"Curious" --
I am not a member of the Friends of the 4449,
but I believe I can give you a reliable answer
to one of your questions.

You wrote --
> I wouldn't think BNSF would support an Amtrak
> steam excursion under their trackage rights??

1. The 4449's excursions are not "Amtrak steam
excursions". They are sponsored by others. The
excursion to Bend this June is a Friends the 4449
steam excursion.

2. This excursion -- and all the other 4449 steam
excursions except for the 1977 Transcontinental
Excursion from Birmingham, Alabama, to Portland,
Oregon, was actually sponsored by Amtrak. AFAIK,
that was the only steam excursion Amtrak ever
sponsored.

3. I am not sure what you mean by ""their" trackage
right". Do you mean Amtrak's on the BNSF or BNSF's
on the UP? If you meant "Amtrak's", I explained that
is not what will happen in June. If you mean BNSF's
on the UP, I have no idea whether or not the UP would
approve any 4449 excursion on its (UP's) tracks. This
issue is moot, because the entire trip from Portland to
Bend and back will be on BNSF tracks, with the possible
exception of a very short segment in Portland.

3. Every time the 4449 has run an excursion on BNSF tracks,
it has been done by getting liability insurance through
Amtrak. Which is the only way any organization smaller
than a Class 1 railroad can afford the premium. From what
I have read elsewhere, the NS paid for the premium for
the liability insurance it needed to carry to run trips
with the N&W 611 in 2015 and 2016. From what I read,
the premium cost them $500,000!! -- for 12 months, and that
policy expired the end of June last year (June 30, 2016).
That is a huge amount of money -- far more than any group
the size of the Friends of the 4449 could ever afford.


So -- SP 4449's excursions are not "Amtrak excursions", as
they are not sponsored by Amtrak, but by The Friends of the
4449. The Friends get liability insurance through Amtrak.
And Amtrak has a few requirements it imposes on those who get
insurance through them. Here are the three requirements I know
of which Amtrak requires of every organization it allows to get
liability insurance through them:

1. The trip operator must ensure that all cars in the train are
officially certified by Amtrak. I myself do not know exactly
what has to be done to a car to make it "Amtrak certified", but
I have heard it is expensive. Anyone who has had a car or cars
made compliant with this rule would be able to tell you exactly
what Amtrak requires for this.

2. All cars in the train must be inspected by an Amtrak inspector
prior to the train;s departure on the excursion.

3. An Amtrak diesel locomotive must be in the excursion train consist.

This does not even begin to deal with the huge logistical problems
that come with planning and operating any steam excursion. Since the
4449 has pulled and excursion to Bend not long ago (2012), the group
knows what they need to do before and during the trip to Bend.


Going to California would be wonderful, but there would have to
be some very important event down here that her presence would be
appropriate at -- such as Railfair 99, which celebrated the 150th
anniversary of California's admission to the Union -- in other
words, 1999 marked the 150th year since California became a state.
Now THAT was a suitably BIG event that justified bringing the 4449
down to Sacramento.

Right now I cannot think of any really BIG events down here in --
at present -- soggy and snowy California.

And even when a suitably large event occurs down here, the high
ticket costs are liable to make it very difficult for most people
to afford tickets. In comparison, coach seats in Amfleet cars
with no vestibules and relatively small windows cost around $500
each, and I am not sure if that included the cost of the hotel
in Bend for Saturday night in Bend. This year, a ticket to rid
in the same kind of car used in 2012 -- an Amfleet car -- will
cost $600 double occupancy in the hotel, and &700 for single
occupancy in the hotel.

Yes, it wold be wonderful if the 4449 cold run an excursion down
here to California and back to Portland. It would be a huge thrill
to again see her on her home rails.