Standardization News

ASTM International’s amusement rides and devices committee (F24) is developing a standard to establish new inspection and maintenance requirements for steam propelled locomotives found at amusement parks.

According to Ron Lwin, a committee task group chair, the original manufacturers of historic steam locomotives are often no longer in existence and unable to give recommendations for maintenance, offering little guidance to steam operators. The proposed standard will provide minimum maintenance requirements based on widely accepted historical practices and currently used railroad industry benchmarks. 

“The steam locomotives typically found in amusement parks, museums, and at tourist railroads may not currently have an appropriate maintenance standard to reference,” says Lwin, senior quality engineer for Walt Disney World. “This standard will serve as the primary reference for maintenance requirements of steam locomotives.”

The new proposed standard (WK67138) will provide minimum requirements for suitable locomotive operation that fall outside the U.S. Federal Railroad Administration jurisdiction or other local authority having jurisdiction with existing steam train rules, while the expanded appendix will include more specific best practices. 

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