What's the location and operational status of the late R.J. Corman's Chinese Steam locomotive?
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Originally Posted by Tommy:
What's the location and operational status of the late R.J. Corman's Chinese Steam locomotive?
Since the passing of Mr. Corman, nobody seems the slightest bit interested in doing anything with it anymore.
I believe it is stored in Lexington, KY. I'm not sure of its operational status. I wasn't able to find anything on the RJ Corman website.
As I understand second hand, Rick Corman had a glass-sided mausoleum built for the locomotive in Lexington, anticipating that it would be parked after he was gone. Can somebody confirm that or add to it?
The "the glass house" Corman built to display the QJ and his private passenger car must be taken down within 18 months or so due to a settlement of a lawsuit between Corman and the City of Lexington. The glass house is currently being used as the "depot" so to speak for the Lexington version of the Corman dinner train which runs in the former Southern Railway LL Branch. The dinner train is a push-pull operation and isn't near as "flashy" as the consist at the Bardstown line. Unfortunately, they haven't seen the need to buy another set of F units to compliment the FP7s they own in Bardstown.
The QJ sits stone cold in its original "temporary" shop which Corman built from old containers. The flue time is expired and they didn't receive a waiver from the FRA. The current management folks on the Corman Central KY lines have no use for the QJ and probably assume it be cut up, but for now it is out of sight, out of mind.
I was asking about this engine at the Greenbo State Park Train Show this past weekend, that's sponsored by the Collis P. Huntington Railroad Society.
The gentleman that I asked, use to help Mr. Corman with this locomotive soon after it arrived into his ownership. He told me, that it was going to be moved to a public park for static display. He said that the destination was still unknown.
I remember him running it to Louisville some years ago, and hauled some loads of Sand back to Lexington from his dredging operation on the Ohio River in Louisville.
I think it's still on YouTube.
He had leased the old L&N Line from Lexington to Louisville, from the CSX Corp. I know that his trains follow the old route, the C&O use to follow, to get down to "Water Street Yard".........................................Brandy!
