> These are only available on short tourist lines and on lightly traveled
> track of major railroads. As a matter of fact, there is an impeccably
> restored Santa Fe steam locomotive in southern California, one of the
> largest passenger engines in their history, and BNSF, owner of the former
> ATSF won't let it run on their tracks. Liability concerns, which translates
> too many lawyers on staff, too little to do. The UP has a whole fleet of
> historic engines and cars and they run trains almost annually.
A couple (or more) thoughts come to mind:
1. Possible weight concerns
2. Modern brake systems
3. Desired rail segment does not have all the crossings gated. (a
requirement for passenger rail).
BNSF runs a pretty tight ship and they closely regulate everything
that touches their rails. Also, I know that for their mainlines,
they're pretty much running at capacity, so "specials" don't happen
too often.
As to the gated crossings thing, that's not an absolute requirement,
but there are lots of rules governing it and the options are not
pretty. For example, going through western Nebraska, there are miles
of country lane crossings that have nothing but cross-bucks. The train
has to run the whisle almost constantly. It's funny, because the
population on the train is greater than the entire county. Nothing but
stars out there. But the train whistle is going all the time. We're
doing 80-85 MPH and hitting the rough crossings will sometimes move
you to the next seat.
--
Ken Norton
ken@xxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.zone-10.com
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