SONOMA, Calif. — The Golden Gate Railroad Museum has cancelled scheduled Labor Day weekend excursions with Southern Pacific 4-6-2 No. 2472 — the last scheduled operation before the locomotive’s required 15-year boiler inspection — citing “unsafe bridge conditions” on trackage owned by commuter operator Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit.
In a news release on its website, the museum says SMART has identified two bridges which are structurally deficient on the planned excursion route on the former Northwestern Pacific between Schellville and the Napa River, and that it therefore could not allow the excursion trains to run.
“The Golden Gate Railroad Museum deeply regrets that these excursions cannot operate,” the museum says in its news release. “…As many of you know, Southern Pacific 2472 is nearing the end of its 15-year operating cycle. This was the last opportunity to show her off before the boiler expired. It is hard to say when 2472 will run again.”
The museum had planned four 90-minute round trips each day on Sept. 4-5. It is offering full ticket refunds and is offering ticket buyers a free one-year museum membership or a one-year extension of a current membership.
No. 2472, built by Baldwin in 1921, was housed at the Niles Canyon Railway in Sunol from 2006, when the Golden Gate museum had to vacate its home at the Hunters Point Naval Base in San Francisco, to 2017, when the museum moved to its current location in Sonoma [see “SP No. 2472, Golden Gate Railroad Museum collection to move,” Trains News Wire, Jan. 9, 2017].
More garbage from a government agency.
SMART knew; freights (small as they are) cross those same spans on a regular basis. This was a an ill-disguised matter of liability insurance that SMART legal counsel doubtless cited to torpedo further cooperation without looking bad. Now they look bad and should be chided.
James is correct, a lot depends on the load on each axle, length of the bridge, and other factors.
Use some common sense here also: the line is certified to handle 286,000 lb freight cars, which is the current standard, and you would have more cars on a bridge at once with the weight concentrated on fewer axles than with 2472. I think it was just a way for SMART to get out from having to play host to the excursions, that’s my personal opinion.
Not necessarily a problem. It depends on the weight of SMART’s diesels, which could be half of 2472 with tender.
I call BS on SMART identifying two bridges as structurally deficient…if that’s the case then all freight service should be suspended as well. If they run freight after this, I’d take them to court and file a case with the STB asking to reverse the decision allowing them to takeover freight operations.