Anybody catch this cute item in flimsies?



See the item on Texas interurban display.

Heh! Reminds me of a comment that was aimed my way when I first started doing site planning for the Western Pacific Railroad Museum (formerly Portola Railroad Museum).

I had made a presentation covering placement of all-weather, ADA compliant concrete walkways. It would guide guests to exhibits, keep them out of the mud and make it easier for older folks (including many of our members) to get to the equipment as walking over loose ballast can be precarious. I tried to be careful to keep their placement rational and not spoil the "working railroad" feel of the place.

Well, I'm walking out of the meeting and a long-time member corrals me and makes the statement: "Real railroad museum DON'T have sidewalks!"

Hmmmm....

Eugene

I think it is great - more job security for us in the business. Why do only one restoration job when you can come back every few years and do it all over again?

dave

Folks,

Bravo Sierra! (Sanitized versionat moderator's insistence.) We are not railroads or Interurbans; we are preservationests!
We have those cars in museums because they are significant parts of our history, technology and life experience.

Somebody should tell that newspaper writer that he is ful of that stuff that I mentioned above! And also the people who are in charge of that (I presume) car body that was once a train.

Ted Miles

Bearing in mind, Ladies and Gents, that Ted is not only a master of subtlety but also leaves his artifacts not only out in the open, but sitting in salt water.

I fought this same mind set about 20 years ago when I did the Glover restoration, and won, sort of. The roof cost more than the locomotive.

dave

dave,

You are right; ships are expected and designed to live in salt water.

And that may be changing too. A German submarine at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry has been moved indoors along with their trains.

And another submarine at Mobile, Alabama has been moved onto dry land because of the hurricanes.


Trains are supposed to live in Roundhouses and Car Barns. And as I said when they are in museums; the museums should be taking better care of them than their commercial owners did.

Ted

The folks doing the restoration of the USS SLATER have mentioned what a significant reduction there was in rust and corrosion when the ship was moved from a salt water environment to a fresh water (well, except for the stuff a few chemical companies dumped in the river over the years) berth in Albany, New York.

I wonder if an entire iron ship could be held in a steady state of preservation by electrolysis, perhaps by being surrounded with sacraficial anodes of some sort?

dave

Ships already have sacrificial metals mounted to their hulls. There is still the biological effect of barnacles and mosses. There is only so much you can do when immersing metal in a salt bath.