Does anyone know how to get a locomotive listed on the National Registry of Historic Places and if so what are the advantages or disadvantages?<br>Jerry Singer<br>



stationmaster@yonahstation.com

If you are successful in having a locomotive officially listed on the National Register for Historic Places, it can open the doors to preservation grant funding. For example, if you are planning on utilizing TEA-21 money, you need to have your locomotive "determined eligible" for listing on the National Register.<p>Before you begin your nomination application, I would encourage you to attend a workshop if your State Historical Society offers it.<p>I just completed our first draft for the GN 1355 nomination. I began the process last September when I started the research.<p>One of the problems that we encountered was trying to convince the State Historical Society of Iowa to allow us to proceed with the nomination process. They were apprehensive about having a locomotive listed because of the fact that most remaining appliances and parts are not original to locomotives (interchangeable parts during normal maintenance) and the fact that most locomotives served all over the system so their direct historical link to a region or national history does not relate to a significant historical event. We must also remember that in the United States we do not have many famous locomotives around, such as a New York Hudson.<p>So to make your case, you need to find something unique and special about your locomotive.<p>Again, the biggest benefit is the grant money opportunities. A National Register designation opens you to potential funding that you may not be able to otherwise tap into.<p>Just be prepared for a long and hard road. I first approached our State Historical Society in 1986 about preparing the application. It wasn't until 1998 that they felt confortable with us preparing an application.<p>One final point, the owner of the locomotive should give permission for the locomotive to be considered a National Register candidate. It will protect you in the long run. I would encourage you to visit the National Park Service's web site for more Register information: www.nps.gov<br>



lobermeyer@usa.net

It is true that listing can make available some funds that may not be otherwise available, but listing is not a sure way to fund your project. <p>It is a sure way to lose some of the flexibility you might need to deal with alterations in original fabric as part of an operating repair, or an operating plan at all. These decisions will be made for you by a board of building and artifact conservators without experience in operating machinery issues. <p>Consider carefully what you are giving up in exchange for the possibility of funding from these specific sources. Unless you have no interest in operating the specific piece, or have a promnise of funding subject to listing, it could be cheaper to just go to other sources. <p>Dave<br>



lathro19@idt.net

anybody else got a bottom line feeling for whether it's better to have your engine/car/etc. on or off the national register? i know the property at spencer is on the national register, but i am not aware of any of our rolling stock being there;<br><br>



jwrinn@charlotte.com

I think the bottom line comes down to whether you intend to seek continuing Federal grant money or private-sector foundation money. National Register listing does confer tremendous credibility with these groups.<p>With respect to Dave's concerns about losing control of the artifact to external reviewers, I bow to his experience in these matters as they relate to railroad restorations, but I will point out that my own experience suggests nothing so worrysome. I wrote and prepared a National Register application for another moving artifact (an historic Chesapeake Bay sailing workboat) 15 years ago, and the owner (the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum) has never subsequently had its curatorial control of the artifact interfered with. The National Register protections are actually quite toothless: my best understanding of the law is that no one can prevent the property owner from doing with the atifact as he or she wishes. The worst they can do is de-list the artifact: admittedly, a public black eye should it happen.<p>My two cents: it's worth it if you intend to go the grant route; otherwise, perhaps not.<p><br>



eledbetter@rypn.org

I will admit that there were several layers of interference involved in the situation where listing became an issue in my experience - and being at the lower end of the food chain, I was happily uninvolved in the wrangling. <p>It could well have been that the particulars were in fact unique or different. God knows the people involved were certainly unique and different. <p>I would however recommend that this be checked out pretty closely before jumping into this sort of a commitment. <p>Dave<br>



lathro19@idt.net