WV Rails: #734 not going

[perry_weekley]

I almost shed a tear reading this with Rail Fest being next week. Engine 734 was to be taken down 10 miles of track to the South Branch Railroad.
Press Release: http://www.wvrails2010.com/734release.php

That 10 mile journey was just to much for CSX to bear and denied authorization a week away from when the trip was to be taking place.

As the press release says, Cumberland is instead sending a nice vintage diesel to take it's place. Every passenger that had tickets to ride behind 734 will receive vouchers for the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad, no extra charge.

I'm sorry but CSX, take it like a man and let the engine have a short ride on your track. This feels like another wrong move for CSX.

On a happier note the organization in charge of WV Rails Festival seem to still feel confident about their small festival and believe it will still be quite fun. I hope that it does well enough that it will maybe continue next year.

On a happier note, Rail Fest is next weekend, the 25-27. That includes Altoona, Scranton, and well most of the country I believe. So while I suggest posting about the above topic I would love to hear ya'lls plan for Rail Fest.


I myself am going to Cass, taking the long trip, on Saturday and then heading up to Petersburg for WV Rails. I'm proud of my home state for doing something on the B&O 100th anniversary. Then again I might just be proud because West Virginia seems to have little in the way of rail festival activities an this seems like a brilliant experiment.

Side note, I'd make 2 different threads but since both deal with West Virginia Rails I decided to combine it.

 

[stagecoachdriverdave]

That is terrible news, although are we surprised with CSX?

I was actually considering going to that festival a while back - instead I'm leaving on the Capitol Limited that day for a 3 week cross country trip.

What other Railfest stuff will be going on over the weekend?

 

[perry_weekley]

That is terrible news, although are we surprised with CSX?

I was actually considering going to that festival a while back - instead I'm leaving on the Capitol Limited that day for a 3 week cross country trip.

What other Railfest stuff will be going on over the weekend?

The last time I looked at Altoona didn't seem to have much but I haven't looked since two weeks ago.

I read somewhere that the West Coast Narrow Gauge Invitational is at the Pacific Coast Railroad Company.

It seems like Steamtown NHS in Scranton PA has something going down but I haven't heard yet.

West Virginia Rails is the only one I know much about. They are bringing in a small tank engine. Tickets can be bought to drive said tank engine for about a half hour to an hour. Under supervision of the Engineer. 734 was to pull an excursion from Romney to Petersburg, now a Vintage Diesel will. Supposably the worlds biggest model railroad is to be appearing. Then there are the usual things like Dinner trains and hourly train rides. Oh and there is a Night Photo Shoot on Friday and Saturday for the outrageous price of 80 dollars.

From what I can see on the internet tho, those are the only one's next week.

 

[UP5521]

that certainly was unexpected!

 

[Klinger]

We need to come up with some good acronyms for CSX.......their reputation precedes them wherever I look.

 

[illinoiscentral]

CSX=Certainly Sucks X-tra bad?

Just a meager thought.


Cheers,
Woody:wave:

 

[jadebullet]

Crash Spill Explode
C Sh*t Explode

 

[dpfan1]

why wont csx wont allow the western maryland scenic 734 run on their tracks?

 

[mikeman]

why wont csx wont allow the western maryland scenic 734 run on their tracks?

Welcome back DPfan lets hope this time around is a bit better. As to your question. CSX doesn't care about anything but profit. It saw no profit from this move and so said no. Don't expect that to change anytime soon either.

 

[dpfan1]

Welcome back DPfan lets hope this time around is a bit better. As to your question. CSX doesn't care about anything but profit. It saw no profit from this move and so said no. Don't expect that to change anytime soon either.

well ok.....

 

[K4driver]

are any of us surprised? CSX wants to solidify it's control over every single inch of railroad in America to make sure they used them for their profits and just their profits only (Takes off his tinfoil hat) seriously though, I am not that surprised about this, Glad Western Maryland is making up the difference, sadly it really shouldn't have come to this.

 

[dpfan1]

CSX should allow the 734 to run on there line profit or not.

 

[joneau]

CSX should allow the 734 to run on there line profit or not.

Well, they didn't. Maybe next time. I'm sure that if there was no profit to make, CSX would not even bother taking interest.

Despite how annoying their decision was, it's CSX track. If they don't want the 734 running over their line, they can say no. At least they provided a legitimate reason as to why they said no. (734 is not roller bearing equiped, the couplers are not modern, it is nearly 100 years old and therefore a liability, their track and people are not experienced enough for an antique, etc. Copy, paste, use reasons for next old piece of equipment someone wants to transport over their line.)

 

[magickmaker]

why wont csx wont allow the western maryland scenic 734 run on their tracks?

Though profit may have been part of it, there may have been outcry from some of the people living along the route the train was to take. Couple years back when I was in college, a preservation group near where I live wanted to run this steamer down through Cornelia, Georgia, and I forget how far down. Close to Gainsville I think. In any case, they posted the intent in the paper, and within hours of that hitting the shelves, people were at the city hall in Cornelia, as well as supposedly calling Norfolk Southern (who owns that line) in protest. They didn't want the soot and smoke from the locomotive bothering their lungs or getting their homes dirty. In the end, NS worked out a deal where the fan trip could still be run, but instead a "cleaner" diesel locomotive was used.

I'd wager, that something along this lines happened to CSX. In my experience with them, they've always been good about fan trip groups and railfans, so I'd wager someone that lives along the route kicked up enough of a stink to make CSX think twice.

Keep in mind, while we may love the old sooty steamers, there are people out there that would love nothing better than to see every last one of them cut up into nails.

 

[cascaderailroad]

It is illegal to run non-FRA compliant old antique equipment for interchange on class I railroads. Also the insurance is a cost factor, what if something went wrong and someone got killed or hundereds of railfans caused damages and tieups, and requiring dozens of police departments overtime and enforcement along the line. Also if the train derailed and caused a backup of traffic on a busy mainline it would cost the RR possibly millions of dollars in damages, or more, in delays. CSX and NS do not care to deal with the headache of steam nor fan trips. They just want to avoid the equipment being used, totally, on their line, deadheaded, or otherwise.

 

[nikos1]

The real reason behind this probably is CSX is scared right now after the massive **** up that occurred when they tried to transport several form TRRA SW1500's in train with no alignment couplers. The end result was all the switchers fairly smashed up the ditch in La Grange, GA. Resulting in a big delay in getting them to their new owners.

 

[Domingo192]

nope, that wouldnt really be a problem in a simple ferry move, that only really matters with heavy consists (buff forces) and dynamic braking ,etc

 

[Domingo192]

It is illegal to run non-FRA compliant old antique equipment for interchange on class I railroads. Also the insurance is a cost factor, what if something went wrong and someone got killed or hundereds of railfans caused damages and tieups, and requiring dozens of police departments overtime and enforcement along the line. Also if the train derailed and caused a backup of traffic on a busy mainline it would cost the RR possibly millions of dollars in damages, or more, in delays. CSX and NS do not care to deal with the headache of steam nor fan trips. They just want to avoid the equipment being used, totally, on their line, deadheaded, or otherwise.

its 'illegal' to run any non-fra comp equipment...

 

[K4driver]

It is illegal to run non-FRA compliant old antique equipment for interchange on class I railroads. Also the insurance is a cost factor, what if something went wrong and someone got killed or hundereds of railfans caused damages and tieups, and requiring dozens of police departments overtime and enforcement along the line. Also if the train derailed and caused a backup of traffic on a busy mainline it would cost the RR possibly millions of dollars in damages, or more, in delays. CSX and NS do not care to deal with the headache of steam nor fan trips. They just want to avoid the equipment being used, totally, on their line, deadheaded, or otherwise.

it's true, there are tons of old standard Gauge US army Boxcars rotting in the Mount Union Yard of the EBT, that they can't save due to the cars having an unsafe wheelbase, friction bearings I think. which are outlawed EVEN FROM MOVING thanks to the FRA, so unless The EBT can hire a contractor to do some stabilize the cars and pull them off their old trucks, They are going to rot in the woods. Sorry Cascade I meant to Quote Domo

 

[Domingo192]

you can still use solid packed bearings, just depends on what the rails used are classed as. If they wanted the cars out, they could always truck them OR load them on flats (but that is gonna add alot of costs to the restoration). just do the same as when taking cars that are not located around live trackage.

I know lots about this stuff, been doing it way over half my life - bout 13 years.