|
We're
always
working to run an excursion, or make a special appearance, which can
take up to 2-3 years of planning, as well as obtaining approvals and
insurance. When a public trip is officially announced, information will
be available right here on this website!
Emailing us will not yield any more information than what is posted
here. If there isn't anything posted, then there isn't anything to say!
April: Due to the unusual warming of the #2 driver's bearing in the past few
years, the 4449 was taken down to the railroad shop in Albany, OR for inspection. It was found that the
babbitt-bearing had worn out, a new one was fabricated, and the locomotive returned
to Brooklyn.
May: An
unexpected invitation from the Union Pacific to double-head with their
#844 to the Seattle area was accepted, giving us three weeks to sell
tickets as a fundraiser for the U.P., Barriger Library, and Oregon Rail
Heritage Foundation. It was a very successful trip, a grand time was
had by all.
June: 4449
crew members took the Great Northern F7, and a few Daylight cars to
Cruisin' Sherwood, where we've taken the steam locomotive in the past
two years. Despite the weather, everyone enjoyed posing in front of the
#274, and touring its cab compartment.
July-November:
Due to unknown changes made to the properties of 4449's lubrication oil
thus damaging the freshly-repaired bearings, it undergoes yet another
babbitt bearing replacement. This time was a much longer and more
difficult process at the Brooklyn Roundhouse.
December:
Following the successful bearing project, 4449 steams up in time for
ORHF's third annual Holiday Express trains out of Oaks Park Station in
SE Portland.
May: GorgeRail attendees were treated to a tour of the Brooklyn
Roundhouse. We washed the steam locomotive, diesel and passenger
equipment, cleaned up the grounds, and lined up some locomotives for a
special photo op. ORHF was on hand to provide info about building a new
home for Portland's steam locomotives, with maps and schematic drawings
on hand, and a feature video of the Holiday Express I.
June: 4449
steamed up for an appearance at Cruisin' Sherwood, and ran a VIP
special through Lake Oswego the next day to promote ORHF.
August: Vandals broke into the Roundhouse at least three times, and
stole over $35,000 worth of metal and wiring. Through DNA left at the
scene, they've been identified, arrested and charged with the crime.
September: The Northwest Rail Museum put on a 4449 excursion to Bend,
Oregon via the Columbia River Gorge and Deschutes River Canyon. This
2-day excursion with overnight accommodations and meals on board was an
unforgettable and spetacular journey. Some passengers rated it as one
of the best!
December: ORHF's annual Holiday Express took place in mid-December at Oaks Park,
just yards away from 4449's former resting site before it was restored.
The successful hourly excursions and holiday cheer helped raise much
needed funds for ORHF, getting us closer to building a new home for the
three steam locomotives!
|
After months and months of planning, an excursion that is finally
announced is often met with criticism. Why would such people gripe
about a steam locomotive actually being able to run somewhere? Oh
right... Tickets are expensive!
Well, lets get into the details on that, shall we? Nothing in life is
free, and the ticket price wasn't randomly chosen with a game of Bingo.
TOP RANDOM FACTORS IN A STEAM EXCURSION
Railroad: If
one does not have the blessing from the railroad to run on its private
tracks, interfering with commerce and regularly-scheduled passenger
trains, there'd be no place to run the steam excursion. Often times,
more than two or three railroads are involved in one excursion, such as
2006's trip to Bend, which required cooperation from the Union Pacific,
BNSF Railway, and Amtrak.
Crew: Even
with a blessing from the railroad, we've had some of our excursions
cancelled due to the availability of train crews. Sure, we're
qualified to operate a steam locomotive, but we're not qualified for
the territory, and always have an on-board "Pilot" provided by the
railroad for that subdivision to guide us.
Insurance:
Due to rising costs of insurance, and the limited coverage plans for
steam locomotives, ticket prices often go beyond what our regular fans
are able to afford. Minimum insurance requirements are at least
six-fold of what they were ten years ago.
Equipment:
The Friends of SP 4449 owns a few cars, but due to insurance and
railroad requirements, they're not qualified to run as an Amtrak train,
largely due to the lack of HEP cables to run the power from the
locomotives to the passenger cars. With that issue, we need to contract
other passenger cars to be a part of the train, which includes additional transportation costs of getting them to Portland.
Fuel & Water:
Oil is
not cheap, neither is water. The 4449 burns on average 10 gallons of
oil PER mile, 100 gallons of water PER mile. Think your local store has
enough water by the gallon to make the locomotive go one simple mile?
How about to warm up the locomotive, pull into the station, load
passengers and depart? What about waiting in the siding for a freight
train to pass, or at the layover stop while passengers are out and
about?
|
