whacha figgur that ol' teakettle will pull on the grade car wise? 26K TE on a 3 per cent? hmmm. but that was new outa the box, right? the thing about these old geart engines is that you are always just waiting for the weakest link to fail. the throttle is always tanked and you just hod on and wait for the inevitable. it's one thing to be hauling freight but when the passengers have to walk back to town, talk about complaining! good luck, i'm sure it will be just fine. just makes sure all of the fastners are double knutted and cotter keyed. And the cell phone is charged. are you using the green velvet oils? they are really impressive.