Ross Rowland

Ross E. Rowland, Jr. is a controversial figure in the United States railroad preservation, recreation and enthusiast communities who is closely identified with running public and demonstration excursions on existing railroads utilizing steam locomotives.

His most famous accomplishment was The American Freedom Train, a steam- powered exhibit train which ran in 1976 in conjunction with the celebration of the U.S. Bicentennial.

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, currently requiring repairs at Port Clinton, Pennsylvania in order to return to operating condition.

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 elimate operational concerns associated with steam locomotives such as dynamic augment and to operate with enough efficiency to be economically viable to railroads. 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, 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.

Rowland last operated public excursions in the 1990s on New Jersey Transit between Hoboken and Port Jervis. He has currently announced preliminary plains to operate another steam powered exhibit train and is a vocal and persistent critic of the efficiency and effectiveness of Steamtown National Historic Site. He is also a frequent critic of the effort to restore Pennsylvania RR K-4s #1361.

During the summers of 2000 and 2001, Ross Rowland managed the Pacific Wilderness Railway reporting mark|PAW. Pacific Wilderness Railway operated on the tracks of the E&N Railway from Victoria, BC to the top of the nearby Malahat summit. Despite PAW's ad campaign touting the stunning scenery that was viewable during the trip, there was some criticism that this did not live up to expectations, as the grand views of Saanich inlet from the Malahat range are for the most part obscured by trees along the right of way. Rowland attempted to remedy this situation by chopping down large areas of old growth tress along certain portions of the right of way, but this only succeeded in raising the ire of some area residents, without having much effect on the overall view. Questions were also raised about the Malahat being chosen as the northern terminus, as it is basically in the middle of nowhere, which,apart from a crude shelter ande platform hastily hacked together in the forest, had no service facilities such as refreshments or washrooms, and the location was at least 10 kilometers from the nearest services, which was a small gas station. 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 others complaining about the train's whistle being a nuisance. After a mediocre performance for the 2000 tourist season, ridership collapsed in 2001.The Pacific Wilderness Railway, despite high hopes, was not successful and shut down halfway through the 2001 tourist season.

Although Rowland is widely credited with making such locomotives into "rolling exhibits" that allowed individuals born after the end of widespread use of steam locomotives to see an operating locomotive, there have been some questions about the nature of his operations. The first is that Rowland has never been able to create a self-sustaining business from operating steam locomotives and operates a locomotive only until it is in need of costly major repairs (all three locomotives mentioned above are currently inoperable and in need of major repairs).

References

External links

* [http://www.trainweb.org/tusp The Ultimate Steam Page- information on Ross Rowland's ACE 3000 and other modern steam projects]