The Minnesota Transportation Museum is looking for contact information for locomotive donations from the following Midwest Railroads: The Canadian Pacific, the Canadian National, the Union Pacific and Industrial/Grain Elevator Organizations. We are a 501 [c] 3 not-for-profit organization currently operating two railroads. One in Saint Paul Minnesota and the second in Western Wisconsin for a total Mileage of over 50 with maximum speeds of 25 MPH. Our particular interest would lie in locomotives with a Minnesota or Wisconsin service history, 4 axle GMD power in operating condition or others which could be restored with a minimum financial commitment.

It would be ideal if you were to contact me off list at: chairman@phoenixconsuls.ca

Aren't we all!

Les Beckman (Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum/North Judson, IN)

You'd be surprised what is out there ready for the picking. Just ask. I have given details on how to accomplish this before.

Later!
Mr. Ed

Thanks to Mr. Ed for his follow-up. However, being new I wasn't around for his original posting. If he would be kind enough to show where I should point my browser I would certainly appreciate it.

I know Canadian National has a very specific criteria you have to follow for donation requests. They won't even talk to you unless you go through the proper channels. Details are on their website.

The first thing you have to do is your homework. Identify "targets" that you want to acquire. YOU must be the one to determine whether it suits your group's needs, and whether it is significant to Minnesota or Wisconsin heritage. Also, is it within the scope of your collection? Next, determine if what you want is available--have the railroads you mentioned retired those units recently, or will they soon? Once you've selected your target, it's up to you to determine if it's mechanically sound for you to acquire. There are many experts on this board who can tell you what's worth getting, and what's not. If you're lucky enough to have someone on the "inside", they can tell you if what you want is in good enough shape. NOW, you have to figure out who to contact and to tell them specifically what you want. Be prepared for a "no" reply to your request. Again, having inside contacts "high up" can help. Of course, if you don't ask, you don't know!

OK. For the new folks out there. I used to restore old cars, many that were found by looking in back yards and driveways and open garage doors. Upon finding a candidate, I'd knock on the door and inquire about it's availabilty. Many times I got the door slammed in my face but the few times it did work, I came away with a really decent restoration candidate. Works the same for railroad equipment. Use old photos, look in old rail yards, industrial plants, use satellite imagery, etc. Then track down the owner, knock on his door, ask him for the donation. That's right, the donation. If you are a 501 (C) 3, explain to the owner that they can write off the amount of the donation on their taxes. This works more often than not when they realize that rusting hulk can be turned into dollars. We have two items we are working on that I found just like I described. Both are being donated. Both required leg work to acquire. So just posting a request on a site like this is just the beginning. And let me be brutally frank. If I know of a possible item that we are interested in, I am not about to tell you about it. So the only thing you might find on a site like this is a lead that no body else wants, but it might be just what you are looking for.

Good luck!

Later!
Mr. Ed

Also important to demonstrate the financial resources available for immediate relocation from the donors property. I'm assuming MTM has all these ducks lined up in a nice, neat row with a lot of supporting documentation available.

I'm actually very interested in the rationale for enlarging their collection right now.

dave

A two part reply. First, thanks for the information on the "knocking" on doors. Don't be too certain about our wanting stuff from your region. We tend to be regionphobic.

Next, while MTM has an impressive fleet of motive power - operating and static display - some of our fleet is LARGE 6 axle stuff and fuel hungry. We're burning more fuel than we would like and even with forward buys the fuel costs are enormous.

Consequently the search for 4 axle - lower HP EMD power. Easy to fix with our parts inventory, more "fuel efficient" and non-turbocharged.

Not EMD, but definitely Twin Cities... are you aware that the Museum of Transport in St. Louis is trying to deaccession M&StL 546, an ALCO RS-1 built in 1946, but running into the nineties, I believe. I don't know if there were any takers for this item, but the a copy of the original catalog can be found at this link:

http://www.123people.com/ext/frm?ti=per ... wrt_id=267