Railway pictures (11)

Retired (Kraków):
_DSC12077 by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/189006412@N03/]

It's not only Retired but also Rusty

And I do hope it's Reserved for Restauration.

Despite all the R's it's a nice shot

Jack,
That's a very interesting photo, though also very sad! Something I hate to see. Those locomotives were lucky to escape being scrapped, but from the looks of their condition, are probably beyond being restored. The cost would probably be prohibitive! I know where it could be done, however -- the steam shops in Meiningen, Germany. The front locomotive looks like a German class BR 50 or BR 44, both freight locomotives (2-5-0 wheel config). The smoke deflectors are quite different.
Regards,
Kelly

Nice! Thank you Pieter! The larger engine looks like a better candidate for restoration. At least you can still see blue and red paint and not just rust! Of course you never can tell by appearance the actual mechanical condition. And sometimes these locomotives have had parts stripped for use on other locomotives. That would make restoration even more expensive.

I get newsletters from Marc Bassett, the President/CEO of the Nevada Northern Railway and he gives updates on the progress being made in the steam shops for locomotives being restored. Currently Locomotive 40 is in the shops for boiler recertification and other overdue repairs. He breaks down the cost for each and it is shocking what the cost is. It must be also similarly expensive in Europe for such restoration. Remember it is unlikely that spare parts exist for these locomotives, so those parts have to be custom machined. One problem I've read about with steam locomotives in North America is that they had asbestos between the boier and the jacket. That in itself can be a huge expense (removing asbestos). If the asbestos is left in place when the locomotive is taken out of service moisture trapped in there can cause the boiler to rust which might then require a new boiler. BTW the Meiningen steam shops have the equipment to roll and build new boilers.

Marc Bassett also points out that in the old days of steam, these railroads had large work forces to repair and service steam locomotives and they did it day in and day out. Experienced steam mechanics don't exist today. They are mostly volunteers that have to learn on the job without the benefit of many experienced people to train them. So what might have taken a week or two back in the day, might take a year or more in the case of Locomotive 40. This YouTube video about the NNRW steam locomotives and shops might be of interest: NNRW Steam
Regards,
Kelly

My Wonderful steam train ride on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge RR

Coast

Wonderful pic - but obviously an even more wonderful experience!

Thanks for sharing, Josef!

Thank you Alan, here this is the companies web site has all the info. Peculiarly I never read the miles, although I'm sure the conductor said it to us. There are 2 trips a day possibly 3, a short and a long, the long goes all the way up to Silverton. I think it is 65 miles, If I remember, elevation around 9000ft. I took the short, which turned out to be plenty for me, just as I thought
http://durangotrain.tourism-engine.com/index.php?option=com_acymailing&ctrl=url&subid=498490&urlid=4002&mailid=391
It's a very impressive hard working outfit. They currently have 9, 1920's steam engines, I think originals. Run 7 days a week
What's most impressive, the long train is a steam double header. Posted a pic of the double header on page 14 the previous page, I guess no one ever saw