Mr. Travis,

You state the following, "Scrapping a locomotive is reversible."

Please tell me how?

As a historic object, it is not reversible. As a machine built to certain blueprints, it is.

Steve

One possible answer can be obtained from the A1 Trust.

If CSR wins, I can only guess at what will follow.

As all of you debate who owns 3463 you have not been told all the details regarding the transformation of Topeka Railroad Days to what is now the Great Overland Station. The original intent a number of years ago was to include 3463 in a static display at the station as it was being restored. The rehab of the station took a long time and there were numerous changes in the make up of the board as well as directors who each had their own agenda as to how the project should proceed. Topeka Railroad Days was a annual event that was held at the old air base south of downtown. It was well attended and was supported by both the ATSF and UP. It evolved to being the keeper of 3463 and there was a well intended small group who were working on doing cosmetic and preservation work on the locomotive. The current board and director of Great Overland Station decided to stop all work on the locomotive when they found out the cost of moving it from its current location to the Station site. This group has changed the entire mission of the station from one of preserving the history of the railroads and the relationship they had with Topeka and the State of Kansas. This board and its current director also made it very clear to the rail fan community that they were not welcome at board meetings and that their input regarding rail history was not needed. ( I am being nice about how these events unfolded and how the various individuals were treated by the director) There was no public notification by the board that they were considering giving 3463 away and no public input was allowed. The people of Topeka did not find out about this until the deal was done.

Thanks for that clear explanation of a widely misunderstood history. That matches exactly what I have been told by three different sources in Topeka. What has been repeated over and over by CSR and by many others who side with their mission is essentially this:

The group fighting to keep the engine in Topeka should not be given custody of the engine because when they had a chance to restore it, they just let it rust and rot.

Your very clear explanation of the facts sure takes the wind right out of that fallacious argument.

"Topeka Children and Santa Fe Railroad — a nonprofit that was created in 1956 but lost its status in 1973 — was reinstated in 2013 by a small group of Topekans who didn’t want to see the historic engine leave Topeka. The group became vocal that year about its passion for the locomotive and claimed the ATSF gave it ownership of the locomotive in 1956.