But in the case of a railroad car, which has had parts replaced many times in its service life, what is original?

I've heard from sources that I respect that wooden boxcars were sometimes re-sided every five years. (and people wonder where all our old-growth forests have gone, but I digress...). So how does one know that the siding (or flooring) currently on the car is original?

A real-world example: WRM just received a wooden boxcar (built in 1918). Its brakes had been converted in 1947 from K-brakes to AB brakes. Is a change back to K-brakes removing "original fabric"? It depends on one's point of view -- original to the car as built, or original when WRM received it?

And, of course, changing back to K-brakes would obviously not use the very same K-brake system which had been removed from the car. Does that matter?

In any case, documentation of what is done (and why) is essential.

National Register standards were written for historic buildings, which don't consume themselves rapidly in the course of daily use and are not customarily subject to periodic replacement of fabric with new fabric in their operating life cycle as a matter of course.

Most buildings were made for life cycles of longer than the 30 years a wood framed boxcar was expected to last, and no boxcar would last that long in service unless a lot of fabric was replaced on a regular basis.

I've never liked the imposition of a standard based on different circumstances being used as a yardstick for other work such as we do - but it is what the academic curatorial historians are accustomed to, and we haven't developed a better real-world based set of standards of our own and had it adopted.

For most of us, "original" is pretty much "as-received" or "as-is". Backdating is possible, but only by making usually irreversable changes in fabric in the process, unless we are just repainting into an earlier livery. Paint doesn't live long outdoors, so it itself is subject to frequent replacement.

So, I suppose I'm wondering why you chose to make those standards important in terms of this application, rather than developing a set more appropriate for your purpose?

dave

Dave wrote:

" So, I suppose I'm wondering why you chose to make those standards important in terms of this application, rather than developing a set more appropriate for your purpose?"

Like I mentioned in the newest post, we haven't decided one way or the other. The historic registry information was just another input we sought as we DO develop what we feel is an appropriate standard.

Thanks again to everone for their comments and suggestions!

Matt

Regards to all,

Hey, no need to bash those academic types! :-) I have experience with national register standards as archaeological sites come under the same section 106 process as historic structures. I would second someone else's point that these standards are mostly appropriate for buildings and often need to be tweaked for use on sites, structures, etc. The question I have is under what criterion would the car even be eligible in its current state? Assuming the car is eligible for nomination, you also have to ask what this designation achieves for your organization and the car. Basically, eligibility for the national register provides NO additional protection unless federal funds were supporting a project which would negatively impact the artifact. I find this to be an unlikely scenario. American Museum Association guidelines do not require national register nomination or evaluation in cases such as this. At base, if maintaining the integrity of the artifact is paramount, there is no need to do anything but stabilize the car and interpret it as such. Here are some helpful definitions used as part of the Secretary's Standards for Historic Preservation (what the 106 process is based on).

From http://archnet.asu.edu/Topical/CRM/usdocs/36cfr68.html

<<<<<

(a) Preservation means the act or process of applying measures necessary to sustain the existing form, integrity, and materials of an historic property. Work, including preliminary measures to protect and stabilize the property, generally focuses upon the ongoing maintenance and repair of historic materials and features rather than extensive replacement and new construction. New exterior additions are not within the scope of this treatment; however, the limited and sensitive upgrading of mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems and other code-required work to make properties functional is appropriate within a preservation project.

(b) Rehabilitation means the act or process of making possible an efficient compatible use for a property through repair, alterations, and additions while preserving those portions or features which convey its historical, cultural, or architectural values.

(c) Restoration means the act or process of accurately depicting the form, features, and character of a property as it appeared at a particular period of time by means of the removal of features from other periods in its history and reconstruction of missing features from the restoration period. The limited and sensitive upgrading of mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems and other code-required work to make properties functional is appropriate within a restoration project.

(d) Reconstruction means the act of process of depicting, by means of new construction, the form, features, and detailing of a non-surviving site, landscape, building, structure, or object for the purpose of replicating its appearance at a specific period of time and in its historic location.

<<<<<

If national register eligibility is important to your organization, be sure that your work falls within the guidelines found at this site. It is very easy to undertake a project without a clear goal and yield a result which is less than satisfying in terms of historic preservation. In addition, here is a link to some information for those interested on the 106 process.

http://www.achp.gov/work106.html

I hope this is of some help,

Best,

Stathi

Interestingly, Steamtown classifies all of its railroad rolling stock as "structures", which of course they are in a very real sense.