Good points.

A lot of people here who do @#$%& about UP and consider NS to be oh so superior to the "Yellow Borg" seem to conveniently forget that NS pulled the plug on its own very sucessful steam program, even though it could've easily continued on with the program (UP faces the very same liability issues that NS did; unfortunately, NS management at the time didn't wan't to deal with those issues - or the insurance costs, which probably weren't any worse for it than for UP - and the current management probably doesn't either). UP, on the other hand, has been quite willing to keep its program going regardless of the issues. Keep in mind, too, that UP's management is changing; the ex-MoPac people are retiring or otherwise leaving and are being replaced with folks who seem to be a bit more open-minded than their predecessors.

John A. has a valid point, too; UP can't afford to let just anyone with a steam locomotive run on its tracks. Only those organizations that have proven themselves like Doyle's 4449 group have are allowed to run on Class 1 railroad property these days. It takes a lot of effort to set these excursions up, and only groups like the 4449 bunch or the 3751 group in San Bernardino have the ability to do so sucessfully.