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updated January 1, 2003
Since I started the year with a list some of the steam events predicted for 2002, I thought I'd look back to see what actually came about this year on the modern steam front.
In Ushuaia, FCAF Garratt No. 2 (formerly "Nora" and now "L. D. Porta") is in regular service after its extensive rebuild last year. According to Shaun McMahon, seasonal traffic is once again booming (now is the height of the tourist season at Tierra del Fuego). Not much has been said recently about the World Steam Congress which had to be cancelled last year. There was some talk of holding it in an alternative location. I'll post an update as soon as I hear anything.
No. 6A on the "Puffing Billy" Railway in Australia was fitted with an improved exhaust system which proved very successful.
One of the biggest potential events for 2002 was the planned construction of a new series of modern steam locomotives for switching service in Cuba. Designated LVM 800 (Locomotora Vapor Moderna 800 horsepower), these locomotives have been designed by Ing. L. D. Porta and a team of Cuban engineers and technicians. The engines are to be 0-6-2T wheel arrangement, and will feature 3 cylinder compound expansion, Southern valve gear, Lempor or Lemprex exhaust systems, and GPCS fireboxes burning bagasse, the waste crushed sugar cane left over from sugar production (a "free" indigeously produced fuel in Cuba). Construction was scheduled to begin in January 2002, but as far as I can ascertain, this never came about. On a sad note, the chief proponent of the project in Cuba, Ing. Manuel Alepuz, recently passed away. Ing. Alepuz, who until recently served as Director of the Cuban Transport Research Institute, had worked with Porta on the design of the locomotives. There is still hope that the project will come about, but it is unfortunate that we have lost another of our fraternity.
Tenders were issued for proposals for new steam locomotives for the Darjeeling Himalaya Railway and the Nilgiri Railway in 2000, and several proposals were reviewed by India Railways. At one point, there was a story circulating that the contract to construct the new DHR locomotives had been awarded to a locomotive shop in India, but evidently this did not come about. At last report, several of the Nilgiri rack-and-adhesion engines had been overhauled and were operating successfully.
Not much news to report from DLM, the new company that was formed last year by former members of SLM's steam department. Their website reported that a letter of intent to purchase new narrow gauge 2-8-2T's for eastern Germany was signed in 2002. Hopefully, this will soon lead to the construction of new engines.
In England, progess was slow on the completion of "Tornado", a new full-size 4-6-2 built to the design of Peppercorn's A-1. The only major component (and probably the most expensive) which hasn't been built is the boiler, and tenders were issued for it to several companies late last year. Their present dilema is figuring out how to pay for the boiler. The A-1 Trust operates on pledges from supporters, and what they can purchase is limited to what this income will support. The boiler will take approximately 7 months to complete, and this quick completion would outstrip the Trust's ability to pay for it. They are presently in consultation with their financial advisors on how to work this out. On other fronts, it was reported that Garratt K-1 (the first one) which is being restored for service on the Welsh Highland Railway, wouldl be fitted with GPCS and a Lempor exhaust. However, the railway's site now reports the locomotive will be oil-fired (like all other WHR locomotives) and there is no mention of an improved exhaust system.
T. W. Blasingame is working on new coal-fired steam-electric designs using Rand-cam rotary expander engnines. With the present political situation in the Middle East, it would seem to be a good time to be looking at alternative fuel sources. Updates will be posted on this project as they become available.
Nigel Day reported that he was continuing development work on his advanced oil firing system on locomotive No. 4 on the Snowdon Mountain Railway. He also has several other projects in progress in the UK and elsewhere.
Steam power still lingers on in switching service in Zimbabwe; we can always hope for at least a partial return to mainline steam operation. One 59th Class Garratt has been restored in Kenya and there are good prospects for future operations. Steam also remains in scattered service across China, but there is little hope for any resurgence in its use. Rob Dickinson's International Working Steam Locomotives pages has information on current steam operations around the world.
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