Anytime you can find a steam locomotive in operation, take advantage of the opportunity. Take a camera, take the wife, kids, and make a day of it. That Union Pacific Challenger 4-6+6-4 is one of the more well-known surviving examples of articulated steam locomotives, I'm glad she got to make the trip to under her own power.
We have a railway museum near my hometown called the Mid-Continent Railway Museum, and they take in many derelict locomotives and railway cars from all over the U.S. The facility is famous as the provider of steam power for the great Milwaukee/Chicago Circus Train, with photogenic C&NW 4-6-0 #1385 in the lead.
Restoration to operating condition is not in the cards for most of these old girls. Why not? Steamfitters and Boilermakers are not a real common breed these days, and the cost to completely rebuild and certify the boiler of a typical steam locomotive runs into the millions of dollars.
Sometimes people forget that running fire and steam in a locomotive for 80+ years really raises hell with the boilers and fireboxes. #1385 hasn't run under her own power since June of 1998. Her firebox has worn out, and repairs were estimated at over $750,000. A good portion of that cost was removal of the boiler from the chassis just to gain access to the firebox.
The museum has since come up with a $425,000 fix. The locomotive will get a brand-new, 21st-century welded boiler, that will maintain the external appearance of the original 1907-vintage boiler while providing safety and ease of maintenance. A compromise, but at least #1385 will be steaming again in the future.
Here's how she looked before her firebox failed inspection:
Here's how she looks now, awaiting rebuild:
My grandfather was one of the folks responsible for keeping #1385 rolling, until he passed away in 1999.
I visited the museum several weeks ago, here's a beautiful Baldwin 2-10-0 (Decapod) that won't be as lucky as #1385:
