Ky Railway Museum has announced that the rebuild of L&N Pacific 152 will be done by Next Generation Rail Solutions which is owned by Jason Sobczynski. The work is to be done in space leased from Ky Steam at Revanna, Ky and the drivers have already been sent there with the boiler to follow in May. Boiler work is to include a new first course and smoke box. They chose NGRS over highly qualified Strasburg to do this work.

Their announcement sites Mr. Sobczynski's extensive history of past accomplishments on TVRM 630 and 4501, C&O 1309, NKP 765 and other locomotives. He is also doing the work on C&O 2716, also owned by KRM.

-Jim Herron

Well Revanna is a lot closer, and I would argue that Jason and Strasburg have comparable skillsets. Add in that KRM has been developing what looks like a good relationship for both their crew and the Revanna gang for the last few years, and to me going to them is a no brainer.

People have been known to argue all sorts of things.

No, they haven't.

Not even close. Strasburg is a class act that gets things done and gets them done right. :)

Why all the passive hate towards Jason? Seems his previous work is speaking for itself in a postive manner. Or is this simply reflective of the RYPN machine hard-wired to only praise SRC regardless of any other qualified outfit's workmanship?

Not sure who needs to hear this, but SRC isn't the only contender in the steam preservation game.

*cue armchair preservationist rage in 3...2...1*

Jeff

Why was Strasburg brought up in this topic? Steam Services of America and FMW solutions also did not get the contract, why not mention them also? At leas they are both closer to KRM than Strasburg. Locomotives are expensive to move off site for a rebuild.

Well, let's just say nobody can say everyone they've done work for was equally pleased. Nobody has a 100% track record.

I believe Strasburg and Jason were the only bids received for this work.

Is there a list of operating, active steam locomotives that this person has been completely responsible for completing, from start to finish?

To be fair, aside from Strasburg's own steam locomotives, the list for Strasburg that they "has been completely responsible for completing, from start to finish" would be fairly short as well. There remain two locomotives at Strasburg that have been in parts for over a decade or more (one of which is the fault of the owner's lack of adequate fundraising), and a cynic could say they "gave up on" Reading 1187 and sold off "that wreck" for someone else to deal with........ and there are regular fan queries about the now-long-dormant #31.......

It's all about the money.

Give me a Powerball lottery winner or multinational corporation who wants the two quite-nearby sister CN 2-6-0s made running by a shop that knows them, and writes a deposit check, and we'd see how fast and effectively Strasburg could operate.

Why don't we hold you, the great Steve Lee to that standard. How's that loco in Stearns doing?

Don't you know? The Almighty Himself has UP 3985 to his name! You know, the 4-6-6-4 with plenty of Vitamin A wrapped around lube and steam lines left over from the steam era. Let's not forget the Flannery clay plugs in many, many telltale holes in the firebox- and many more telltales with cinders inside.

At the very least, let us all marvel at the Dynahammer 3000 until this post is also removed by the moderators. I've been told it's quite useful for restarting stalled dynamos for those too cheap to send their dynamos to Backshop Enterprises for refurbishment.

"If dynamo stops, pull HARD"

Also, in case there was ever any doubt about "Leaky McLeakface"...

Let's also be reminded of the main brake pipe that was laid across 3985 that was simply a rubber hose. That should be a major concern for running a mainline locomotive on a Class I railroad as is.

I also have noticed the deletion of a post referencing the poor practice of using metal chips to seal a boiler. What is the point of this forum if not to learn of negative feedback and use it to better the industry and the safety of the general public? Strasburg is not nor will ever be an infallible organization. Call out the problems for what they are and Strasburg management should take heed and start holding themselves to a higher standard.

Grandstanding for a corporation isn't cool when the corporation has substandard practices and bad customer feedback.