A posting on the Burlington list recently said someone saw the Mark Twain Zephyr in a train headed south to Texas, on freight car trucks. Can anyone confirm this?

bobyar2001@yahoo.com

> A posting on the Burlington list recently
> said someone saw the Mark Twain Zephyr in a
> train headed south to Texas, on freight car
> trucks. Can anyone confirm this?
Bob,
I was just through Minooka, IL, in the last couple of weeks and the train was still outside of the RELCO shop. With the four day weekend, I'll attempt to venture down there and see if it is gone. The last time I saw it, it didn't appear to be in any condition to be moved. The plans for the train have never come together and I have heard nasty rumors that the owners want to recoup at least a portion of their investment, even if it means selling it for scrap. This is way too important a piece of American railroading history to be destroyed, not that this is definitely going to happen. Which Burlington board was the sighting posted on?
Don C.


old_fxrs@msn.com

Are there any recent pictures of it posted anywhere? I'd be interested to see what it looks like today.

davelecount@juno.com

Still listed on the Rail Merchants site. There are many pictures at the link below.

Mark Twain Zephyr
GMill@earthlink.net

Please forgive my ignorance but why is this unit not in a museum somewhere?

kenta@ameritech.net

> Please forgive my ignorance but why is this
> unit not in a museum somewhere?

Bob,
I scooted down to Minooka early this afternoon on the Harley (and managed to get rained on a little). From what I could see, the cars are still outside but the power car (Injun Joe) was not in the back yard with the assorted diesel switcher (including an old ALCO high hood unit). It is either inside the shop or it is not on the property. I've got one other source of information that I will attempt to contact this weekend.
Don C.

old_fxrs@msn.com

Ignorance is always forgivabe unless you are asking the same question twice.

In this country, historic preservation has always taken a back seat to the rights of the private owner. If it is yours, you can pretty much do as you will with it. The Pennsylvania Station was
destroyed because it was private property.

There are a great many historic items privately owned. In fact, more of the structures on the National Register of Historic Places are private than public.

and to bring this back to railroad preservation, I'll bet that that more cars are owned privately than are in non-profit museums.

Thus I think that the thread about counting them is a great idea. TM

ted_miles@NPS.gov

> Ignorance is always forgivabe unless you are
> asking the same question twice.

> In this country, historic preservation has
> always taken a back seat to the rights of
> the private owner. If it is yours, you can
> pretty much do as you will with it. The
> Pennsylvania Station was
> destroyed because it was private property.

> There are a great many historic items
> privately owned. In fact, more of the
> structures on the National Register of
> Historic Places are private than public.

> and to bring this back to railroad
> preservation, I'll bet that that more cars
> are owned privately than are in non-profit
> museums.

> Thus I think that the thread about counting
> them is a great idea. TM

I spoke with my friend this morning who knows the owner of the MTZ. He indicated that the power car, "Injun Joe", is inside the RELCO shop building at Minooka, IL. I would like to know where the rumor originated.
Don C.


old_fxrs@msn.com