A.W.F. -

Might we hope he was from Oconomowoc?


Les

Thank you for the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey would say. I can definitely understand why having a crane that is more relevant for your collection would make a large difference in the choice to dispose of this one. I was not aware you had a third crane that was not sold.

First off, thanks to those posting about the wheel lathes. I'm always glad to learn more. Hopefully bringing those to mind will benefit everyone looking for and providing those services.

On the Oconomowoc tower, there was a fellow from O-c I spoke with who had great interest to bring it back, if not for the city, at least for himself. In all that went on I didn't see who won the bid nor did I talk to the fellow face to face. As a side note, the tower still has the control panel for the crossing gates in it and that is why it has been saved to this point. When the Kettle Moraine closed down I spotted the panel & wanted it but was told I'd have to take the tower to get it. If it was not taken, the tower was scheduled to meet a match within a week or so. A group of us got together and brought it to MCRM but the project didn't proceed much further. I do hope it is heading back to O-c.

We sold only 1 of the AC&Y's, the others aren't going anywhere in the foreseeable future. We, in the museum world, are such wonderful packrats that there was so much "stuff" in all the boxcars we could only manage to empty one.


This is in reference to cranes vs coaches and is quite a valid question. I can't offer an answer but only restate the reality of $4.5K for the Mopac and $27.2K for the Mt. Harvard.
mld

Regarding the Oconomowoc shanty, it is unlikely that a scrapper would be interested in a wooden building, even if it contained the interlocking machine. At the price of scrap the machine would have to weigh a lot to be at all interesting.

hamster -

Wooden building yes, but note that "framework included". These support beams obviously steel. Plus other miscellaneous metal.

Les

I can tell you that the steel parts of that shanty don't come close to $400 worth at today's scrap prices.

hamster -

Great! Then we can be assured that it wasn't a scrapper that made the purchase. Hopefully the buyer will find a good home for it where it can be restored.

Les

All,

Rest assured, the tower in question (panel/supports and all) is in safe hands and will be reborn. If the O/C people were in attendance bidding, they must not have wanted it that bad. $400 was a steal.

Looking forward to seeing it restored.

I have tried multiple times to weigh in on the subject of this auction, but kept having to delete it as it was coming out pretty negative. While I don't apologize one bit for feeling the way I do I also did not want to start something so negative that it got the thread locked. Hamster and Pete are members who are active and contribute a lot to MC. Have known Pete for a while and while we disagree often in perspective I have a great amount of respect for him. Same for "Hamster". Just want to clarify this. I would not have a problem sitting down for supper and a beer with either of these guys.

I don't think very many people do not recognize the need to downsize the collection. So my thoughts do not include that part of the "justification answers". I was told before the auction the decision to get rid of the wrecker was made years ago. I say so what! That in itself is not an answer nor does it make it right. Not arguing, just stating in my opinion that answer does not hold water. True the SOO wrecker fits the mission statement better. But she is never going to run and is simply a display pc. A very nice one at that I like that crane too. But the MOPAC was very near operational condition as it had operated within the last 10-12 years or so. She had a good boiler, was in mechanically very good shape coming from every operator I knew. Yes she was not totally ready for display but she also wasn't that far away from being displayable. So fine she still goes but I can't see when all is weighed how keeping a rusty hulk is better than keeping the better crane. So much for the decision to get rid of it. My disgust is not in the choice to get rid of the cranes as much as how the disposal was executed.

We sold railroad rolling stock {locomotives, cranes and cars} at a farm auction with 4 month window. When is the last time you saw Ozark sell a 100 ton steam locomotive for $10,000. I am happy the big pcs went to the new owners and good for them for being smart enough to capitalize on fire sale prices. Bravo for them. We needed to down size, make track space and raise money for restoration. While we are not in business to make huge profits selling our equipment. I think the rolling stock could of and should of been handled differently. The proceeds going back into the kitty.

To give the RR community 4 months to come up with funding to buy and move locomotives and cranes is a pretty short window. The equipment cost us nothing to sit on for another year or two before it was actually sold. Who knows maybe after a two year wait none of the cranes would of sold and they would of been scrapped anyway? Or put a minimum bid to help save them from scrap. Offer to membership with stipulation similar to owning any other pc of equipment, must be kept painted? But at least we could say we tried to find them a home before cutting them up. A four month heads up or we scrap to me is an embarrassment for us as an organization in my book.

Sorry no "rah rah rah look at us go" from me. While much of the auction was successful I am not impressed the way the auction was handled as far as scrapping 3 cranes without a better approach to finding them a new home and time to allow new owners to come up with a plan on how to do it. If after two years no luck, then and only then allow scrapping. And then be smart enough to take the "jewelry" off and sell at the next auction. There were concerns made before the auction and it did not have to happen this way, some alternatives to scrapping could of been implemented. We could of at least tried to find a new owner rather than scrapping. To shrug our shoulders and say next time we will do better is a little lame in my opinion.

It is done with I can move on, but in no way, form or fashion can I pretend to be impressed by this auction and the scrapping of the cranes without an honest and practical attempt to find new owners for the rolling stock. My heartiest congrats to the non scrap dealers who won their desired artifacts. Carry on. Regards, John.

Mr. Risley raises an interesting point regarding deaccessioning practice. Given that this type of activity will become more common as museums hone the focus of their mission statements and evaluate their collections through the lens of their mission statements and their economic situation, the methodology of deaccessioning, especially with regards to notice to the rail preservation marketplace, should be explored.

When the National Park Service held their first auction of approximately 30 ex-Steamtown USA pieces of historic equipment on October 29, 1988, my belief is that the notice was the standard 90-day announcement in the Federal Register. Inspection was limited to the day before. I'd appreciate it if someone with better or more first-hand knowledge could clarify and/or confirm.

With these two larger auctions as a starting point, it could be useful to look at other more extensive deaccessioning transactions to explore some basics such as:

1. Prior to pursuing the auction method, what other method or methods could or should be explored?
2. Once the auction method is chosen, how much notice is necessary to give interested parties the time to raise funds for purchase and transportation? If not ninety days or four months, is six months or a year enough time?
3. What sort of inspection timeline is appropriate?

Here are the Recommended Practices for deaccessioning items from a museum collection. Italics added for emphasis.

http://www.atrrm.org/images/Recommended_Practices.pdf



Wesley

This is kind of on topic as Mid-Continent is also auctioning off some O. Winston Link pictures that have been signed by the photographer. Two of the pictures had a minimum bid of $1000 and received zero bids, now the third picture (the more popular of them) is up for sale with a minimum bid of $2000. I suspect that a lower minimum bid, even if the reserve was kept higher, would encourage people to actually bid. Either way I wish them luck on their fundraising efforts.

These prints were NOT part of the Mid-Continent auction. They were donations made by their owner specifically to help fund the restoration of C&NW 1385. The minimum values are what were estimated by the donor.

Here is the dope on the three cranes sold for scrap.

Industrial Works C/N 2927 120 tons Wrecker Steam 1914
St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern #Z-8
Missouri Pacific RR #X-105 1928
M-CRHS 1967
http://www.midcontinent.org/collectn/se ... px105.html
sold for scrap 05-02-15 $4500
Orton & Steinbrenner C/N 44770 18 tons Steam
City of Minneapolis, MN
Soo Lines #X-81 1929 (retired at North Fond du Lac, WI 01-01-84)
M-CRHS 05-84
http://www.midcontinent.org/collectn/se ... oox81.html
sold for scrap 05-02-15
American C/N 2567 25 tons Diesel Electric 05-50
Keystone Steel & Wire Co. Peoria, IL
Wisconsin Central RR #9402
MCRH 2002
Wisconsin Southern RR (leased) Bridgeport, WI
http://www.northeast.railfan.net/images/wc9402.jpg
sold for scrap 05-02-15 $2500

When an item is deaccessioned from a collection, that does not mean that the object relinquishes its historic value. It still has historic value, just not to THAT institution. Therefore, just auctioning off the artifact without exhausting every other option is willful negligence in my opinion.

For that American crane, if Mid Continent had offered it for sale to a qualified nonprofit for $2,500, it would have been snapped up in a heartbeat. They would receive just as much money as they got from the auction, the artifact would have been saved to live another day, and the museum would not now have this current mini controversy surrounding it. American cranes such as that one are still used in industry, are supported with parts by Ohio Crane, and would be immensely useful for any museum or tourist railroad that does trackwork.