On June 12, 2022, Iowa Interstate’s QJ-6988 was getting ready to highball eastbound with freight train SIBU-12 to Bureau Junction. It was the final run of this 2-10-2 steam locomotive, and Thomas Dyrek was on hand to record the event.

http://thetracksidephotographer.com/202 ... to-the-qj/

Edd Fuller, Editor
The Trackside Photographer
http://thetracksidephotographer.com/

Final? Forever?

I was under the impression that it was going in for it's 1472.

Hopefully the 6988 will be up and running again in a few years. I’m interested to see if 7081 will follow. The Corman QJ that was donated to KY Steam is slated to be restored as well.

I wouldn't hold my breath for the 2008 or 7081. 6988 is their priority. 2008 hasn't even been moved to KY Steam. I don't think there's a good place to store it at KY steam (their building is basically full). Plus once 2716 is done, I think they want to focus on developing their property. I see 2008 as a "play around with it when we have time and money" sort of project.

Edd has a bit of a tendency to phrase headlines about the end of particular operations in a way that suggests the equipment is what's about to be lost. I won't accuse him of clickbaiting, but there are numerous others who use just this approach to get people to click and comment...

I did not mean to intentionally mislead, but I can see how it may seem that way. My apologies. Everything I post here is in a sense "clickbait" in that I want folks to read the linked article, which in this case makes clear that this was the "final run" before a planned rebuild. But I will be more careful in the future to make sure that my posts here do not misrepresent the linked article.

Edd

I realize the QJ's are newer and interesting in their wheel arrangements, but I have never been able to get excited about an obviously Chinese locomotive in U.S. fan trip service. Don't get me wrong, it's not the country or nationalism, it's the red drivers and the obvious diversion from the external appearance of North American steam. Should the QJ's get a 1472 rebuild, I would like to see some North American modifications.
It's simply personal preference.

Just a quick clarification...... The 1,472 Service Day Inspection is a boiler inspection, not a "rebuild" or an "overhaul." Now.....it is possible that during such an inspection, issues will be discovered which require major repairs that could be construed as a rebuild or overhaul, but the basic requirement for the 1472 SDI is not, in and of itself, a mandate for a major rebuild or an overhaul. If nothing major is wrong with the boiler, it is just an inspection, albeit a labor-intensive one.

/Kevin Madore

...have you seen images of 6988 in the last twelve years? Debuted at Trainfestival in Rock Island, IL. with it's new image, Americanized. Not sure how much more you're asking.

Mr Walsh, kindly post a photo or link if you will.

Richard, I suggest you think of the QJs as the steam we would have built if America had stayed with steam for a few more decades. We surely WOULD have had 2-10-2s with skyline casings, box poc drivers, all weather cabs, and smoke deflectors... wouldn't we ??

Thank you, Alex #4. That is certainly more North American in appearance than far eastern.

Sammy, I won't prognosticate on future steam. I sense more in keeping with the C&O Greenbriars or NYC Niagaras. Full roller bearings and eventually computer managed for water and coal/oil feed. We'll likely see the future of steam in the new Pennsy T1.

Sammy may be right in the short run -- wasn't the follow-on to the ACE 3000 supposed to be a ten-coupled engine, and wouldn't it have made sense to outsource the construction to someplace like Datong in that era?

The Chinese Mikado that was kitbashed to resemble a New Haven engine is one example of where 'cosmetic' changes to give more of a North American 'feel' might be made. Get rid of the Russian-style ribs on the elephant ears, for example. Change the smokebox front a bit, to a more classical Alco-style dish and lugged door. Stop painting the damn running gear red. Put different cab windows in. That sort of thing.

It might be interesting to look analytically into whether late American 2-10-2s with modern balancing would have been equipped with skyline casings. My understanding was that anywhere they were tried here, they were removed if it were less expensive to remove than to keep them. This might be tied in with why outside dry pipes never caught on here, even though an 'insulated box' is an obvious way to make them practical.

Actual Generation 3 steam would look nothing like a reciprocating locomotive. One very likely alternative would be to replace the Superior diesel in the Ingalls passenger locomotive with a larger version of the kind of powerplant in the late-'20s International steam car... or something from Doble or Besler for steam generation. Heaven knows how many of the innovative PRR designs of the Thirties, including anything related to Steamotive, were oil- and not coal-fired.

Of course, something fun is to contemplate the early-2000s ALPS locomotive with the powertrain designed at CEM at UT... but use a bottoming cycle off the gas turbines to help drive the Megagen alternators. Easily 186mph or better with off-the-shelf pieces, and all you need is suitable steam generation to do the whole schmear with steam mass flow... admittedly a whole lot of mass flow even at ultrasupercritical pressure, but doable...