25 May 2009
Steamtown Taking Locomotive Out of Service
Ex-Canadian Pacific number 2317 on the turntable at Steamtown,
Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA -
Date/photographer unknown.
Scranton Pennsylvania USA - Steamtown National
Historic Site will take one of its two mainline steam locomotives out of service later this year for a federally mandated inspection
and overhaul, leaving the park with a single operating steam engine until at least midway through the 2010 season.
With the sidelining of Canadian Pacific 2317, the site will make a hard push to complete the lengthy restoration of the Boston &
Maine 3713 locomotive and to get its Baldwin 26 locomotive back into service, said Harold H. "Kip" Hagen Jr., Steamtown
superintendent.
"We are starting to see daylight when we are going to have a stable of locomotives running out of here," Mr. Hagen said.
"It's still a few years down the road."
Federal Railroad Administration regulations require operating steam locomotives to undergo a major inspection, which essentially
involves stripping them down to the bare boiler, after 1,472 service days, Mr. Hagen said. Steamtown anticipates CP 2317 will hit that
threshold and have to be removed from service sometime this fall.
That means another Canadian Pacific locomotive - 3254 - (Editor's note: 3254 is a Canadian National locomotive.) will be the
only working steam engine at the site until the Baldwin 26 comes back into service, probably during the summer or fall of next year,
Mr. Hagen said.
The Baldwin, a smaller engine used as a yard shuttle at the park, has been out of commission since it went into Steamtown's shops for
an FRA-mandated inspection in 2000.
Major problems were discovered at that time, including a crack in the crown sheet on the back of the boiler.
Mr. Hagen said before Steamtown initiates any major work on CP 2317, it will focus its attention on finishing the restoration of
Boston & Maine 3713.
The locomotive has been undergoing restoration at Steamtown since 1994 under a partnership agreement with the
Lackawanna-Wyoming Valley chapter of the National Railway Historical Society. The volunteer, non-profit
organization has been performing work on the locomotive as it raises money.
The restoration of the Boston & Maine locomotive, which will cost well over $1 million "when it's all said and done,"
could be completed as early as 2011 or 2012 if everything goes well, Mr. Hagen said.
"That's barring any unforeseen circumstances," he said of the timetable. "Sometimes you find problems you didn't
anticipate."
The park's long-range plan is to have three mainline locomotives - the Boston & Maine and the two Canadians - in
operational condition, he said.
"It just takes time, and it takes money," he said.
David Singleton.
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