No. 3440 was the locomotive on display in Ravenna when CSX announced its partnership with the nonprofit last month.
“We are thrilled that the good people of Ravenna and Estill County are being honored with the herald on the side of 3440. Gestures like this are helping to publicize the initiative while exhibiting the true spirit of the endeavor,” Kentucky Steam Heritage President Chris Campbell tells Trains News Wire.
Tyler Hardin, a Kentucky rail photographer, graphic artist, and longtime supporter of the Kentucky Steam Heritage group designed the herald on No. 3440. He says the logo speaks volume to the railroad’s commitment to its heritage.
“Here you have a Class I railroad, a multi-billion dollar company, taking the time to honor their heritage and the heritage of the town they serve,” Hardin notes.
He says the idea to design the herald came up in a discussion after the initial Ravenna announcement in May and knowing that the locomotive and its herald will be seen across much of the East Coast is an awesome feeling.
On May 19, CSX and Kentucky Steam Heritage Corp., officials gathered in Ravenna to unveil the group’s plans to purchase nearly 50 acres of former CSX property to build a rail-based tourist and community development center.
The nonprofit plans to establish a multi-use facility on the site of CSX’s retired Ravenna car shops. The railroad’s yard office building, yard tracks, and modern railcar facility are included in the purchase. Kentucky Steam Heritage officials say the infrastructure will be used to showcase the rehabilitation and operation of C&O Kanawha-type No. 2716 and other rail equipment.
The group is raising money to make improvements to the property and stow funds for matching grant programs.
For more information, go to www.kentuckysteam.org.
Weird that they would “spare the paint and labor”? It’s a pair of 50 dollar decals that take 5 minutes to apply.
“They got this.”
a couple CSX decals a mea culpa?, BS PR the railroad are creating Fake news coverups that have produced a worse disaster than the now desperate attempts by CN and CPR , that are unable to operate the greatest opportunity in generations to increase traffic that has continued the steady decline since 2006. The overall transportation overload has allowed them to obfuscate their inability to survive by raising rates that now desperate shippers are stuck with, but will drop rail as fast as they can with the inevitable decline coming with policy reversals after the fall elections. .Good for them; they deserve the long term wrath of the disservice for the short cited wholly grail OR that the Wall Street private equity asses force down their throat. The good news? maybe the UP may recover from the latest series of operational meltdowns and have enough excess capacity from traffic loss to actually run a Big Boy.
This is quite odd. CSX has become a lean mean operating machine. It seems weird that they would spare the paint and labor to pay fanservice on one of their locomotives. A nice gesture, but still odd.
Great!