Shop keeps railroad’s equipment moving, generates income
By Bill Simpson
Central Penn Business Journal
May 11, 2007
“Come on guys. I hear the train.”
A young boy shrieks with delight as he hears the distinctive whistle of a train in eastern Lancaster County. Kids of all ages move closer to the tracks. A hulking steam locomotive pulls half a dozen passenger cars into the station in Strasburg. Cameras click. Excitement builds. The train pulls to a stop, and new passengers wait impatiently for riders who have just completed their journey to Paradise to disembark.
This scene is the visible face of the Strasburg Railroad. It plays out many times a day throughout most months of the year, but it could never happen without the efforts of the men and women who work behind the scenes to keep the trains running.
Steam locomotives are remnants of an earlier railroading era, and for modern freight and passenger operations, they’re obsolete. Compared with diesel engines, steam locomotives are highly inefficient. They use large quantities of water and fuel and need significant maintenance.
Despite those drawbacks, steam locomotives have a nostalgic appeal that diesels can’t match, and the appeal of steam is a vital part of the experience at Strasburg.
So, to keep the locomotives belching steam and to keep the passenger cars moving smoothly, mechanics, carpenters, machinists and electricians work diligently to keep the railroad’s rolling stock in top operating condition. Many of the engines and passenger cars are 100 years old or more, so they require regular maintenance.
Keeping the railroad’s equipment in working order is the primary responsibility of the railroad’s mechanical department, but that department is also a source of income. Other railroads send their equipment to Strasburg for maintenance and repair, and the shops at Strasburg have a reputation for excellent work.
Robert Yuill, owner of Historic Machinery Services in Springville, Ala., often uses the railroad’s services to complement his own capabilities. “I think they’re the best,” he said “They do some spectacular things.”
In his work, Yuill repairs many types of old machinery, ranging from steam locomotives to boilers to factory equipment. He calls on Strasburg to fabricate machine parts. “I’ve been using them for 20 years. I know they’ll do it right,” he said.
Steve Lee manages operating practices and is a locomotive engineer with Union Pacific Railroad.
Union Pacific is the nation’s largest railroad, with 8,400 locomotives, 106,000 freight cars and 32,000 miles of track in 23 states from Illinois to California. The rail line operates two steam locomotives as part of its heritage program, and the wheels of both recently visited Strasburg for maintenance and new parts. Strasburg can do work that Union Pacific can’t handle.
“The Strasburg has machine shop capabilities that UP no longer has, and has not had for many years,” Lee said. “We could probably obtain the capability, but we can’t justify an investment in machinery that will be utilized only once every 10 or 12 years. While the Strasburg might be a small railroad, it has capabilities far beyond most existing shops. … The quality of Strasburg’s work is beyond reproach.”
For Linn Moedinger, president of Strasburg Railroad, work done for Union Pacific and other railroads represents a nice source of business, which he placed at 5 percent of the railroad’s total revenues. He stressed that generating income from outside sources is not the primary purpose of Strasburg’s mechanical shops.
“Our mission is the train ride,” he said. “Our own equipment is our No. 1 priority. We have 100-year-old cars in regular service, so we have to be realistic. We can’t market our services too aggressively. Our own equipment may need special attention at any time.”
Safety is a major concern for every steam locomotive, and Strasburg Railroad operates on a strict maintenance schedule for all its locomotives.
The railroad is the busiest tourist line in the continental U.S. It carried 428,000 passengers last year. Many of them were parents and their children who came to enjoy rides behind Thomas The Tank Engine.
Strasburg bought rights to Thomas in 1998. “He” will make three appearances in Strasburg this year. Strasburg Railroad also does maintenance work on the Thomas engines and builds new ones as demand for his appearances increases.
A visitor to Strasburg Railroad’s shops can see equipment that’s a mix of the old and the modern. Some pieces are almost a century old. One piece of equipment that tests air brakes dates back to the 1920s.
Other equipment is new. Doing work for other railroads allows Strasburg Railroad to purchase equipment that it might not be able to afford otherwise, Moedinger said.
Scott Lefever, Thomas events coordinator for the railroad, said one challenge for the shops is to find qualified workers. Vo-tech schools don’t teach steam-locomotive maintenance, so most training takes place on the job. “We look for mechanical aptitude,” Lefever said.
The work is challenging and rewarding, but it doesn’t provide instant gratification. The complete restoration of a passenger car can take as many as 13,000 man hours, and the work can be expensive. The recent restoration of a passenger car called The Warren Benner, for example, cost $635,000. The intent was to bring the car back to its original condition — an expensive proposition. Hardwood mahogany, for example, cost $1,600 per piece.
The work can be expensive, but it seems to create a respect for the equipment among riders. “I’ve never seen anyone carve a name on one of our trains,” Lefever said.
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IF YOU GO
Shop tours are available to the public every day at noon. The tours take place over employees’ lunch hour and last 45 minutes.
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