According to the railroad’s petition, No. 29 would reach the 15-year mark on May 2, 2019. The petition would extend the inspection date to Oct. 31, 2019. The extension would add some 15 service days to the 410 days it has accrued since its last inspection.
Eric Hadder, the railroad’s chief mechanical officer, told News Wire that it’s “yet to be determined” if No. 29 will be restored to service. The railroad is drafting a restoration budget and submitting it to its corporate owner, Xanterra Travel Collection of Denver.
Hadder said the railroad has owned No. 29 since 1989. Alco built the Consolidation for the Lake Superior & Ishpeming Railroad in 1906.
In 2012, Grand Canyon Railway performed a 1,472-day inspection of its other operating steam locomotive, 2-8-2 No. 4960, at a cost of $150,000, Hadder said. It was built for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad in 1923 by Baldwin Locomotive Works.
The Grand Canyon Railway uses its steam power sparingly. Hadder said that steam operates on the first Saturday of each month between President’s Day weekend and Oct. 31, plus special events. Other excursion trains are diesel-powered.
The railroad’s petition to the FRA is open for comments at http://www.regulations.gov, docket no. FRA-2018-0059.
She is one of 3 operable (or near operable) LS&I steam locos out there. For a small railroad this is a pretty good showing, and attests to the care the LS&I gave them. Besides 18, 29, and 33; there still exists 8 other LS&I steam engines.
That consolidation may have been built in 1906 but the LS&I took VERY good care of her. She is as thoroughly modern as possible short of roller bearings. The 29 got a superheater, feedwater heater, stoker and all of the latest appliances while she was in service. She is as close to “superpower” as a 2-8-0 can get!