Ross Rowland

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.

Accomplishments

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 some of the most famous U.S. excursion steam locomotives such as 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 such as dynamic augment and to operate with enough efficiency to be economically viable to railroads.[2] Rowland managed to obtain permission from CSX Transportation to operate a renumbered 614T 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 the 1990s, Rowland operated public excursions on New Jersey Transit between Hoboken and Port Jervis. He announced preliminary plans to operate another steam-powered exhibit train, and was a critic of the efficiency and effectiveness of the Steamtown National Historic Site.[4]

Pacific Wilderness tourist train

During the summers of 2000 and 2001, Ross Rowland managed on Vancouver Island the Pacific Wilderness Railway, which operated on the tracks of the E&N Railway from Victoria, BC to the top of the nearby Malahat summit. The operation consisted of a few decrepit coach cars, which were dragged through the seedier areas of Esquimalt, View Royal and Langford by a couple of beat up GP 20's, which would then wheeze and sputter their way up to a low budget, ramshackle terminus at the top of the Malahat, before turning around and heading back to Victoria.

The operation never proved to be even somewhat viable, as despite PAW's ad campaign promising grand views and stunning scenery, riders were often disappointed to discover that the views of Saanich Inlet were largely obscured by thick old growth forest along most of the route's right of way. Rowland attempted to remedy this situation by chopping down large portions of old growth trees along the Malahat portion of the right of way, but this only succeeded in incurring the wrath of area residents, without having much effect on the overall view. Questions were also raised about the Malahat being chosen as the northern terminus, due to its isolation. Apart from a crude shack and platform that Rowland hastily hacked out of the wilderness and cobbled together with untreated lumber, the terminus lacked even basic service such as refreshments or washrooms. The nearest location that offered these services was a tiny shack style gas station located over 10 kilometers away.

Many members of the local tourist industry began to question Rowland's ability to run a tourist railroad, asking why the operation did not use Chemainus, with its world famous murals and first class restaurants,as the northern terminus, instead of an isolated, low budget shack with no toilet on top of a mountain. There was also much opposition from the urban residents of the Victoria area, many of whom were upset at the sudden increase in the amount of traffic on the line, with criticism from some locals who had become accustomed to using the right of way as a shortcut and toilet, and others complaining about the train's whistle being a nuisance.

After a mediocre performance for the 2000 tourist season, ridership totally collapsed in 2001.The Pacific Wilderness Railway, despite high hopes, ended in failure and shut down halfway through the 2001 tourist season. As of 2018, the shack and platform located at the Malahat terminus remains, rotting and covered in weeds, a lasting tribute to the failure of the operation, and is slowly being cannibalized for firewood by local residents.

Recent developments

In early 2011 Ross announced the planned restoration and 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.[5] The train was being rebuilt in Pottstown, PA until financial circumstances forestalled its completion.

References
  1. http://bodwyn.wordpress.com/2009/02/20/ross-e-rowland-steam-railroading-titan/ Freedom Train
  2. "The Ultimate Steam Page". Trainweb.org. Retrieved 2012-07-24.
  3. "U. S. Patent 4425763". Retrieved 2012-07-25.
  4. "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.
  5. "Hotel Watch: The Greenbrier Express". Washington Life Magazine.
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