@Dougklink posted:Good points although the other part of the equation these days seems to be system capacity, i.e. the delay of the 4014 trip.
There's 15,000 reasons not to run a trip if you don't want do. All it takes to make a trip happen is the one at the top telling those under to run it. It doesn't matter if it's the busiest line on the system. If the top brass want it to happen, it will happen. If they don't, it won't.
I'd venture a guess that the "system capacity" is a convenient excuse for the real reason, which is the STB hearings and the "bad look" that it shows running a steam engine when your freight customers are being delayed because there aren't any crews available and the system is plugged up as a result. One pilot crew for the steam engine isn't going to matter in the long run....but it looks bad to the feds when you are "playing trains" while the customers are angry.
