Steamtown had their Baldwin #26 out pulling a train for students today. It wasn't listed on the Steamtown website and those not part of the school groups were not able to ride. However, it was spun on the timetable and cab visits were allowed. There were quite a few folks at the turntable, many asking if rides were available.

Bart

I was on the crew, starting in June public short rides will be available fri-sat-sun, all scheduled with Baldwin 26. Although things are slow to change in government, Steamtown is moving in the right direction.

It was a surprise to see steam action, but the parking lot full of school buses explained it. It would have been nice to let others ride - there were some disappointed people. I talked to some of the crew that would have liked to run some more. I guess that was the Superintendent that came out to chat.

I agree on changes. I performed some training and consulting at Steamtown during the early 1990s. The track was an issue and there were regular derailments. I found that the FRA track standards weren't really known (the head of track was a trails guy from the Grand Canyon - they had a railroad there so he was qualified - he did take it very serious after getting out with railroaders with me). It was a bit of a challenge getting everyone to follow the FRA standards since that wasn't their department. A couple of old steam engineers were making suggestions - "they used to widen the track gauge for steam locomotives, two to three inches should do." Yep - I remember them saying that. Unfortunately, this led to new tracks being built this way, with derailments immediately following. The track looks better today.

Bart

Any updates on anything going on in the shops, as far as #3713 or other steam locomotives, or any possibilities of visiting steam?

John

A couple of old steam engineers were making suggestions - "they used to widen the track gauge for steam locomotives, two to three inches should do." Yep - I remember them saying that. Unfortunately, this led to new tracks being built this way, with derailments immediately following. The track looks better today.

Bart

I had a boss on New Hope & Ivyland RR who wanted to use the Federal Track Safety Standards for Class 1 track for new construction.

I was measuring and sorting the heights of the used rail to go into the new trackage to the nearest sixteenth of an inch. Code of Federal Regulations Title 49 Subtitle B Chapter II Part 213.115 Rail end mismatch allowed a maximum of 1/4 (4/16) inch at joints for Class 1 track. He wanted rails picked so that all of the joints would have 1/4 inch mismatch!