant return to the public rails, the latest turn in what has been both a glorious and tortuous history.
On May 1 and 2, the locomotive will ferry as many as 500 people between Los Angeles and San Diego, pulling 10 Amtrak cars.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
I hope they can make a go of this. That’s an impressive locomotive, and it would be a shame to see it sitting idle on a siding somewhere.
I don’t know what they’re charging but 50k a year isn’t alot for upkeep. People love old trains. They won’t get back their investment of 1.3mm but that doesn’t appear to be the goal anyway. Covering the 50k should be easy. Its $136.98 a day so with one round trip a day its $68.50 each way.
Of course they are, but I like Steam Locomotives. More pictures:http://www.sbrhs.org/Pages/imagegalleries.html
That’s a neat story, thanks. I love old cars, motorcycles and trains. Good to see the ole girl back up and running.
We have a steam train here in CT (narrow gauge), and it has lots of tourists riding it, but really doesn’t go anywhere. I’ve also ridden the one from Chama NM to Silverton CO and that was a treat. This one sounds like much less of a ‘toy’ if it can haul that many cars.
Hollyweird would probably kick-in some $$$ every year, just to have an old coal fired steam engine available for any new movies or TV episodes they might want to make.
Is this the last of the bigboys?50k a year is not a lot for upkeep. WTF? Bad libertarian!
>Covering the 50k should be easy. Its $136.98 a day so with one round trip a day its $68.50 each way.
Indeed, if they were to charge $8 a ticket for one-way and $15 for two-way they would need to average only 10 tickets per day to turn a little profit.
Now that is an engine.
Oops, Chama to Antonito CO. I think Silverton has a rr too though.
Don’t forget the cost of carbon offsets.
It will pull 10 cars. They cover the 50k easily just on weekends. Trains are a passion for many,especially the old steam driven ones.
That’s not a BigBoy. The Bigboys were articulated, and had two sets of drivers. The locomotive you have there is a 4-8-4, with only one set of (8) driver wheels. It’s big, no doubt, but it’s not a Bigboy.
I should add that the 3751 hit a top speed in it’s heyday of 103mph. The big articulated locomotives couldn’t manage much over 80, though they could do that with a lot more rolling stock behind them.
How it it un-libertarian for a private group to charge for rides, then use the 50k for annual upkeep on the engine? The tracks aren’t government owned, neither is the locomotive. Did i miss something implying that they want government funding?
>Don’t forget the cost of carbon offsets.
There’s no carbon in steam. ;)
>Don’t forget the cost of carbon offsets.
There’s no carbon in steam. ;)
What does it burn to heat the water to make the steam?
>>>Don’t forget the cost of carbon offsets.
>>
>>There’s no carbon in steam. ;)
>
>What does it burn to heat the water to make the steam?
Who says they’re not using solar electricity? Or parabolic mirrors?
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