Tom, Les, others,
Nice to read that Earl is in agreement that the FRA have no jurisdiction over Steam Rotaries, pile drivers or other steam railroad work equipment. The ICC never had jurisdiction over these items as I said earlier; they are not equipment that conducts transportation of commerce. FRA must follow suit.
Federal jurisdiction only covers interstate commerce, or foreign commerce. State rights apply solely, but these pieces of equipment can move into and out of states, so they did not always come under state control or inspection. In the history of railroads in this past 150 years, the railroad companies were solely responsible for the safety of this equipment along with their boiler insurers such as Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company.