Yes, some equipment has been moving. The moving process is mostly continuous.

As is the scrapping.

Per the Indy Star:

"The museum has already found a new home in Logansport but wants to move seven locomotives, 18 box cars and 20 passenger cars worth about $4 million. McNichols said it would cost $1.5 million to move the equipment by truck but much less by rail."

https://www.indystar.com/story/news/201 ... 746477002/

Regarding the cars on the siding, saw this on a railroad local board:

"One option might be to scrap the stuff sitting on a former customers siding north of the lake and put anything that ITM wants to keep there. (The former customer is an ITM ally)

The line has a new operator, so perhaps ITM could get the new operator to help them out with this.

This would get ITM out of Forest Park and give them time."

What has been scrapped so far?

I am hoping the Baldwin switcher makes it out along with the Milw F B and A unit. I can't see scrapping the A-tank since there are so few water tenders available and high demand for them.

What condition is the water tender in and how important is it to ITM? Is it something they would consider scrapping?

Robert

Good afternoon folks,

I wanted to thank everyone who answered my question.



Thank you for that information.



Kelly,

There is an online blog which has been reporting on the scrapping of the interurban/electric cars that were in the collection. To date, no steam-era equipment has been reported scrapped (yet). Lots of conflicting reports on the net as well.


Do you know of anyone at ITM who could give a brief "official statement" regarding which pieces of equipment are in immediate danger, and which pieces are safe?


Additional equipment might be able to make it out intact if people knew what is in the immediate danger zone. To have everyone calling into ITM in a willy-nilly fashion trying to get information about specific pieces only ties up ITM resources. It only takes a few minutes to put out one report that outlines what is going and what is likely going to be left behind if no one steps up.

ITM might be surprised by those who could step up to help if those potential saviors only knew about what was in immediate danger. Trying to privately reach out to a handful of parties is fine if you have a relatively small collection, but the shear size of the ITM collection, combined with the really tight deadlines and the uncertain legal issues, means information needs to travel further / faster further then just what a few select people "in the know" can reasonably do.

It appears that everything currently moving is / was located in Nobelsville. It would truly be helpful if someone could get out some official information.

This one?: https://pnaerc.blogspot.com/search/labe ... n%20Museum

Eric,

See your PMs. Their assets manager has been very responsive and is in a difficult situation to be sure. It is hard to save a museum and start a new operation at the same time.

There have been a few saviors swooping in to save equipment - I'm sure in due time they'll announce what they've got and what their plans are - but there are lots of cars on the chopping block and an ever decreasing window to get them out before the deadline.

The challenge for our team has been to a) get quotes for moving equipment b) trying to get the agreement regarding privately owned equipment to be documented in writing by the city before money gets thrown down. While we think we make do until the eviction date with the former, there's a risk in putting money down on stuff that may ultimately be seized.

Right now the plan seems to be to assembly line whatever equipment is most valuable or has been purchased by other parties out of there with a local transportation provider leaving their cranes set up.

Does ITM already have a site picked out in Kokomo or Logansport?

Yes, about ten acres. Equipment has been inbound there already.

Those who can not learn history are doomed to repeat it! It seems we are going down the same road Richard Jensen did when both CB&Q, O5B, 4-8-4, #5632 and Grand Trunk Western Pacific #5629 were both cut up for scrap in the 80's. The later was due to a eviction from railroad property very similar to what is happening to the ITM. http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPictur ... id=1603161

This whole fiasco is beyond belief. This museum has valuable assets. Blue carded passenger cars bring in big money. It would be pretty hard to buy one under 200K. Stainless steel ones bring in even more. The fact that this clown who is running this place has done little or nothing to bring in funds for this move is beyond comprehension.

I have worked previously in two scrap yards. Both of them scrapped locomotives and cars from time to time. Believe me when I say that if you think you are going to make money scrapping this collection you are very wrong. The majority of the time (especially with locomotives) not only did we not pay for them. But we charged the customer to cut them up simply to get rid of them. I later confirmed this practice at another yard called Becker iron and steel near St Louis (one of the few scrap yards that scraps locomotives). He confirmed this and told me "they take the engine, generator, and traction motors. We get everything else". If scrap prices are high they may give them a little money for it. But the majority of the time they get these locomotives at no charge and if scrap prices are low they charge them for disposal.

Scrap prices are at record lows right now. The scrap would all fall under "unprepared torchables" (which is the lowest paid scrap) you would be lucky to get 25% of the current rate. Last time I checked it was around 110.00 a ton for prepared shredder scrap. Add to the fact you have a crew, machinery, gas, trucks, etc from the scrap yard. I would say at the bare minimum you would need a four man crew (truck driver, two burners, and crawler operator). I would estimate this would take at least the rest of the year to finish if not longer.

All this equipment has far more value than scrap metal. Even totally gutted, never to run equipment has places in other museums, art projects, restaurant themes, amusement park displays,etc. That Steeplecab electric that was scrapped was tragic and uncalled for.

I can only hope that the Sheriff after he takes control over this collection. Has a big auction where companies can buy this collection for pennies on the dollar and thus keep it safe.

[quote="Tom F"]

"Scrap prices are at record lows right now. The scrap would all fall under "unprepared torchables" (which is the lowest paid scrap) you would be lucky to get 25% of the current rate. Last time I checked it was around 110.00 a ton for prepared shredder scrap. "

Scrap prices are NOT at a record low. Back in the early 1980's I scrapped a number of railroad box cars and received $105 per gross ton delivered to a steel mill, the yard was around $45. per ton less. I can currently get {and this was a quote received yesterday},
$290 a ton for steel mill ready heavy melt. This is from a railroad locomotive.

Shredder scrap is $170 or more, depending on what you have and the amount.

Quote: " That Steeplecab electric that was scrapped was tragic and uncalled for."

There was a party that advised the ITM on that steeplecab and was rebuffed. It was in sad shape, but the set of trucks had value. The scrapper was ask to set the truck aside, but would not.

The party scrapping the ITM equipment has NO idea as per the value of parts, but they are also under a deadline to get this done.

The true value in scrapping, say a locomotive, is in it's parts. Same way with a passenger car, trucks have a value greater than scrap. But you have to get people to move on this equipment and most are only sitting back and complaining.

I do not agree with the move of 587 to Kentucky or the sale of their tool car. Thing is, they had someone who stepped forward and are moving that equipment. This afternoon, there were 2 semi trailer rigs at ITM loading 587 parts.

If, the ITM does have 10 acres in Logansport, then why could it have not gone there? Cost a lot more money to take it to Kentucky and then you will have to bring it back, costing more money.

Reliable people on Facebook are reporting that Milwaukee Road SW-1 1613 (restored, not derelict) was scrapped today along with ITM's Porter 0-4-0 fireless.

Well that is kinda shocking and unexpected. Never thought that unit would bite the dust.

AlcoC420

You are obviously quoting what a steel mill would pay you if you owned a scrap yard and you had a rail car full of processed scrap ready for them. It is not at all close to what your average customer would be getting paid if I brought that scrap into the scrapyard (the Indiana Transportation Museum). If people really were making close to 300 dollars a ton then we are all in the wrong business as that would equal $37.50 per hour per 8 hour day. Yet every scrapper I have met hardly has enough money to fill his truck up. The Indiana Transportation Museum is contracting with a scrap yard to remove and process this metal which is going to drastically lower the price they get.

It seems obvious that who ever is running this fiasco has already spent the money on themselves and not the museum which is why nothing has happened over the last year. Even if they had 10 million dollars and a army of people the best you could hope for is maybe 2 pieces leaving a day. It seems all these people are doing is a cash grab with no regard to what is destroyed. In the end it wouldn't surprise me at all if who ever is responsible for this has taken all the money from the museum, and the scrapping operation, and hi tails it out of town never to be heard from again.

If this person had any decency at all. He would simply donate everything on that property to anyone willing to come and take care of it. The Indiana Transportations Museums legacy is quickly ranking in line with the destruction of Penn station.

I hear a distant echo.. it sounds like the dying whistles of a GTW Pacific and CB&Q Northern, the agony of a losing battle that was never worth fighting...

Could you point us to the sources you heard that from? The sw-1 is pretty shocking if true.