@Hot Water posted:@bigkid posted:Me, all I see is that they took something moldering in a static display in a park and brought it back to life, whether it was like me and needs a push here and there once in a while I don't know, but it certainly looked and acted like a steam engine, had a great whistle, and I think exuded personality, too
I give UP a lot of credit,
@Hot Water posted:
All it took was many millions of dollars!
Well, of course it did. They raised $3.8 million just to begin the re-restoration of 611, and there was more after that. And this would have been considerably less work than what it took to make the 4014 ready to roll again. All these restorations cost millions. They use volunteer labor on some aspects of some of the restorations, which of course saves money, but then it takes years and years to complete the work. They've been working on ATSF 2926 for the past 20 years with volunteer labor, and there's still a huge amount to do, and it's still cost a lot of money. But you know this.
It's still hard to believe that the relatively few members of the UP steam crew were able to pull 4014 out of a park where it had been sitting, and hadn't been operated in well over half a century, and re-finish it into prime and operational condition in the time they did. Amazing, really.
