Saw this one on railpictures. Threshers reunions are an often forgotten place to find operating steam railroads. Some might argue against changing the former tank engine to a tender engine but they are indeed showing off real live steam to the next generation.

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.p ... 199&nseq=5

The headlight appears to me to be off of an Illinois Central Electric 1920's era Chicago area commuter coach, rather than off of a steam locomotive. Anyone know for sure?

Les

Check out their 70-tonner -
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.p ... 70&nseq=12

Jim Tatum.

Sad thing is that Handy Dandy will probably continue to run steam, whereas NCTM/Spencer seems to have given up on it. Somehow the math doesn't work there, i.e. how a large (in terms of number of paying visitors), state-funded (in part) museum cannot keep steam running, whereas Handy Dandy can and does. Remember the topic "sustaining steam" from a while back?

I could write a whole book on this topic. After spending about 15 years in the tourist railroad arena, working on funding and restoration efforts that for various reasons have been bungled, I'm now returning to my roots in the traction steam world. I can tell you that there are a LOT of new, good restorations going on, and the future is bright for more! On the other hand, anyone that looks at the railroad preservation situation (as witnessed on thie board) can see a much different, and frustrating picture.

I went to Denton on Friday, July 3. The 0-4-0 put on a good show the few times I saw it. The last 300 feet or so of the loop entering the station gives the little engine a good workout. The stack gets loud and there are often wheel slips. As for the diesel bell mentioned in the photo caption, I think you can ring that one up to extra safety. While the first part of the run goes though a relatively scenic area most of the run is litterally parting the mob. As with most of these shows, people are everywhere. The diesel bell can be heard from a long distance even above noise of the rest of the show. It clearly makes a more noticable noise than the steam bell and is rung a lot.

When they were starting the railroad at Denton the future operators paid a visit to Williams Grove. I was working the engine at the Grove the day they arrived. Today, when I go to Denton I see a lot of things that clearly are copied from Williams Grove.

Concerning the post comparing Denton to Spencer, I think the folks running Denton count on the train as a profit source. Since most of the demonstrations at these shows are covered by the entrance fee opportunities to collect additional revenue are somewhat limited. The trains run full or nearly full every trip at $5.00 per head and produce a profit. Operating days are limited so expenses for the train are relatively low. The train also is playing to the crowd and is a major attraction. I think these locomotives are truely earning a living and not just acting as a display. It is doubtful the trains would haul as many people with the diesel and the train would certainly not fit the theme as well. By drawing a large number of people over a relatively few operating days I would not be suprised if Denton Farm Park does not come closer than one would think to matching the attendence at Spencer. Denton is also a for profit operation.

Spencer is a transportation museum. Some come to see the autos, some the trains, some to see airplanes. Most, however come to see a variety and nothing in particular. The fact that Spencer is a steam era shop is mostly lost to the uneducated these days. Most visitors do not know what they are missing if steam is not running. The cost of running steam should be based on the mission statement more than returning a profit. Because the attendence figures for Spencer are spead over far more operating days it would be very difficult to pay for anything more than the day to day expenses of running the steam engine. Current management has clearly determined the cost of running a steam locomotive is not their priority. I personally think the museum has lost a lot of what it was originally concieved to be due to this short comming of the management but that is only my opinion. Clearly, they are not presenting much to suggest a representation of steam era railroading in Spencer.

John Bohon

Another reason Denton runs Steam is that Howard Latham one of the founders and owners of the farm park loves trains and loves running his steam engine. Under the engineers cab window are his initials H R Latham and he can often be found at the throttle. Even let me take a turn at it the year before last.

Michael Ridenhour
WSS/HPT&D Engineer