Steam & Excursion > TSR FP9 in service today

Inaugural run of TSR125 (former VIA/GSWR 6308) is on today's train from Rusk to Palestine.
https://texasstaterailroad.net/texas-state-railroad-adds-vintage-diesel-to-its-roster-of-historic-locomotives/



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/12/18 08:10 by donaldcurtis.

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Quite the paint-job. You won't miss seeing her out on the line.

Martin

Nice locomotive Donald. I wish the folks at TSR a safe and great day today.

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY

Nice adaptation of the Katy scheme!

Do not think anyone would call the paint scheme conservative.
ALLEN

Very nice paint scheme......but believe me, this will be the beginning of the end of running constant steam on theTSR. I was there several years ago, and over 2 days, I saw 3 different steam locomotives running on trains. When they find out how much money they save, and how much less work it is to run diesel power, steam will only run occasionally. Mark my words.

Sadly, they likely already know that most of their tourist passengers don't care that it's a diesel, not a steam locomotive, pulling their train.

Don’t we have the previous railroad operator to thank for that? And also the state who purchased improper boilers for most of the locomotives?

Posted from iPhone

Yes. And if we want to move into the realm of predictions.....Railfan Weekend (if there is one) will be dieselized !

I'm more interested in the covered hopper behind the engine in the first shot. A sign of freight biz?

Looks sharp in the original Texas Special paint scheme.
By the time I got to see the Texas Special in the early 1960's, the power had the all red scheme . --Kelly

Keystone1 Wrote:
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> Very nice paint scheme......but believe me, this
> will be the beginning of the end of running
> constant steam on theTSR. I was there several
> years ago, and over 2 days, I saw 3 different
> steam locomotives running on trains. When they
> find out how much money they save, and how much
> less work it is to run diesel power, steam will
> only run occasionally. Mark my words.


As the above pictures are mine I guess I can add to this. The Texas State Railroad has had diesel locomotives for YEARS! Our RS-2 was repowered with a CAT many years ago and sips fuel. Usually less than 150 gallons to run all weekend...and steam still runs. We aren’t new to this game. We are well aware of the cost of running steam and continue to believe it is a worthy investment. In fact, we have more steam days on the calendar this year than we’ve run in the last five years. Steam is and will continue to be a huge part of the Texas State Railroad.

Earlk Wrote:
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> I'm more interested in the covered hopper behind
> the engine in the first shot. A sign of freight
> biz?


Yep. Both the freight and the storage business are up over previous years. Still a long way to go but things are looking very promising.

NormSchultze Wrote:
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> Yes. And if we want to move into the realm of
> predictions.....Railfan Weekend (if there is one)
> will be dieselized !


No rail fan weekend this year. It’s probably no surprise that more people would chase and take pictures than buy a ticket and ride. The event rarely made money. I believe the closest it ever came to pulling out of the red was when 316 debuted as a Texas and Pacific engine. We will, however, entertain photo charters for interested parties.