All,

I am not sure if this has been discussed in a thread here or not. With the passing of Jerry Joe Jacobson is The Age of Steam Roundhouse going to continue it mission and who is going to become the CEO and be retained as Employees or as Volunteers to maintain all the railway Equipment? Just curious ..

Mr. Starr

The quick, dirty, and vague answer:

JJJ was no dummy.

Numerous reports over the years have noted that he had arranged for a substantial endowment to keep the Roundhouse functioning and intact into the distant future. This, of course, is no guarantee of anything--there have been instances in the past of corrupt administrators swindling and plundering such endowments elsewhere in the non-profit world.

The more pertinent question is whether or not the Roundhouse will soon, or ever, end up functioning as a proper museum open to the public rather than just a warehouse for what is essentially a rich man's "toy collection." I philosophically have no problem with such a collection remaining private as long as the collector is alive and a sitting duck for lawsuits and litigation--think car collectors like Rowan Atkinson and Jay Leno--but once the "attractive target" for personal litigation has passed on, it behooves the selected administrators to undertake the best future for said artifacts--as an intact collection or something else.

Jay Leno operates one of the best private auto collections about, in part because as a private owner he can pick up a set of keys and drive whatever car or motorcycle he feels like driving that day--something the public just can't be allowed to do. But it's still none of our business if he opens a museum, sells them all off and gives the money to charity or spoils his kids or buys expensive wine, or holds the biggest demolition derby in history. Unless he or his administrators seek tax-exempt status for the result, mind you.

I'm confident that at the appropriate time John Corns will let everyone know what the AOS game plan is for the future. I'm absolutely confident that Jerry structured the AOS Foundation such that it is both well funded and organized well for its future governance.

We're very fortunate that Jerry was far sighted and willing to devote a substantial portion of his wealth to the long term preservation and celebration of steam....something he loved a lot.

IMHO-Ross Rowland

John Corns delivered the talk during the visitation I enjoyed. He mentioned that the roundhouse was protected for an indefinite future, and that they were involved in trying to acquire several more steam locomotives for the collection. John is no fool either, and a great deal of investigation goes into every bid AOS makes on a locomotive, particularly to bring scrappers into the bright light of day.
JJJ also made the provision that after his passing, the BOD's of AOS could make a decision regarding opening the collection to visitors. The way I took it, this meant a policy of discrete days for supervised viewing, while the staff continues its mission of preserving and rebuilding steam locomotives.
It's to be an ongoing process.

I've had several discussions with people about this collection ever since the project was well underway and there's an underlying trend among all of them:
I just don't get it.
-Here is a massive collection, with a roundhouse that clearly matches the, "what I'd do if I won the lottery" discussions train fans have.
-It's not connected to any active line where the locomotives can be run.
-It's not a museum open to the public.
-There will be no train rides on the property.
-The locomotives will be restored one at a time.
The confusing part for most people is, for what purpose? I assume Jacobsen knew he wouldn't be around for much longer due to his illness (which explains the pace for construction) but I still don't get the end goal here.
It's like a massive airplane hangar filled with rare WW2 warbirds, but not a museum and not open to the public (but wait, sometimes it is if you ask with a group), for airplanes being restored to flying condition but not connected to any runway to actually fly them.
I just don't get it and I know I'm hardly alone. All the explanations of this collection just mention the efforts to maintain in the long run, and never to adequately explain the overlying purpose of all this effort.
I think it's great he did this, but I still don't get what the purpose was/is other than a rich man's dream?

Lee,

See Also:

Palace of Music

http://www.sanfilippofoundation.org/

Wesley

Lee Bishop:

It is about preservation.

It is about restoration.

It is about a permanent institution.

It is about the future; beyond our time.

Do you get it now?

Like those old ladies that leave their fortunes to their dogs...

Found this on the AOS website. It explains a little of why they do things the way they do. If anybody wants to give them $4 million they might turn it into a museum. Some of the buildings at SRM were built the way they are or modified because of regulations. It was either that or spend a lot more money for compliance.

Pre-arranged group tours at the Age of Steam Roundhouse were popular on summer Saturdays during 2016

For the fourth year in a row our pre-arranged roundhouse tours were popular with various groups that wanted to visit, see and photograph the inside of our back shop repair facility and 18-stall roundhouse with its collection of 18 steam locomotives. Because AoSRH was never intended to be a museum or an amusement park open to the public, various fire code ordinances, insurance rules and government regulations stipulate that we are not permitted to allow visitors to just wander around the property on their own. For safety, visitors must be in escorted groups. Since we cannot stop working during the week to shut down the machine tools and rope-off work areas for visitation, we provide group tours only on some summer Saturdays when shop employees and trained volunteers are willing to give up their day off to come back to work and escort groups of 40 or more people on guided tours. Because we keep open the roundhouse’s and shop’s huge doors to provide exits in the event of an emergency, guided tours are offered only during May through October when the weather is warm. (We heat the roundhouse’s interior to reduce moisture and rusting during the cold winter months, and will not open those doors to serve as emergency exits because all the heat will escape.) We’re not a Disneyland-type of attraction, so we do not admit children under the age of 10, and all visitors must sign a liability release. Compliance with all regulations to provide full, open access would cost us $4 million in modifications, so group tours are the best that we can do for now. For information and to schedule summertime Saturday group tours, contact the Age of Steam Roundhouse at: http://www.ageofsteamroundhouse.com/ind ... contact-us.

Apparently Jerry was rich, but it doesn't mean he had endless amounts of money. Spend a few thousand on a conveyor or $1-2 million on a coaling tower???

Akron, Canton & Youngstown Railroad sanding tower

Mentioned in the Summer 2016 Roundhouse Report was our acquisition and rebuilding of a retired sanding tower from the Akron, Canton & Youngstown engine facility in Akron, Ohio. This tower was sand-blasted and painted, and had missing parts fabricated and applied. During July 2016 it was completed and set up between our Ash Pit Track and Turntable Lead. Directly across the track from the tower we began construction on an all-new sand house and sand storage area, which will be completed this year. A conveyor belt will be installed to load coal into loco tenders; at $1M and $2M, respectively, wooden or concrete coaling towers would be too expensive.

AOS needs one of those Fairbanks Morse Automatic Coaling Stations:



Any of those still around? I know there was one up someplace around Escanaba years ago, but I don't know if it survives.

Dennis -

Nice, but still a lot of concrete. I have seen photos of a coal dock called Red Dog or Red something; I think it was on the D&RGW. Strictly a steel thing but 100% authentic. Not sure if the company that offered it is still around, but probably could be replicated. And could be done for a LOT less money.


Les

Red Devil coal conveyor

G. W. Laepple -

Thanks. That sounds like the name. Here is a photo I found on the internet:

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=4767105

The date on the photo shows 2014, but I believe that this is the date when it was posted and that the shot shows original D&RGW. Not sure when the photo was actually taken. A pretty simple system. And authentic steam era.


Les

I can't find an online photo, but somewhere--I think it was from the 1940 Locomotive Cyclopedia--I seem to recall seeing a photo of a similar, if even more rudimentary, coaling station, using a pit and conveyor. This was on the Erie, and the facility had a coal conveyor set up to roll radially into position to load tenders, using large steel wheels such as seen on a more portable version of the conveyor. The engine in the photo was one of Erie's 2-8-4s, I think, and the facility also incorporated a sanding tower and penstock.