NORTH FREEDOM — To the thieves, perhaps the metal hauled away from the Mid-Continent Railway Museum was junk that could be sold to scrap yards to make a quick buck.

In reality, some of the items were priceless antiques that are nearly impossible to replace.

“This wasn’t scrap,” said Mid-Continent lifetime member Dick Goddard. “These were locomotive restoration parts that are impossible to replace. It’s making restoration at Mid-Continent impossible.”

The thefts occurred in 2008 after floods ravaged the museum. Mid-Continent staff hired additional staff to assist with the cleanup. Little did they know, the “help” they received ultimately would hinder the museum’s progress.

A museum employee noticed parts missing from a locked car, and reported it to museum directors.

Not long afterward, Goddard found himself with other museum members at a scrap yard in Mauston looking for clues. They found a barrel full of parts, and that’s when they notified the Sauk County Sheriff’s Department, he said.

Working with a team of museum members and a Sheriff’s Department detective, Goddard visited scrap yards as far away as Illinois, and took photographs of everything taken from the museum.

The parts they were able to locate were worth somewhere between $100,000 and $125,000, Goddard said. But the grand total might be much more. Some of the missing items have stalled restoration efforts on two steam engines, and others were replacement parts for working trains.

To date, there have been three convictions related to the missing parts, including 28-year-old Joe T. Atkinson, who was convicted of felony burglary of a railroad car, 30-year old Aaron G. Boldon of Wisconsin Dells, who was found guilty of entry into a locked vehicle, unauthorized entry into a building, and theft of less than $2,500, and Scott K. Hinze, 29, of Baraboo, who has been convicted of felony theft.

Recently, 25-year-old Allen M. Dixon was charged with felony theft in relation to the missing parts.

If you are involved with a museum or tourist railroad that has anything metal that is not locked away you should be finding a way to secure it. It is only a matter of time before someone will steal it. Think it's too heavy... your wrong. Think it's not enough to be worthwhile... your wrong... think it's out of the way enough.. your wrong. Don't be surprised when someone comes along and torches a section of boiler or side rod right off the locomotive in your dead line. Say good-bye to that sand dome or smokebox front that is off in the weeds. Secure it or it's gone, it's just a matter of how soon.

At my local museum, there was an rather isolated stretch where the storage box cars were not only locked but the latches welded shut. It's a rather trivial matter to run down there in a speeder car with some tools, but it's inaccessible by truck and a steep or long hike. I doubt any metal thief would carry an large angle grinder that far. Might be worth a try to consider welding shut and alarming your storage.

My Honda Civic can do this. No coment on how I know this.