Last steam engine on Long Island

Hello, Does anyone know when the last steam engine ran on Long Island? Thank to all. Frank& Cindy

As per a post on the Montauk wye topic. The date was posted as November 11, 1967.
There was a charter where they brought out Black River & Western No. 60.

Any takers on how such a trip would work today?

That is correct - there was chartered steam train run in 1967. But the last regular steam service was during the summer of 1955, with a special end of steam ceremony that October. As to how an excursion steam run would go over now, I expect that it would do well, based on how popular the nostalgia trains in the subway are. They would just have to work it into the schedule well.

IT would depend if LIRR management would allow a steam loco to run in the first place in traffic on a weekend.

workextra wrote:As per a post on the Montauk wye topic. The date was posted as November 11, 1967.
There was a charter where they brought out Black River & Western No. 60.

Any takers on how such a trip would work today?

Question, how did BR&W 60 get to Long Island for that excursion? Was it via PSNY, barge, or Selkirk?

FrankAndCindy wrote:Hello, Does anyone know when the last steam engine ran on Long Island? Thank to all. Frank& Cindy

Not counting Ron Ziels' excursion with BR&W #60, I read somewhere that it was actually the BEDT who were running daily steam on Long Island into 1962 (?).
Please do not berate me for saying this, however, everyone seems to forget that Long Island has 4 counties and Brooklyn is one of them!
If anyone remembers the 1964/1965 NY Worlds Fair, LIRR had a pavilion and there was the "court of the 4 counties", which made/make up "Long Island"

MADDOG

Question, how did BR&W 60 get to Long Island for that excursion? Was it via PSNY, barge, or Selkirk?

I'm pretty sure the engine and a private car were floated across.

It was until october 25, 1963 that BEDT was operating steam in regular service. But the question was about the L.I.R.R. running steam. The borrowed steam locomotive in 1967 was floated over. As to the propsect of steam excursions, I doubt that the L.I.R.R. has any major problem with steam - they dieselised not due to any overiding aversion to steam but due to economic considerations. And there's been a long term plan to restore #35 and use it for excursions. The delay is due to lack of funds for completing a proper restoration.

Do Nassau and Suffolk Counties still own the respective engines? Or where they officially handed over to their museums?

IIRC each engine requires $1M to get it operational. With #35 being the closest to running again, and with the plan to return it to LI. Have all the possible routes for NYS grant money be followed? I think it would be a great opportunity for tourism. By me in Deer Park on the LIE, NYS spent how many millions on the rest stop that can't be used by trucks. Can they find $750K at least to get an engine running?

#39 has Strasburg's expertise, but I never understood that deal about spending a million to get it running, and then go drive to Pennsylvania to see it, a Long Island engine, for the next 40 years.

I would think the best place to run an excursion would be east of KO to Greenport no?

i believe one of the Chinese steamers that went to the NYSW (?) moved via the bay ridge.

railfan365 wrote:It was until october 25, 1963 that BEDT was operating steam in regular service. But the question was about the L.I.R.R. running steam. The borrowed steam locomotive in 1967 was floated over. As to the propsect of steam excursions, I doubt that the L.I.R.R. has any major problem with steam - they dieselised not due to any overiding aversion to steam but due to economic considerations. And there's been a long term plan to restore #35 and use it for excursions. The delay is due to lack of funds for completing a proper restoration.

That's not the way the question was written.

I think we need FrankandCindy to let us know what he was thinking.

Crabman1130 wrote:

railfan365 wrote:It was until october 25, 1963 that BEDT was operating steam in regular service. But the question was about the L.I.R.R. running steam. The borrowed steam locomotive in 1967 was floated over. As to the propsect of steam excursions, I doubt that the L.I.R.R. has any major problem with steam - they dieselised not due to any overiding aversion to steam but due to economic considerations. And there's been a long term plan to restore #35 and use it for excursions. The delay is due to lack of funds for completing a proper restoration.

That's not the way the question was written.

I think we need FrankandCindy to let us know what he was thinking.

Crabman1130: Agree, as to was the OP referring to LIRR equipment, or?

The Long Island Live Steamer always got a steamer or two running on there "Public Run Days" http://www.lilivesteam.org" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; worth the trip anytime.

Here's where I acknowledge that I read the question wrong. It did say Long Island. I read it as Long Island Railroad, because this is the Long Island Railroad forum, and due to what's usualy meant.

Hello everyone, In my last post, I asked when was the last time a Steam Engine ran on the LIRR. That means Lite engine, or An excursion or any other way. Thanks a lot, Frank & Cindy