SJC posted:Technically Maryland is steam-less.
Obviously no steam at Western Maryland.
Hopefully not for too much longer as the WMSR is working to complete C&O 1309's restoration for this summer.
Robert K posted:Florida is now steamless with the closing of the only tourist railroad with steam. ...
this past weekend in Riverside the sun was out and the temperature hit 95° around midday. luckily it doesn't get nearly as humid as Florida, but it still wasn't what i'd call ideal weather to fire up a boiler. i've been in Florida some days when you can sit outside in the shade and still wind up sweating. i can see how it might be hard to find anyone to run a steam driven tourist railroad under such conditions.
unfortunately i believe the all-weather cab some steam locomotives had was more of a protection against cold weather and didn't really address the other temperature extreme.
Robert K posted:Florida is now steamless with the closing of the only tourist railroad with steam. Well, Walt Disney World still has steam as well as Busch Gardens Tampa. Also, since CSX dominates south and west of Jacksonville, the chances of a mainline steam excursion in Florida again are zero. And there isn't a nearby state with steam, either, closest steam tourist train would be TVRM. Georgia has no operating steam I believe, either, except for the longer TVRM runs, as well as Mississippi and Louisiana. Does Arkansas have any? Alabama? South Carolina? Eastern TN and western NC seem to be the only areas in the south with regular steam operations.
Louisiana has an operating steam locomotives. SP 745 http://lasta.org/
as well as a possibility of a second http://www.louisianasteamtrain.com/history.htm
SantaFe158 posted:Robert K posted:Florida is now steamless with the closing of the only tourist railroad with steam. Well, Walt Disney World still has steam as well as Busch Gardens Tampa.
So how does that equate to Florida being steamless when you just named two operations? Disney costs an awful lot to get into, but their locomotives still burn fuel to make the steam that operates them.... There are probably better rides in the country, but when you think about how many people get exposed to steam railroading there that wouldn't otherwise, they're probably a pretty important operation.
Exactly. Disney is one of, if not THE largest operator of steam locomotives in the entire country, rostering 9 steam locomotives, seven of which are vintage Baldwins, the other two being custom-built over 60 years ago. World-wide, Disney rosters 17 operational narrow gauge steam locomotives. More people have ridden behind Disney steam locomotives than any other today, and that massive exposure to steam can't be underestimated.
The Florida engines are pretty interesting, in that three of the four of them still use their original crosshead-driven water pumps to get water into the boiler (they are equipped with injectors for obvious safety reasons). The engines themselves do not have brakes, and when running light, they must be stopped using the Johnson Bar and throttle.
