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 Post subject: Another historic private car to be sold or scrapped.
PostPosted: Sat Aug 13, 2016 8:08 am 

Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2004 11:26 am
Posts: 4642
Location: Maine
All those with deep pockets, please feel free to jump in. The car is partially fire damaged, badly eviscerated, and still has asbestos running through it. She was once a gem (Weren't they all?), but needs a miracle right now. Trucks are excellent, btw. A dedicated museum team could do some serious renovation, but the expense would be huge. Owner doesn't seem to see what's at hand.

http://bangordailynews.com/2016/08/13/l ... residents/

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 Post subject: Re: Another historic private car to be sold or scrapped.
PostPosted: Sat Aug 13, 2016 9:14 am 

Joined: Mon Jun 24, 2013 1:14 pm
Posts: 205
Richard Glueck wrote:
All those with deep pockets, please feel free to jump in. The car is partially fire damaged, badly eviscerated, and still has asbestos running through it. She was once a gem (Weren't they all?), but needs a miracle right now. Trucks are excellent, btw. A dedicated museum team could do some serious renovation, but the expense would be huge. Owner doesn't seem to see what's at hand.

http://bangordailynews.com/2016/08/13/l ... residents/


I am amazed at the current owner's requirements for a sale. The car will be scrapped because of them.

C.


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 Post subject: Re: Another historic private car to be sold or scrapped.
PostPosted: Sat Aug 13, 2016 10:10 am 

Joined: Thu Apr 14, 2005 9:34 pm
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Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
Another story of fool's gold. Think of all the money spent to move this car, the crane lift, etc., only to let it fall apart.

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 Post subject: Re: Another historic private car to be sold or scrapped.
PostPosted: Sat Aug 13, 2016 11:22 am 

Joined: Thu Nov 22, 2007 10:09 am
Posts: 43
Location: New Hampshire
Yes, I had a deal in place to buy the car. Purchase and sale was generated by my attorney and was sent for her signature. She wanted to modify the purchase and sale so that I the purchaser was obligated to restore the car to it's 1926 condition. I was buying the car with plans to restore it to it's DL&W/EL post '53 appearance. She cancelled the deal.

SAA


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 Post subject: Re: Another historic private car to be sold or scrapped.
PostPosted: Sat Aug 13, 2016 11:58 am 

Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 10:50 pm
Posts: 567
How sad to see someone that out of touch with reality. NESCO or Downeast Scenic RR are the most logical groups to become her caretaker which is about all you can ask for at this point. Ms. Bell quite clearly does not understand just how costly it would be to simply even move the car right now, let alone restored to any condition.

Rob Gardner


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 Post subject: Re: Another historic private car to be sold or scrapped.
PostPosted: Sat Aug 13, 2016 4:11 pm 

Joined: Thu Sep 12, 2013 4:31 pm
Posts: 53
Sounds like those murders that say: 'if I can't have her, no one can'

Very sad.

Regards,

Art S.


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 Post subject: Re: Another historic private car to be sold or scrapped.
PostPosted: Sat Aug 13, 2016 5:06 pm 

Joined: Sat Aug 25, 2007 12:45 am
Posts: 1010
A Post-Gazette newspaper article from March 20, 2000, when the car was being moved out of Pittsburgh: Railroad car starts trip from rags back to riches

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 Post subject: Re: Another historic private car to be sold or scrapped.
PostPosted: Sat Aug 13, 2016 5:17 pm 

Joined: Sat Jul 02, 2005 7:16 am
Posts: 1998
Repairs that were were quoted at $250,000 then, are now $500,000 in the other linked article. The dollar just doesn't go as far as it used to.

PC

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 Post subject: Re: Another historic private car to be sold or scrapped.
PostPosted: Sat Aug 13, 2016 5:32 pm 

Joined: Mon Aug 23, 2004 8:10 am
Posts: 2499
Rob Gardner wrote:
How sad to see someone that out of touch with reality. NESCO or Downeast Scenic RR are the most logical groups to become her caretaker which is about all you can ask for at this point. Ms. Bell quite clearly does not understand just how costly it would be to simply even move the car right now, let alone restored to any condition.

Rob Gardner



I don't know, Rob. This car needs a situation where it can either be properly restored or cocooned and tucked away for a later day. There are very few groups with the funding or space to achieve either of those tasks. My bet is either an individual (or group) specifically interested in this car benefits from the owner rethinking her stipulations and making a palatable deal, or it gets parted out.

It's got no provenance that ties it to New England, and I doubt any of the New England preservation groups would want to take on a business car just because it's been located in VT and Maine with nowhere else to go.

It's just my opinion, but I see a very slim chance of anyone wanting this complete car because of its gilded age origins or its connection to politicians. There are people passionate about it because of its use by Perry Shoemaker during his time as president of the DL&W and CNJ. If she gets saved intact, that's the connection that will likely do it. The pre-1953 history is neat, but not wildly differentiating. The post-1953 "Shoemaker configuration" is what people have been passionate about. If the owner can align her vision with that reality, there may be hope. As you read above, had she previously accepted that reality, the car would already be in safe hands.

Had this been offered when it was a still a gem loaded with accoutrements from Shoemaker's day, then it may have had some wild value. Fate stripped that value long ago. It it is now in need of rescue. IMHO it belongs in Scranton, Hoboken or Jersey City fully restored to operation as Perry's car. But that is an expensive proposition which can only be undertaken by a select few dedicated individuals or groups.

Rob

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 Post subject: Re: Another historic private car to be sold or scrapped.
PostPosted: Sat Aug 13, 2016 6:53 pm 
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Joined: Sat Aug 28, 2004 1:15 pm
Posts: 1466
Location: Henderson Nevada
As a 1926 car, at least it is steel, and seems to have updated trucks... It might be a good shell for a lounge car, for a tourist train, but restoration of the interior as a private car would both be expensive, and likely not offer the return on investment, and it likely doesn't have the historic integrity for a museum to take it on, especially considering the cost.

The article suggests the seller is trying charge $40,000, an unrealistic price for a shell.

Randy

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 Post subject: Re: Another historic private car to be sold or scrapped.
PostPosted: Sat Aug 13, 2016 7:20 pm 

Joined: Thu Nov 22, 2007 10:09 am
Posts: 43
Location: New Hampshire
On a few of the notes mentioned above. It's not so much that the dollar does not go as far as it used to. The car has significantly deteriorated over the last few years. There has been another fire inside the car, animals have ravished the interior, and the structure of the car is beginning to be an issue.

Rob hit the nail on the head with his discussion of the car. The real provenance is in the time on the DL&W/EL/CNJ. There are multiple private cars around which were owned by captains of industry or were used by former US presidents. Its anthracite roots are what make the car special.

SixAxleAlco


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 Post subject: Re: Another historic private car to be sold or scrapped.
PostPosted: Sat Aug 13, 2016 9:18 pm 

Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2007 8:31 am
Posts: 366
Location: Morganton, N.C.
Hate to ask but since the Bangor Daily News link is not working I have little choice... which railcar is it that is being discussed?

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 Post subject: Re: Another historic private car to be sold or scrapped.
PostPosted: Sat Aug 13, 2016 10:59 pm 

Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2004 8:51 pm
Posts: 2041
Location: Southern California
jmlaboda wrote:
Hate to ask but since the Bangor Daily News link is not working I have little choice... which railcar is it that is being discussed?
Here is a seller's document that is suppose to tell the history of the car -- it is linked from the newspaper electronic article:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwX4t-nQWwo5eVFTd3A5RmU5QmE4eEQxTXF6emhjQlFJVDc0/view

The DL&W car Pocono 99(?) built for a private owner in 1923 and named Belford 99.

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Last edited by Brian Norden on Sat Aug 13, 2016 11:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Another historic private car to be sold or scrapped.
PostPosted: Sat Aug 13, 2016 11:04 pm 

Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2007 8:31 am
Posts: 366
Location: Morganton, N.C.
Thanks Brian... a real shame...

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 Post subject: Re: Another historic private car to be sold or scrapped.
PostPosted: Wed Dec 28, 2016 10:20 pm 

Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2004 1:51 pm
Posts: 11482
Location: Somewhere east of Prescott, AZ along the old Santa Fe "Prescott & Eastern"
Reports, confirmed by private discussions, state that this car is currently registered as "NS 35" and is being prepped for shipment to Roanoke for conversion work to become part of the Norfolk Southern fleet--possibly a track geometry car.........


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