Does that mean UP ran no public excursions last year or this year with no operating steam or did they use diesel and run public trips?
Ever since the beginning of Amtrak, it has been against the lay for UP to sell passenger tickets to the public. The UP has, however "leased their train" to various sponsoring organizations, such as the Denver Post Newspaper, and THEY sell tickets to the public.
Sounds like there's going to be a bit of downtime until smoke is seen on UP again.
Yes, but UP still handled the Denver Post Cheyenne Frontier Days Special, this past July, with Diesels. The same thing will happen in 2015.
and they don't allow foreign locomotives, so borrowing SP 4449 is out of the question.
That's on old rumor. SP 4449 doubleheaded with UP 844 back in 2007.
Funny that 4449 can't run on its home rails because UP absorbed SP.
The Friends of SP4449 has never asked to run on UP lines, i.e. the former SP, since there is no place to go for a passenger excursion, and return back to Portland all in one day. The 4449 group has an excellent working relationship with BNSF, what with the highly scenic Columbia River line.
Well there are other passenger carrying railroads like a certain national park in PA that are steamless right now.
That isn't a "passenger carrying railroad". Steamtown is a National Park.
It's just that federal regs require rebuilds after so many years.
Federal Regulations require extensive INSPECTION of steam locomotive boilers ever 1472 days of operation or 15 years, which ever comes first. There are also Federal regulations requiring extensive INSPECTIONS of aircraft engines, both piston and jet.
