I was recomended the above reading by an older volunteer. I recall him saying it was by J. David Conrad and published by the Illinois Railway Museum sometime in the 1970's.

I'm hoping one of you might be in possesion of a copy and willing to send a scanned pdf version to me, or, if you know of a website that has a copy on it, that'd be just as well. Another thread here on rypn said that it was marked "No rights reserved, reproduce at will."

It's available on Amazon but I'd like to avoid paying $30 for a 12 page booklet if I can.

Thanks for any help.

Send me a PM that has your email address and I will send you a PDF of the publication.

Any one else interested? Same offer.

Association of Railway Museums got permission to reprint this about 30 years ago. A couple of years ago I easily found my copy of the original printing but not of ARM's. So I made a scan of the original -- all the information is the same.

While useful, it certainly isn't worth $20! My copy is here---somewhere. Most of the information is common sense, and some of it is woefully outdated. We have newer materials available to us, like Lexan for lens and window replacement (that is nearly bullet-proof). It is a good starting position though!

Agree with you. However, some people need help along the way because their common sense is not tuned into dealing with park locomotives.

What may be common sense to us who have been around railroad preservation for years, if not decades, is new think to others. Think of the person who takes on preserving some kind of large out-door object for the first time.

There are people who strip the paint off of a caboose or a horse-drawn carriage and then go asking how they should paint, line or letter the object. They had no idea that they should make a study of these things while preparing for the new paint.

Good points Brian; note I did say it was a good beginning point. Back in the late 70s it provided me with a document to reference to when I was working to convince the Dunsmuir City Council to do some improvements to the display of SP 1727.
And yes, those of us who have been in preservation do forget that stuff we think is common knowledge, isn't!
Common Sense is misnamed nowadays! :)

A few of us should team up and create a series of youtube videos about " The Care and Maintenance of Historic Railroad Equipment" that goes over the basics of how to maintain equipment on static display. Basically J. David's book turned to video. Many people go to youtube for "how to" videos these days so it would reach a wide audience.

A book is great but print is largely dead as the go to medium for spreading information.

Ouch!! How about a book/video on "Ancient Preservationists (Their Care and Maintenance)?" :)
But, yes, online media is now the "go to" place for the new generations.
One update that would be important is "The Security of a Displayed Locomotive;" recently many displayed engines have become victims of "souvenir hunters" and metal thieves (and some speculate spare parts "acquisitions").

The text of J. David's work used to be on the web somewhere, but the link I had saved is now broken, so I assume it's no longer posted. One of the problems is because of its age, the section on dealing with removal of lagging is seriously out of date. With the current regulatory climate, the only safe course is to replace the whole chapter with the statement, "Consult a licensed asbestos removal contractor." There could be some useful advice about preparing the engine for the contractor, but any advice the updated book could give comes with a healthy dose of liability if following the instructions results in the release of hazardous material into the environment.

I will say that having J. David's book was useful to me in at least one instance; I had contacted a local fan in Marshfield Wisconsin about taking photos of the Soo Line 2-8-0 in the park there, which he did. He also was appalled at the deplorable condition of the engine, and asked what could be done. I sent him my copy of the pamphlet, which he used as "expert material" to brow beat the city parks commission into letting him work on the engine. Since that time the engine has been stripped, and the city paid to erect a pole shelter over it; Keith recently coordinated with the local historical society to fund replacement of the deteriorated cab sides, and the engine is getting a fresh coat of paint, and lettering next year. It's just a shame the engine wasn't stripped before the top of the boiler received a massive amount of rust pitting.

Years ago when I was the webmaster for a rail preservation group, I made an online version of this. I just searched the web archive and it is still there, missing some images.

https://web.archive.org/web/20080517150051/http://members.aol.com/belpaire/steamcm.htm

In the forward of the book it states "No rights reserved, reproduce at will.". So I believe this is all on the up and up.

If anyone wants to host this on a live website, I have the missing images.

Greetings:
I am pleased that some folks actually found the pamphlet useful.
I wrote it after a trip from Chicago to Denver and back via about every display locomotive I knew of and deciding that someone ought to give the owners of these locomotives a quick guide to "Their Care and Maintenance".
IRM's General Manager, Julie Johnson, printed it at cost.
It was sent out under the auspices of IRM to lend it a bit of "gravitas".
I sent it out free to every entity that I knew of with a steam locomotive (note: I have yet to receive my first check from those illegitimates at Amazon).
It was simplistic by design, and Dennis is quite correct, these days, the less said about that white stuff (we use to make mud balls out of it to throw at each other) the better!
J.David

Maybe I'm a bit optimistic, but I think some of the points in Dave's original pamphlet (at least regarding care for bearings and whatnot) might be applicable to more than just steam locomotives... And with changes in attitudes towards asbestos, maybe it might be time to make an updated version with some of those philosophies in mind.

While the subject is broached, we don't deal with the A word around here--it's just; "Non-Conforming Fibrous Insulating Material."
Now if you want to get people really upset, tell them the boiler was used to transform Dihydrogen Oxide from it's liquid state to its gaseous state. . .

I would be glad to do so, especially if Dave would care to give me some guidance on what he wants updated. It's been years since I've seen a copy, but it seems to me the link Mr. Hahn posted is incomplete, I thought there was more to it.

From our FAQs:

Brian, I sent you a PM. Thanks.