Posted: May/10/2006 at 11:52am | IP Logged

I know that this is not the forum for this topic, but since I cannot post on the "Ride" forum, I deceided to post this here! I received the following email from Mr. Phil Reader, Secretary of the Pacific Coast Railroad Museuem concerning the "Cannonball" - our beloved steam engine that once ran on the 610 Limited RR at Six Flags Astroworld.

The Cannonball was sold during the auction to an individual in California that took her to restore and utilize on his private railroad. As you will see in the followin email, the engine is alive, well, and under steam at the "Bittercreek and Western Railroad", a private railroad in California. This is particularly heartening to see, especially since she suffered so much neglect her final years at Astroworld. I am really glad to see that at least one of our rides (besides a coaster) is full operational and is being used on a regular basis. To see pics of her in action, go to: www.bittercreekwesternrr.org.

Thanks and Happy Rails to all!

Steve Cumming - SFAW Engineer (retired)

Houston, Texas

On May 09, Phil Reader wrote:

Hi Steve,

We got your email from the AW forum.  Please spread the word that the little 4-4-0 Harpur (Cannonball - 610 Limited)  is running again and had her big debut this last weekend at the Santa Margarita Ranch in Central California. She passed her CA boiler inspection.  Already she is developing a fan following here.  Our youngest engineer, just 18 years old, Jarret,had a grin on his face all weekend long as he ran her and was still grinning on Monday as we cleaned up afterward.  You are all welcome to come visit her here.  We probably will have her sidelined for awhile to do some evaluations and determine what major work we want to do.  We also have some funny stories about her behavior in her
new environs.  She let Phil have it one night when she was supposed to make an appearance at a campaign fundraiser at the ranch.  It was an impressive event and Phil's boss called the next morning to make sure 
he was okay.  Needless to say, she got a blowback valve the next week!

Check the Bittercreek and Western Website for first event photos.

Keep in touch and visit when you can.

Phil and Karell Reader
CMO and Secretary of Pacific Coast Railroad