Ross Rowland

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Ross E. Rowland, Jr. (born 1940) is a figure in United States railroad preservation. He has run public and demonstration excursions on existing railroads utilizing steam locomotives.

Steam Excursion Career[]

Ross Rowland began operating steam excursion trains in the form of his newly formed High Iron Company on October 13, 1966, and he would subsequently create several trains that would be pulled by steam, including the Golden Spike Centennial Limited train in 1969. Rowland's most famous accomplishment was The American Freedom Train, a steam-powered exhibit train which toured much of the continental US over 1975 and 1976 in conjunction with the celebration of the U.S. Bicentennial.[1]

Rowland has been connected with and operated several U.S. excursion steam locomotives such as the Canadian Pacific 1278 4-6-2, currently at the Age of Steam Roundhouse, Sugarcreek, Ohio, the Nickel Plate 759 2-8-4, currently at Steamtown National Historic Site, Scranton, Pennsylvania; the Reading 2101 4-8-4, currently at the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Museum in Baltimore, Maryland and the Chesapeake & Ohio 614 4-8-4.

During the 1980s, during a spike in oil prices, Rowland was instrumental in forming American Coal Enterprises, an organization dedicated to the design and production of modern, coal-fired, reciprocating, direct-drive steam locomotives designed to reduce or eliminate operational concerns associated with steam locomotives and to operate with enough efficiency to be economically viable to railroads.[2] Rowland managed to obtain permission from CSX Transportation to operate C&O 614 in freight service in 1985 to obtain data in order to finalize the ACE 3000 design.

A preliminary design for the ACE 3000 was developed,[3] but active development stopped prior to any effort to build a demonstrator or prototype when oil prices fell in the mid 1980s and it appeared that the disparity between coal and oil would not be sustained at a level significant enough to expect that a coal-fired locomotive would be economically feasible.

In 1992 Rowland along with Ralph Weisinger proposed the 21st Century Limited, a theme train hauled by C&O 614 with custom railcars and displays. Rowland initially projected the train would run by 1996, and 614 was briefly wrapped in the colors of the train for a photoshoot to advertise the project. The project would eventually be cancelled.[4]

In the 1990s, Rowland operated public excursions on New Jersey Transit between Hoboken and Port Jervis until the retirement of C&O 614. Rowland has been a critic of the efficiency and effectiveness of the Steamtown National Historic Site.[5]

Pacific Wilderness tourist train[]

In the summers of 2000 and 2001, Rowland managed the Pacific Wilderness Railway (PAW) on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. This short-lived tourist train consisted of a few older coaches pulled by 2 GP20 diesels, traveling from Victoria to the peak of Malahat before returning to Victoria. The operation failed, and ended operations in July 2001.[6]

Later Career[]

In early 2011 Rowland announced the planned operation of the Greenbrier Presidential Express, a luxury train set to operate from Washington, D.C. to the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, WV.[7] By 2014 many of the passenger cars bought for the Greenbrier Express were sold at an auction, bringing an end to the project.[8]

C&O 614 was moved from storage in Pennsylvania to static display at the Virginia Museum of Transportation in 2011.[9] It has since been moved to display in Clifton Forge, Virginia at the C&O Railway Heritage Center were it is currently wearing the green paint scheme of the failed Greenbrier Express project. Although on static display, Rowland still owns the engine through the American Freedom Train Foundation.[10]

In 2015 Rowland announced plans for a "Yellow Ribbon Express," which by 2017 had been renamed as "American Freedom Train 2.0" which would see the reactivation of C&O 614 as part of a "steam hauled extravaganza" to honor US military veterans.[11] As of now, no further announcements have been made concerning the fate of the American Freedom Train 2.0.

In 2021 Rowland received a lifetime achievement award from the HeritageRail Alliance.[12]

References[]

  1. ^ cite web|url=http://bodwyn.wordpress.com/2009/02/20/ross-e-rowland-steam-railroading-titan/ Freedom Train| author=Smith, Emmett
  2. ^ "The Ultimate Steam Page". Trainweb.org. Retrieved 2012-07-24.
  3. ^ "U. S. Patent 4425763". Retrieved 2012-07-25.
  4. ^ "The 1996 - 2000 21st Century Limited". Accuen Media. Retrieved 2021-12-28.
  5. ^ "Attendance Shortfalls at Steamtown National Historic Site Prompt Calls for Privatization". National Parks Traveler. Archived from the original on 2014-08-14. Retrieved 2012-07-24.
  6. ^ "Pacific Wilderness". Retrieved 2012-07-10.
  7. ^ Arundel, John (2011-06-27). "Hotel Watch: The Greenbrier Express". Washington Life Magazine. Retrieved 2021-12-28.
  8. ^ Steelhammer, Rick (2014-09-14). "Greenbrier Express project still viable, despite "liquidation auction'". Charleston Gazette Mail. Retrieved 2021-12-28.
  9. ^ "Thoroughbreds of Steam to Stand Side by Side". Virginia Museum of Transportation. 2011-01-20. Retrieved 2021-12-28.
  10. ^ co614.com. "F-A-Q".
  11. ^ Franz, Justin (2017-06-09). "Ross Rowland revives American Freedom Train name for proposed veterans' tour NEWSWIRE". Kalmbach Media. Retrieved 2021-12-28.
  12. ^ "Rail Preservation Award 2021 Winners". Retrieved 2021-12-28.

External links[]

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