Steam Tripleheader Eastbound at Mineral, IL

[WPRR1]

#261 was about 10 times louder than both of the others.

[beowulf3075]

Hey, that's impressive. Like rwk360 I like to smell the coal smoke (most of us do?), I wonder often how many U.S. steam locos are oil fired, they have to be coal, really, imho.

Chinese engines are relatively new compared to any others so guess a lot of life left in them, and not too expensive maybe.

[dylanbobby1]

Amazing! Up should do this with 844, 3985, and 4449. But who will lead?

[rwk360]

One of the coaches has windows that open? That's great for steam excursions to get the full effect and whiff of coal smoke. It's no fun in sealed window coaches. Why did older heavyweight steel coaches have openable windows but more modern coaches from 1940's and up have non openable windows? I like to ride excursion trains in coaches with open windows.

[Xantec]

those Morning daylight colors like what 4449 hauls??

[foroke1]

We need to deport those imigrants :p (QJs)

[Miketherailfan]

And to think next July, Santa Fe 3751 will polish these rails for Train Festival 2011...

[kschmidt626]

@Miketherailfan Can't wait. I love it when the midwest is the center of the steam world, kind of. Maybe a 3751 QJ tripleheader ??

[TrainTrackTrav]

@kschmidt626 3751 and the QJs, that would be trippy!

[PereMarquette1223]

@kschmidt626 I don't know. BNSF is giving the Trainfest crew a hard time, they've been refunding people who already bought tickets early to ride behind her. Her chances are slim of coming east.

[PereMarquette1223]

@Miketherailfan I don't know. BNSF is giving the Trainfest crew a hard time, they've been refunding people who already bought tickets early to ride behind her. Her chances are slim of coming east.

[kr4449]

@Miketherailfan will the 4449 be there

[Miketherailfan]

@kr4449 Don't count on the Daylight being there.

[trainman122]

WOW, 3 different horn salutes from the same train!!!!! EPIC!!!!!

[darkdude134]

are thear three trains working together?

[dumpdaze]

FANTASTIC!!!

[UnionPacificChief]

What are chinese engines doing in Illinois???

[kschmidt626]

They are owned by Rail Development Corp/Iowa Interstate RR. They were pulling a special excursion on the Iowa Interstate. They seem to come out about once a year and run on the Iowa Interstate. I believe that they are stored in Iowa just north of Iowa City.

[Xantec]

china has taken all steam off its rails, so some US presevation society brought them :D doesn't matter whether its chinese steam locomotives, LNER's A3 and A4 from the UK, Russian steam or the 844 from the usa, there is something beautiful about steam locomotives at full chat bounding down the line.

[deloreanman14]

It breaks my heart to this day to know that the chances are slim that 261 will ever run again. Thanks to all of you in this corner of the country who caught her in action.

Still stuck on the West Coast...

[kschmidt626]

Thank You. It has been fun chasing the #261. It is going to be awfully quiet here in the Midwest with the Energizer Bunny.

[deloreanman14]

@kschmidt626 - Well I'll be damned. Just found out yesterday that 261 will indeed run again!!!

[bizzer261]

@deloreanman14 Yes she will and now the Friends of the 261 actually own her. No more lease, no more museums having to play hardball because they needed the money too.

[trainman1995]

why will she not run anymore

[deloreanman14]

The National Rail Museum could not come to a new lease agreement with the 'Friends of 261' so the NRM essentially repo'd the locomotive.

[trainman1995]

it seems like all people care about is money

[PereMarquette1223]

@deloreanman14 Don't worry, you'll have your chance. I heard that she will still ride the rails. Don't know when she will be back though.

[southern4501isawesom]

@PereMarquette1223 october 2011 is what they are shooting for

[Starrywarz]

in terms of dinosaurs...

qj's are gallimimus 261 is T-Rex

261's whistle is kinda frightening comparing the three...its a lot lower and better sounding!!!

[tweetsie12engineer]

woo woo WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! 261 wins

[bizzer261]

261 is such a tomboy, haha

[NKPBerk779fan]

The 261 had the best whistle of all. It sounds a lot better than the qj's whistles.

[OrganicWallabee]

Awesome!!!

[Stetsonater]

the deepest & the loudest whistle is the 261

[TrainTrackTrav]

LOL, yeah! dvooooooot dvvoooot WHVOOOOOO! LOL

[MaxInterjects]

that whistle just sings of raw power and might. I heard it in person. It just runs a chill down your spine. There's nothing like it :D

[AmtrakBoys]

Cool!!! was that like an employe spical?And were all three locos wistling at the same time?

[kschmidt626]

Actually it was a special train for the 150th anniversary of the bridge over the Mississippi River at Rock Island.  Great Event.

[SeniorMinch229018]

A triple doppler effect!!!

[boeingLL747]

its nice to see they have [almost] all of the Hiawatha cars still

[razgrizaceblaze259]

Damn. If it's not rare enough to see three steam engines pulling a train together, it's rarely ever that you hear the whistle of all three engines. Normally, you only hear the whistle of the leading engine.  This is a very rare piece of footage. Good job, man.

[MP36er]

Lol, I think I was in the first car in that line of cars!

[amtrak101]

JimTLonW6: There is a Chinese 2-8-2 at the Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad in Boone, Iowa. You should check it out!

[SeniorMinch229018]

Theres another in New Jersey dressed up as NYS&W #142.

[JimTLonW6]

Yeah, what a sight! Can anyone tell me more about these Chinese locos in the US? What's their origin, Chinese imports, Chinese designed, whatever?

[kschmidt626]

These Chinese QJ's were bought by the gentleman that owns the Iowa Interstate Railroad. He bought them from China on speculation that some museum or scenic railroad might find them cheaper to purchase than restore a steam locomotive. He has the option to purchase and bring over three more. They were built in the 1980's. They ran freight and passenger service in China. The QJ's were completely rebuilt before coming to the USA.

[JimTLonW6]

Thanks! Nice to have enough cash to buy some steam engines plus your own railroad to run them on! I hadn't heard about this venture before.

[SeniorMinch229018]

Do you possibly know the numbers of the other three QJ's?

[joneau261]

There's 7040 (now in Kentucky as R. J. Corman 2008), but the other two were scrapped in China. There may still be others coming, but no word yet for that

[SeniorMinch229018]

I know RJC #2008. Would be intresting to see if other iron dragons will be gracing the rails of the USA.

[MaxInterjects]

261 sounds bored

[ronthecyborg]

I noticed too. Also, it's funny how they blow the whistles in this scene.

[mjkft22]

wow notice the driver speed difference there.

the 2-10-2s are really going but the drivers on the 261 make it look like its barely trying.

[razgrizaceblaze259]

The reason for that is because of the difference in diameter of their drive wheels. The Milwaukee Road #261 has very big drive wheels. Therefore, since the Chinese QJ 2-10-2's drive wheels have a smaller diameter than the drive wheels of Milwaukee Road #261, they have to spin faster in order to equal the distance the Milwaukee Road #261 travels in just one revolution of it's drive wheels.