The Metra incident.

robertmacdowell · **Posted:** Fri Jul 01, 2011 5:00 pm

JohnCloos wrote:

In the same vein, I don't beleive the Brookins/Trolleyville collection belongs on this list either.

The Trolleyville operation was a very well run and sustained operation for many years, on private property, following the sale of the property, the collection was moved to downtown Cleveland for the future opening of a museum/operation on the lakefront. That never materialized in large part due to the economic realities of the last decade, and the collection was parted out to a number of very responsible museum groups.

The parting out of the collection was truly something of a model for deaccession and cooperation for the future.

I regard that as a case of "getting lucky". The right minds happened to be in the right places. The LSERy was realistic about their eviction notice... the city was realistic about timeline... they had the incredible foresight of allowing Bill Wall to do something that would offend any normal auctioneer: get the buyers together and rig the auction... and then, all *those* personalities worked together. But I recall it was touch and go for awhile. I agree it's a model. I don't agree it's a standard until the groundwork is laid to assure the pattern repeats.

I developed that list pretty fast, and I probably mis-picked a few. However to those asking exclusion on the grounds that their storage situation turned out OK in the end, I say this: You can't control the dice, so can't take credit for the win. You can only admit culpability for the gamble. Ask any casino: The law of averages applies. And the law of averages is hell on equipment.

One more for the mill:
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=31646 Uniontown trolley

artschwartz · **Posted:** Fri Jul 01, 2011 6:10 pm

More food for thought:

I have heard from a reliable source that 1/4 of the Trolleyville collection would not have been sold except for Bill Wall's arm twisting to get a bid on every piece as part of the consortium. PCC's, rapid transit cars, a caboose and surprisingly, one of the CA&E cars.

The Uniontown situation is different in that the museums who are dealing with the heirs are generally more interested in parts, rather than complete cars.