TexasSP posted:kgdjpubs posted:From a pure operations perspective, I'd go the extra mile and say the 3985 is the better engine for the steam program. Designed and engineered to be able to operate at passenger train speeds--which causes less congestion on the railroad--and better fuel economy than a 4000. It's also "big" enough to be very impressive to anyone who sees it trackside. That being said, we're lucky that they choose to run anything. Regardless of anything else, change is inevitable, so enjoy what you have while you have it. Nothing lasts forever...
Further it can go places that 844 and 4014 cannot. Seems like a slam dunk to me. After all the initial broohaha over the BB, will the level of excitement stay versus having the 3985? My guess is most who wanted to see the BB have, and all the others are just out to see a big steam engine.
BTW, Hotwater, do you know who would have been the fireman on the Super Bowl run back in 2004?
I couldn't make the trip south to Houston, but they flew be down there for the return trip back to Cheyenne. Naturally, the further north we traveled, the colder it got. Arriving in Kansas City, with more than a foot of snow on the ground, the temperature was always below freezing. The next lay-over, in Marysville, KS was approaching single digits, and North Platte, NE was below zero! Even with that all-weather cab all closed up, all that steel gets REALLY cold.
