I was just wondering, generally speaking, how willing are communities willing to sell or donate their locos?<p>Thanks,<br>Gerald Kopiasz<br>Heartland Railroad Historical Society<br>



hrrhs@aol.com

"Generally speaking" I've noticed most cities don't want to get rid of them, but they don't want to maintain them either. In other words, keep them, but don't spend a nickle.<br>

Even when the park people really want to get rid of them, some (usually flamboyant, but ill-advised) person brings up the issue of "saving our memories!" What can sometimes help as leverage is the high expense of removing the A word in situ, and the information that the jacket his disintegrating, allowing the A word to not only fall out on the ground, but it's in the nearby air (usually near at least one picnic table) so it has become a health hazard! Fortunately, in most states, if you are going to be using the locomotive, you don't have to do the A removal before the move, but do have to insure that it is encapsulated for the move (sheet metal, duct tape, baling wire, are useful for this). <br>This is the only reason the SP 1215 is now in a museum, and not sitting in a park on track that had already sunk a foot into the ground. However, we did have the usual "activist" but the park commision gave him something like three months to come up with a viable abatement/restoration plan, which he could not do. Whew!<br>S'<br>David D.<br>



djdewey@cncnet.com

The number of dispiriting tragedies that have occurred at city council meetings when museums offer to remove park engines for preservation, only to be thwarted by sentimental loonies, is too numerous to recount. Making the opposition put up or shut up is probably the best tactic, but not every city will go for it.<p>I'm still waiting to hear of an effective use of a tactic that was told to me some years ago by individuals trying to remove a 2-8-2 from a midwestern park. Before their offer came before the city council, they "vandalized" the engine themselves, dumping old paint onto it. Besides cleaning out the garage and adding another layer of corrosion protection, it was hoped that this would motivate the city government to want to ditch the engine. Didn't work, though, and the engine is still landlocked today. But I think if instead of just dumping the paint they had painted a legend implying an improper and unconventional relationship between some of the councilpersons that it might have done the trick. I offer this suggestion for persons with extremely intransigent political situations on their hands.<p>B. Lamar Spruell<br>



froboma@mdot.state.mi.us

Don't forget to:<br>1. spread asbestos around the engine<br>2. have your kid climb on and "fall" off<br>3. videotape the "accident"<p>Dave<br>



lathro19@idt.net