Say fellas,
How about a new thread to talk about crane preservation issues... it's a big topic. Plus, I'm afraid you'll discourage people from posting news about the Mid-Continent auction.
It doesn't cost anything to start a new thread. Thx.

The crane discussion is directly related to the MC auction. You could put it this way:

The cranes sold for $4500 and $2500. That seems to be on the low end of the scale for rolling stock, and since it sold for scrap, apparently there was no value implied to the asset other than the raw materials it contained.

The question is, did the anticipated selling price have any influence on the decision to de-acquisition these items as well as the others that were sold? Was it determined that the artifact was outside the scope of the collection, and that's all that mattered, or did they feel that the revenue raised would be worth sacrificing a marginal artifact? Did any of the items have a reserve?

I realize, the question probably won't be answered by the folks who made the choice, which is why I framed it in more general terms. It would seem to have relevance to other collections.

The only unanswered questions about the auction results are in regards to the Louisiana Cypress 2-6-0 and the Minnesota transfer caboose, those questions being who bought them, where they're going and what the future plans are for them.

In regards to the cranes, I suggest a visit to the museum's mission statement to see if they fit into their stated policies. I believe that the two older cranes fit into their collection policy and their disposition is contrary to their stated purpose of ensuring the care of historic objects entrusted to the museum.

http://www.midcontinent.org/about-us/

Well, obviously they're the ones who created the mission statement and the ones who get to make that call. They decided they weren't worth preserving, and that's all that matters. That brings us back to the original question of why they are seen as less worthy of preservation than say a coach or boxcar?

Don't have a dog in this fight, but let me say this... The mission statement clearly says,

"Its primary focus shall be on railroading of the Upper Midwest during the Golden Age of Railroading, 1880-1916."

St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern is hardly upper Midwest. Meanwhile Mid-Continent has a second wrecker, Soo Line X-3, a 60 ton machine built in 1907. The argument can be made that this is more in keeping with the presentation of historical railroading they give at North Freedom.

It's sad when we can't save everything, but we all have to realize that each piece of the collection has ongoing costs, else it all turns to junk anyway. Sometimes hard choices have to be made. Those who really think the MoP wrecker needs to be saved should have ponied up the money and done so.

John R & John T,
The American crane is an ex-WC unit purchased during the VanSchwartz administration. I never knew or looked into where the funding came from. It was leased to the WSOR but has sat idle for several years (don't know the exact number) parked at Bridgeport. After checking with our Engineering Dept. and determining the WSOR had no interest it was declared surplus.

On our mission statement, it includes upper Midwest and rural railroading. The Mopac wasn't considered upper Midwest and we had 2 Soo Line cranes of which the Collections Committee made a choice. These and the other pieces had been on the deaccession list for quite a long time. Some as long as 40 years. Yes, we had a list from the early '70's. We just finally took action.

No decision to release equipment is easy and these were certainly not taken lightly. I am not proud of all the results but accept the responsibility of my actions as part of the Auction Committee. I still believe this has been better for the long term health of Mid-Continent. Our yards are stuffed to the gills and any moves were only done with some to much difficulty. This was just one of the considerations of this sale.

Of the bright spots, there will now be an operating wheel lathe west of the Mississippi, the Woodward Iron will be closer to home and the Mt. Harvard will receive much love at IRM.

Of the LC#2, if the new owner wishes to remain anonymous that is their right. The caboose was purchased by an MCRM member and he'll start work on it soon.
mld

Mideest wrote--

"Of the bright spots, there will now be an operating wheel lathe west of the Mississippi."

Correct me if I am wrong but is there, if not two, operating wheel lathe west of the Mississippi?

Durango seems to come to mind for one, believe it can do a large STD gauge wheel. Unless I am thinking of something altogether different.

Dan

Perhaps I misspoke and I do invite correction. I was going on comments made Saturday. If anyone knows for sure, please chime in. mld

Just a quick comment. Museums are businesses as well as museums and are faced with hard decisions regarding the preservation mission or preservation of the museum itself. We operate in the real world and not in preservation Nirvana.

Equipment at any museum needs a constituency to support it. At Mid-Continent, there has been no one with sufficient interest in the MoPac crane to advocate for it for many years. As hard as locomotive and wreck cranes are to move, one would think that any museum that has one on the property would consider itself lucky. However, if there is no one interested enough to want to preserve such a machine, then it becomes fair game for deascession. Yes, Mid-Continent could have hung onto the crane for another 25 or more years and the crane would probably have continued to deteriorate until its condition was so hopeless that it was actually only of value as scrap. So, keep it or sell it now to realize its ultimate value today? A hard decision for anyone to make.

That's why we pay the board members so much!

Mineral, WA qualifies as West of the mighty Mississippi, right? Mt Rainier Scenic RR.

You guys only seem interested in the stuff with wheels. :)

I really liked this tower. I'll be interested to see where it goes.

IIRC, Durango uses an engine lathe with a tracer attachment for turning their treads and journals. They do have a vintage quartering machine, I believe imported from South Africa.

I seem to recall that the Grand Canyon and the UP in Cheyenne each have a wheel lathe, though I don't know if either is operable.

I was asked by a friend to inquire as to the disposition of the other five AC&Y boxcars Mid-Continent has. Anyone?

r.i. lines -

The elevated tower also interested me. It is from Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. The Milwaukee Road station there still exists and is now a very nice restaurant. They also have an old heavyweight passenger car which is used for dining. Apart from that, the roofed waiting platform for eastbound trains (and across the former double track from the depot) was very nicely restored by the local historical society. I don't recall any other similar piece of railroad history being so restored. The elevated crossing tower would have been a nice addition to the setting there in Oconomowoc, although I'm not sure if the local folks even knew it was available. I wonder if Mid-Continent might have advised the people in Oconomowoc of its availability? I hope it was at least saved by someone. With a number of things ending up with scrappers, I worry that this too might have suffered the same fate.

Les

If I remember, the crossing shanty went for $400 and it appeared to be a different guy bidding on it than the scrappers.