630 test run to Attalla, AL

Posted by John Craft on April 24, 2012
Filed Under North America, Southern Railway, USA | Comment |

Steam returned to Norfolk Southern‘s Alabama Great Southern district between Chattanooga, TN and Birmingham, AL, yesterday. TVRM‘s Southern Railway 630 made a test run from Chattanooga, TN to Attalla, AL. Apparently, 630 encountered more bearing difficulties on the return trip, but returned home in the evening. Hopefully the kinks will be worked out soon.

Flat tire . . .

Posted by John Craft on April 17, 2012
Filed Under North America, UP 844, USA | 1 Comment |

Update 2: Photos of 844 over a drop table in Georgetown, TX, can be seen here.

Update: On Thursday 844 moved from Hearne, TX to the Georgetown Railroad in Round Rock, TX, where its drivers will be dropped and shipped out for turning. Union Pacific has issued an update here. If all goes well 844 could resume its schedule in a few weeks, making it to the College Baseball Championship as scheduled.

(Original Post)

. . . and not the kind you can just air up.

The details are still unclear, and Union Pacific officials are only using the term ‘mechanical issues,’ but somehow UP 844 ended up with flat spots on its drivers on the road between Texarkana, AR and Hearne, TX on Sunday.

The steam crew apparently made efforts to mitigate the flat spots by grinding them during an extended stop in Mount Pleasant, TX, and the train continued south Monday at reduced speed, tying up at Corsicana. (Interestingly, UP1982, the Missouri Pacific heritage unit in 844′s consist, has been removed from the train.)

UP has issued a media advisory indicating that 844 has been ‘sidelined,’ but there is still no official word on whether 844 will ‘limp home’ to Cheyenne (where the drivers could be dropped and sent to the Strasburg Rail Road for reprofiling), whether the drivers can be removed somewhere in Texas, or whether additional temporary repairs will be tried.

There are reports that 844 will move from Corsicana to Hearne today.

We’ll post an update when we have more information.