I'm pleased to share that I had a very pleasant and positive visit yesterday with Steamtown Superintendant Kip Hagen.

Kip was kind enough to see me with no advance notice and gave me a comprehensive 30 minute briefing on the extensive groundwork he has layed to ensure an expanding presence of live steam over the next 5 years AND some impressive improvements to the physical plant. All in all I left with a happy heart and a solid good feeling about the future.

The place certainly looks great thanks in part to the extensive remediation efforts lead by Gary Bensman ( the funding for which Kip had to fight within the system for nearly 10 years to obtain!!) and I was glad to learn that last years attendance grew to a little over 100,000 and is still trending upwards!!

After I left Kip I got to witness the grain train leave Scranton with 6 units and although I'm not much of a dismal fan those Alco's sure put on a show!! Enough smoke to keep the EPA man happy forever!!!

Fond wishes to all for a safe, happy Memorial Day weekend!!


Ross Rowland

I want to be snarky and ask who are you and what have you done to appropriate the internet identity of Ross Rowland, but I won't.

Instead, I'll offer congratulations on taking the time to meet the Superintendent and to see exactly why his job offers significantly less freedom of action than jobs of similar responsibility in the private sector.

There are cool things happening on S. Washington Avenue. The repainting of the visiting F-3's will give visitors a chance to see what vanquished steam, the Reading F-7's will unfortunately not be able to be compared to a G-3, but that isn't the fault of anyone still breathing and there is a T-1 on sight. Part of the story of steam is its demise, and that is now highlighted by the cab units, the 514, the DL&W SC on display and the original D&H RS-3's still making revenue on the D-L.

On the steam side, the effort to cosmetically restore the DL&W 565 is proceeding and there's a new tender for 3254.

Rollers are going on passenger equipment and they got new peacock ratchets-which aren't original, but are more reliable and safer than the "stem winders"

Most, if not all of the staff and volunteers at Steamtown have persisted because we see the need to remind the future generations that they stand on the blood and toil of giants, some known, most known only to their creator or to their descendants (increasingly, not to them, either).

So, I'm glad to see you taking a more enlightened viewpoint. If you stay positively engaged, you may someday find the pure utility of the NKP 514 (I wish I had gotten a picture yesterday as it was taking some stuff over to the shop) to have an endearing quality too. Its a machine that few glamorize, even though the record is clear that it dispatched the NKP Berks to an early end, even though just a few years before, the road apparently thought they would be hauling freight with steam into the 1960's.

Knowing now that I've made superheater happy allows me to enter the Memorial Day holiday with a whole new attitude!!

Best to all for safe travels!!

Ross Rowland

Maybe things really can change for the better.

Ross,

Glad to hear that you've had a couple of "encouraging visits" to Steamtown. It's good to hear that Steamtown NHS hired a professional steam restorationist to oversee the asbestos removal project; I'd worried that someone unfamiliar with historical preservation might get the contract and end up "butchering" the equipment as has been the case with a few asbestos projects around the country--glad that's not the case at Steamtown!

Your visit with Kip Hagen, plus Steve Barry's interview with him in Railfan & Railroad, do give some positive "hope" for the future. As one who had the privilege of being at the throttle of #2317 leading #1246, a diesel helper, and 17 coaches upgrade out of Scranton when Steamtown first operated there in 1988, I learned first hand what the "steam experience' there could be! So with the cut back in mainline steam excursions and the less than thrilling yard shuttles of recent years, the steam experience has not been what I'd hoped for when I helped write the proposal that went to Congress to establish the Steamtown National Historic Site. That proposal focused on a continuation of live steam excursions and restoration (and cover) for the non-operating equipment--a Steamtown in the grand tradition that F. Nelson Blount had envisioned.

Now, it appears as though Steamtown NHS has refocused its mission a bit--and if what Kip is saying in the R&R interview is true, live steam is once again of prime importance at Steamtown NHS. Let's hope they've figured out the government "system" sufficiently to generate the funds necessary to keep live steam operating and static displays "restored" for future generations to enjoy. While Steamtown NHS will probably never be exactly what Nelson Blount or some of us who had the "Steamtown dream" for a number of years hoped for, I think now what Kip Hagen is proposing makes a lot of sense--and, hopefully, it'll all fall in place over the next few years. As steam continues to decline all over the country, it becomes all the more important that Steamtown NHS prospers.

Frederick G. Bailey

Sounds like you had a good time there Ross. The last time I was back at Steamtown was 8 years ago, and that was for Railcamp 2002.

Any thoughts about moving C&O 614 from Port Clinton to Scranton?

I know for you it would be a closer drive from Sackets Harbor and Steamtown has all of the tools you need to complete the rebuild in time for the Yellow Ribbon Express.

Fred Bailey sums it up well. I came away from my cordial meeting with Kip absolutely convinced of his personal determination to broaden the live steam experience portion of the institution and do it in a manner that insures its long term future.

He explained the constant battle that rages within the NPS from many of the other NPS parks to obtain their piece of the annual funding the can be used to do locomotive restoration/running repairs, and the inherent advantage that some of the "big" parks have in terms of political pull etc.

Yes, I have considered sending 614 to Scranton and have discussed it with Kip. It is a possibility but a remote one as there are other options that currently have more viability. Please stay tuned.

Thanks, Ross

As Kip expressed in the interview, ten years of working within the system is finally paying off as Steamtown is now able to successfully compete with other parks in the system. And credit should be given to Steamtown for funding the rejacketing of the locomotives going through the asbestos abatement program -- too many museums have unjacketed locomotives!

There are good things coming out of Scranton.

Steve Barry
Railfan & Railroad

I thoroughly agree Steve and I think the short/medium term prospects for more "real" live steam action there are VERY good...in large part due to Kip's years of behind the scenes hard work and perserverance!!

All-in-all it appears that the Steamtown Steam Special has all high greens!!

IMHO-Ross Rowland

NKP held onto their berks in the thinking they might get used, recall a few fantrips behind nkp steam despite the retiring, but alas, didnt happen.

You will have to invent a lagging for jackets that won't hold water idle while not hot. Not good for the rusting, why its wise to be unjacketed or jacketed with no lagging.


Steamtown simply has to keep the positive push going, and you will get there, park funding or not.

Regarding jackets, we have had great sucess with the method used on CNR 6213 in Toronto. Before the jacket was applied, the boiler shell was lined with strips of cedar. This has held up for 25 years and counting. Of course today I'll bet that plastic wood would perform even better then the cedar. As well, make sure to leave openeings at the bottom of the jacket so that all the water that gets in can drain out just as easily.

The jacket is still in excellent condition after two and a half decades, and its sturdy enough so that we can walk on top of the boiler without any problems (except for the bees that live under the jacket...)