Steam in the modern era

So one of the little tidbits I'm trowing into my planning is some history for my little railroad that will allow me to have some steam operations, even in a modern day layout. I'll probably have a longer psudo history post later but for now I'll throw this out there.

In the early days of the railroad it was known as the Port Alice Railroad, Port Alice being the actual name of the city that hosts the Parks Harbor Industrial. Port Alice served several piers as well as terminal switching around the city during the height of the industrialization of the area in the first half of the 20th century. It also had a large car float operation used to move freight offloaded from ships birthed in the excellent Port Alice natural harbor space to the mainland and onto the class 1 rail network. It brought freight back from the mainland as well both for outgoing shipment as well as to serve the industries that developed around the Port Alice harbor.

Without going too indepth the story goes that as freight became containerized and required less transhipment the Port Alice area suffered some decline and finally closed down the harbor, though it still struggled along serving the industries based there. Finally it failed completely and was reorganized as the Parks Harbor RR to continue to serve industry. (I'll fill in that history later, but there will have to be some wand waving as it were and fairy dust to make it all work. In reality it probably wouldn't have developed like this in the first place, but as with all of this kind of thing, it just has to sound good to me).

So anyway, Parks Harbor Industrial Railroad takes over and for a verity of trumped up reasons flourshies in it's own way. But it also doesn't forget it's history. Thanks to the efforts of several retired Port Alice RR employees as well as the Port Alice Historical Society, and the Parks Harbor Industrial RR, they have saved one 0-6-0T switcher locomotive, that is being restored. Due to a grant it is being brought back up to operating condition. (I'm looking at the Bachman Spectrum 0-6-0T to play this roll, I've read that the Spectrum line is respectable as power and it's the only tank style switcher I can find that (non-brass) that doesn't look like a toy).

I've designed a track near my small engine house where the 0-6-0T could sit and be a diorama of restoration, and eventually I could have it operating on the layout. It even gives me the opportunity to run some sort of passenger excursion, however short, along the layout, and I dig that kind of special operations.

We'll see how that works out, but I like this kind of detail thrown in.  Oh and it will be lettered for the Port Alice Railroad, road number 500. Why? 'cuse i like that number.