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 Post subject: "Nobody wants to restore Franco’s train"
PostPosted: Tue Jan 09, 2018 2:26 pm 

Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2004 1:51 pm
Posts: 11481
Location: Somewhere east of Prescott, AZ along the old Santa Fe "Prescott & Eastern"
Lesson: Choose your subjects of preservation carefully.

https://elpais.com/elpais/2018/01/08/in ... 35964.html

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Without power or furniture, tucked away inside an old train station in Soria province, in Spain’s north. That’s where you will find the train Francisco Franco traveled in to Hendaye in the deep southwest of France, for his historic meeting with Adolf Hitler in 1940. The train been waiting more than 30 years to be fully restored and has spent six decades abandoned in a decrepit state as promises of restoration have gone unfulfilled.


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 Post subject: Re: "Nobody wants to restore Franco’s train"
PostPosted: Tue Jan 09, 2018 3:29 pm 

Joined: Thu Jun 17, 2010 9:31 am
Posts: 724
How is this different from any one of a plethora of state-side projects that have sat idle for just as long? She is under cover and stable, eventually someone will come along and light the candle.


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 Post subject: Re: "Nobody wants to restore Franco’s train"
PostPosted: Tue Jan 09, 2018 5:34 pm 

Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2004 1:51 pm
Posts: 11481
Location: Somewhere east of Prescott, AZ along the old Santa Fe "Prescott & Eastern"
Part of the problem here is that Franco's legacy is perhaps on par in the region with all those Confederate statues folks want to rip down around the U.S., or that of a German-American Bund in the immediate aftermath of World War Two.

A "royal carriage" would probably have fared better.


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 Post subject: Re: "Nobody wants to restore Franco’s train"
PostPosted: Tue Jan 09, 2018 10:38 pm 

Joined: Wed Oct 22, 2008 8:18 pm
Posts: 2226
Its like Al Capone's home in Chicago, nobody wants to "museumate" it, tho it exists. You could restore it just as the historical cars of the railroad, but the history behind their legacy may not enthuse a lot.


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 Post subject: Re: "Nobody wants to restore Franco’s train"
PostPosted: Thu Jan 11, 2018 12:53 pm 

Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 10:52 pm
Posts: 914
Hi,

This reminds me of the PRR GG1 argument about GG1 that ran through the bumper in Union Station D.C. just before a major event in the 1950s (presidential inaguration I think). It fell through the the floor into the baggage room and a temporary floor was built over it to hide it from visitors.

After the event, it was cut up into several pieces and hauled to Altoona for repairs. It was one of the last 13 surviving GG1s and exists today.

Putting it on display and noting the infamous wreck as Washington DC is clearly not a good idea for Amtrak.

Doug vV


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 Post subject: Re: "Nobody wants to restore Franco’s train"
PostPosted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 9:38 am 

Joined: Mon Mar 20, 2017 5:26 pm
Posts: 612
Location: Pure Michigan
Dougvv wrote:
After the event, it was cut up into several pieces and hauled to Altoona for repairs. It was one of the last 13 surviving GG1s and exists today.

Putting it on display and noting the infamous wreck as Washington DC is clearly not a good idea for Amtrak.


Isn't it mainly because it does not fit with the B&O Railroad Museum's collection?


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 Post subject: Re: "Nobody wants to restore Franco’s train"
PostPosted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 1:53 pm 

Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2004 1:51 pm
Posts: 11481
Location: Somewhere east of Prescott, AZ along the old Santa Fe "Prescott & Eastern"
NS 3322 wrote:
Dougvv wrote:
After the event, it was cut up into several pieces and hauled to Altoona for repairs. It was one of the last 13 surviving GG1s and exists today.

Putting it on display and noting the infamous wreck as Washington DC is clearly not a good idea for Amtrak.


Isn't it mainly because it does not fit with the B&O Railroad Museum's collection?


Correct. The B&O Museum's current mission statement seems to be "if it's not B&O or related, it's not railroading." The B&O Museum HAD a GG1, 4890, purchased for it and donated by a local rail historian. The Museum later "de-accessioned" it, and it's now at the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay where it occupies a place of honor under cover, alongside a Big Boy. They also disposed of a South Shore electric commuter coach and "Little Joe" electric for the same reasons.

As discussed ad nauseum over the years here, anyone deluded enough to think the 4876 would ever be allowed to be displayed in or near Washington Union Terminal as long as WUT is used as a rail passenger terminal needs a good smack upside the head or the verbal equivalent. At this stage in the game, about the only hope for 4876 for display would be at Bowie, northeast of Washington and the site of a rail museum, but the massive logistics of getting it there over two currently-inhospitable railroads are far too daunting--so far.


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 Post subject: Re: "Nobody wants to restore Franco’s train"
PostPosted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 3:12 pm 

Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2004 2:46 pm
Posts: 645
Location: St. Louis, MO
GG1 4876 was actually cut into hundreds if not more pieces to remove it from the basement baggage room of the station. Get the whole story in Railroad History #216, the journal of the R&LHS. Go to rlhs.org to order your copy. It also covers who paid for the wreck and its aftermath.

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 Post subject: Re: "Nobody wants to restore Franco’s train"
PostPosted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 3:49 pm 

Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2010 8:21 pm
Posts: 534
Location: Danbury, CT
I’m not surprised. It’s a part of history that is looked upon with much shame. Example: I was a crew member of the US Coast Guard’s training ship Eagle. She was built for the German navy in 1936 and was named Horst Wessel, in honor of a “brown shirt” nazi who was considered a maytr. He also wrote part of their anthem. In actuality, the man was shot by a communist while fighting over the hand of his prostitute girlfriend. What a hero. Anyways, she served the navy as a training vessel through the end of the war when she was finally taken as a war prize by the USCG in 1946. Now, Hitler himself was present at the christening and launch. He also walked the decks on a visit underway. We have photos of him aboard. He actually became seasick and had to lay down below in a cabin that to this day, retains the very berth he rested in. In 2005, we pulled into Bremerhaven for the first time since the ship had been taken in 1946. We were made to feel very welcome there and had a great time. The German navy assigned us a liaison officer for our visit. He was amazed that we not only kept photos, the original name boards, builder’s plaque, etc, but we actually display them within the ship. We didn’t think much more of it than an acknowledgement of the ship’s history. When asked why he was so surprised, he told us that they don’t utter the name Horst Wessel, nor do they keep reminders of that time. He went on to say that there would be no signs of her prior history if she was still a German naval vessel.

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