The ongoing asset sale "blood letting" by the Kentucky Railway Museum continues. This somewhat cryptic ad showed up on Railswap recently:

http://railswap.org/cb/cl/classifieds.c ... =retrieval

The cars being offered for sale are the CN dining car, painted halfway in a Maine Eastern paint scheme, an ex-NYC (MNCRR) ACMU car, and the Pearl River which is actually an ex L&N sleeper, built as part of the L&N's contribution to the Crescent when it was a multi-line train.

Of course, photos, and a better description might increase the odds of sale, but I tend to think that this is mere "window dressing" to say that there was no sale interest before the items are scrapped.

Also, it should be noted that the museum is doing this, because they ran up over $600,000.00 in mostly unsecrued debt the past few years. The bank is forcing them to become more fiscally responsible, which isn't a bad thing. Also, dispoing of equipment you are incapable of caring for isn't a bad thing either.

However, I really fail to comprehend how a museum that really tries to hold itself out as an "L&N museum" doesn't consider an L&N sleeper to be part of the collections policy. Of course, this is the same museum that runs a Santa Fe CF-7, pulling Metro North commuter coaches. How that is part of the policy, is beyond me.

The car in question is the "Cape Tormentine" which is part of the rare Cape series that was used mostly on the "Ocean" and is a 2-2 sleeper/buffet-lounge not a dining car. Also I believe it was built by Pullman and is not an ACF car as listed in the ad.

It was owned by the Florida Railroad Museum and was somehow swapped with KRM for ??? My understanding is the car is still in Florida and that CSX will not move the car under any circumstances.

Tim,

Thanks for the clarification. I didn't remember another ex CN car on KRM's property, so I inferred it was the diner in question. Thanks for the clarification.

I still think they would be best served by selling the cf-7 to a group out west and trying to get the funds to get something L&N running. Even something merely painted in L&N would be a huge step to me. Plenty of F units or gp's around that would fit the bill.

Joe

One of the ex-LIRR, ex-L&N FA2's would fit the bill. Some still have 244's.

Agreed, that would be a very nice addition to KRM. I wonder if IRM would trade theirs?

Richard,

As discussed previously, turning a LIRR "power pack" back into a locomotive isn't an easy task.

Right now KRM faces some serious financial hurdles, and I doubt taking on such a project would be advisable, as neat as it would be.

Plus, the railroad is an out and back operation with no turning facilities, single cab units are not conducive to the operation as is.

Good idea though. I believe someone in the northeast is restoring a pair of the ex L&N LIRR units to operational status. Plus, frequent RYPNposter NH0401 was heading up a similar project at RMNE. As I imagine both these projects can attest to, it's not simple.

David

Did the planned cosmetic restoration of E6 #770 ever go through? I didn't think so. I've wondered why such a rare and unique E-unit (and L&N too!) has been left to deteriorate the way it has.

No it hasn't.

Why the museum focused on non regionally important equipment, while significant equipment such as the L&N combine, the E6 shell, and other pieces continue to rot is beyond me.

I think the best explanation is that there has been "mission drift" with the museum's leadership. By focusing on becoming a tourist railroad, the historic equipment suffered.

Hey,

On a side note... Bluegrass RR Museum in Versailles, Ky is scrapping a heavyweight L&N coach.

Stuart

Due to the condition of L&N 42106 at BGRM, I would consider it more of a mercy killing then scrapping. The coach was was very badly deteriorated when I joined 20 years ago and in worse shape when I left a decade ago. A quick goodbye visit to her showed the last 10 years have not been any kinder on her as she had began collapsing in on herself and large chunks of floor were missing. Assessing what I saw, and basing my thoughts on my experience in restoring automobiles (and some limited railroad restorations), the cost to restore her would have been beyond the budgets of most organizations.

On to better news from BGRM, the track to the river has been reopened for the first time in many years and they have made significant progress in developing the site at West Versailles. Not bad for a small group that many had wrote off in the past.

The L&N car in question was a gutted shell, without windows and no real protection.

I looked at the car over 10 years ago and it had prodigious amount of rot on the side sills.

It is a shame though. To my count, there is only 1 ex L&N open window steel heavyweight around that has been preserved as a coach. It is at South Simcoe of all places. The remaining cars are former MOW service cars that don't have seats, and are missing many other components.

At KRM we had an L&N open window coach that had been in MOW service, but retained its windows. It was later used by a gravel company as an office, and used by KRM when in Louisville, also as an office. The car really wasn't bad, other than missing seats and some minor changes to the interior, it could have been made into a coach again, especially with walkover seats. We sold the car in the mid 1990s, and I'm not sure where she went. Would have made a nice open-window coach conversion.

Hi David, all,

I understand the reasoning behind cutting up the coach, but personlly I think adaptive reuse would have been a better alternative... With the condition of the car being as it was, it would have made a nice open air car. The roof could have been scrapped and the rest utilized as an open car.... Just a thought... Hind site is always 20/20...

Stuart

Stuart,

I'd see your point if you proposed it to BGRM. However, in the end, I'm not as sad to see the hulk go.

They did have an ex Illinois Central modernized heavyweight, similar to a car at IRM that I really hope they either move to a better home or restore. When I saw the car 10+ years ago, it was in decent shape, and even the inteior was pretty good. It would make a nice excursion coach for somebody.

BGRM also has an ex L&N baggage car that had the 15' RPO compartment in it I would like to see saved. After WWII the L&N removed the RPO compartment, but you can see where it was. It would make a neat restoration project for someone.

David,

There are others in the know more than I, but I think the L&N RPO went to the historic rail park in Bowling Green and I had heard that the IC coach went somewhere in Ohio. There was a Southern combine, the NC& StL dyno car and some other cool stuff in that group as well. The L&N coach is a lost cause, but maybe someone from another group will read that and give them an idea as to what to do with the rusted hulk of a car they have. I would volunteer with either KRM or Bluegrass if I had more time. I have a growing family at the moment and a demanding job, so I don't get much time to work on my stuff much less anyone else's... You can look up Aiken Depot in Aiken, SC to see what can be done with a couple rusty railcars. My family owned both passenger cars and caboose at one time. I also bought and moved NC&StL 100 to Cowan, Tn. I'm not tooting my own horn, but I do want this board to know that I have an idea of what goes on and what it takes...

On a side note, the L&N coach that KRM sold before they moved to New Haven,was bought by my late father and was intended to go to HSRR, but some things happened and it was sold in route and went to Georgia, but I don't recall where...

Stuart