Our NRHS chapter is in the process of drafting a lease agreement with a city for the display of our caboose at their restored depot. They will assume all maintenance, repairs, and up-keep. Has anyone had any dealings like this? If so, would you be able to give us ideas, good or bad experiences, to try to take care of this now? We think we have covered most bases, but are undecided on liability coverage and what happens if a fire, tornado ,etc. hits and damages or destroys the caboose. Any sample leases or ideas would be appreciated. When finished, we will share with all who might be interested. <br>Thanks,<br>John Linda, CTC NRHS<br>



jcbml@texasinternet.com

Might want to determine what the coverage would be for insurance - an appraisal of the caboose is in order to determine replacement value. Standards and practices for the repairs, maintenence, etc need to be addressed. You don't want house carpenter repairs done to as railroad car structure, or inappropriate techniques and materials used. <p>Security is another big concern - especially if the display site is subject to vandalism. <p>Dave <br>



lathro19@idt.net

There are some issues that you and the city need to consider. There's a movement afoot to rid all old artifacts which are accessible to the public of lead-based paint. Recently, all the equipment at Travel Town in Los Angeles was stripped and repainted due to this, a project which put extreme strain's on the city's small budget for Travel Town. Fortunately, Travel Town has competent management in folks like Linda Barth and Thomas Breckner, and so the project was handled by experts. However, one caboose there was reworked some years ago (prior to the tenure of the current management folks) by a well-meaning city carpenter who knew nothing of historic preservation. Fortunately, the lead paint funds put some things right on this car. Anyway, be careful of municipal maintenance folks!<br>



amfmx@earthlink.net