Chinese Steam for PAR?

Interesting post over on trainorders.com:

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/r ... 10,2806071

I'm not holding my breath on this but....It would be very cool!

The loco in the photo looks particularly "foreign" to me, but perhaps underneath all the shrouding and smoke lifters there's a nice mid-sized Mike to Americanize. http://www.ozarkmountainrailcar.com/det ... ocomotives

It seems kind of funny to think of a new generation of excursion trains. These steam engines are an unusual departure from what was really being made in the 70's-90's everywhere else. To pair them up with American passenger equipment of the same vintage you might consider Comet coaches and Viewliners.
http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?20090 ... bombardier
http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?20040 ... =viewliner

Really? I think I can safely say Pan Am is a bit, ah, maintenance adverse. Are they likely to take on maintenance heavy steam engines just for shoots and giggles? Steam died because it is labor intensive, harder to control, and coal was twice as expensive as diesel. They could have all switched to oil burners, but you can line a whole row of diesel electrics up with the same crew in control as one. Even N&W gave up- so did the Chinese. They built their last steamer in 1999, all these locos are imported from the scrap line.

Oh, and ah, just between you and me- the TGV to Montreal is coming through Concord next year. I saw it on a message board.

Date: 07/01/12 21:23
Pan Am buying Chinese steam?
Author: MarcelineSub
It was posted on Trains Magazine's Facebook page that Pan Am Railways is buying some of the imported Chinese steamers Ozark Mountain Railcar is selling.

So where is this alleged post on Trains Magazine's Facebook page? I looked and I couldn't find anything.

I'm sure no one would ever post a hoax on Facebook, right?

Sorry folks, this doesn't pass the straight face test. "Pan Am Railways is buying some of the imported Chinese steamers..." -- really? They're buying "some" of them? As in, more than one? The base price for one of these steamers is almost $500K. God only knows how much it costs to actually transport one from China to Waterville. And keep in mind that Pan Am could buy five more SD40-2s for the price of one Chinese steamer.

In fairness, there was a time when I would have been equally as skeptical about Pan Am buying a pair of F-units, and we all know how that turned out. But on a scale of 1 to Crazy, the F-units are about a 3, and Chinese steam is somewhere between 9 and Crazy.

I don't think there are even any steam qualified engineers left.

If you're spending $500,000 for a steam engine, the cost of training a couple of engineers and fireman is very insignificant.

I bet there are few Coggers that would love the opportunity to steam again.

Meanwhile on the TrainOrders thread they're still debating the pros and cons of Chinese steam. Hilarious.

While on the subject of steam, if and when the long restoration of B&M 3713 is completed at
Steamtown, it would be great if the loco made a ceremonial run from Mechanicville to Portland.
This would require cooperation from CP Rail from Scranton to Mohawk. I suppose it could be
towed, if CP did not want it running under power. Moving on the B&M would require cooperation
from PAS, MBTA and PAR. There would need to be many "loose ends" tied up, with liability being
the major one, even without hauling passengers. I have not seen any estimated date for the
completion of the overhaul, but it is probably some years away.

Absolutely. I'm not a rabid steam fan, but I'd love to see a genuine B&M steamer blasting across Scarborough Marsh at speed...

I would hope this answers some questions... I don't think we're going to see any Chinese steam anytime soon.

My opinion- Executives at Pan Am, Guilford, whatever you want to call it- would run over their Grandma's to bleed every dollar from the railroads they ravaged, and not put much of anything into them. The two heritage Diesels are an anomaly because they are Diesels. If they were serious about steam, and I'm certain they're not, they'ld do well to lend a financial hand to the MEC Consolidation 519, and get her fixed properly to FAA standards, and hand her over to a cooperative private operator. Pacific 470 would be a better locomotive, but the criminal neglect she has sustained puts her into the $1.5 million dollar mark, assuming she can be brought back at all.
A Chinese locomotive, a sweet little 2-8-2 would be nice for excursions to MM&A's Searsport in the summer, but import and rebuild makes it unprofitable. By rebuilding a real MEC steamer, in the end, they have something to proudly say, "We stood up to the plate and hit one out of the park." The contribution to Maine Central's legacy would be incalculable.

The entity is Pan Am. Besides paint, Guilford has not been around since 2006. In general I would agree with the assessment in regards to their utilization of property and infrastructure. However, since 2011 there have been some very big management changes at the top (besides Mellon) and things have been quite a bit different. Same old story with many things but they are trying to salvage 20 years of past rape and pillage. Now back to your regularly scheduled program.

Pan Am has a history of kissing up to NS....

NS has a nice OCS.... Pan Am got a nice OCS
NS has F-units.... Pan Am got F-units
NS has heritage units (although not publicized until recently, I'm sure the higher ups at the railroads knew)... Pan Am got heritage units

So.... perhaps.....

NS has a steam program... Pan Am has to have a steam program too?

They could start by rebuilding the 470 steam engine instead of buying one from China!