The fact that the locomotive has been donated to the Bellevue museum is great news! Now comes the hard - and EXPENSIVE - task of moving the locomotive from Strasburg to Bellevue.
In round numbers, it's 500 miles from Leaman Place (the point where the Strasburg would interchange the 757 to NS) to Bellevue. NS will handle this as a "Special Train" and bill it at the Special Train Rate of somewhere just over $100 per mile. That's $50,000+ for just the NS portion of the move. Why so expensive? It will be a 25 mph train on a 50 to 60 mph railroad, thus holding up traffic behind it for several days and hundreds of miles. Scores of other trains will be delayed and miss their delivery times because of this single move. It cannot go on a flat car because the main line at Leaman Place is under wire all the way to Harrisburg. There is not enough overhead clearance to the wire.
Trucking it would be at least this expensive, if not more. In fact, getting it out of Strasburg on a truck may be impossible. The small towns in that part of Pennsylvania are built with structures very close to the streets, the streets are narrow and the turns are tight because the buildings are so close to the streets.
It will be another 5-figure number just to get the locomotive ready for the move. All the air lines on this locomotive have long since corroded and rusted away. They all have to be replaced. The air brake system has to be made operative. Given how long this engine has gone without any care or maintenance, the entire air brake system will have to be removed, dismantled, cleaned, parts replaced as needed, tested, stenciled and put back in service.
Yes, this is a great thing to be sure. But it's a long and very expensive way from Strasburg to Bellevue.
