> We've been over this a couple of times on
> RyPN and it seems to me as if this just
> isn't an actual physical "loss" as
> requested by the original poster.

Sorry, I didn't get the feeling that he was asking for actual hardware. I sat and thought on the question for two hours, and realized (in my opinion, of course) that lost opportunities were in some cases greater than the actual concrete loss of things.

> The message ignores, minimizes, and attempts
> to marginalize the fact that more positive
> work and synergism is occurring now at EBT
> and with FEBT than at any time in the last
> 20 or 30 years -- all to rehash something
> that can't be changed. We can all wish that
> the past was different, but it isn't, and
> the fact is that the present contains
> something that the past never did:
> thousands, not hundreds, of hours of
> volunteer labor.

If we're going to take that kind of attitude, then indeed this whole thread should be deleted now, as the whole darned subject matter is "woulda coulda shoulda" that can't be changed. (Heck, the whole twists of fate that let the EBT survive until now are something we can't change, either.)

Au contraire. Remember the quote "those who do not study the past are condemned to repeat it"? If nothing else, studying the lost opportunities helps us to understand what happened, why the opportunities were lost, and can help us to prepare for a future.

Yes, the FEBT is doing wonderful things. I've donated to them, and hope to do so more in the future. But on the other hand, until/unless I see more convincing signs that a transition of the property from a family heirloom to an independent, stand-alone nonprofit foundation is under way or has been explicitly planned, I cannot bring myself to commit to the salvation of the property. The Kovalchiks can profess their love of the property and the railroad all they want, but there is, as far as we know, nothing whatsoever in place to prevent the family or its heirs from selling the whole damn thing to a developer, another scrapper, or Disney (just for wild examples). Yes, the FEBT efforts are good and well, and I thank them--hopefully someday they may actually become the owners or operators of the whole thing. But until such protection is explicitly in place, I can't afford to get sentimental. Put such protection in place, and I'll be signing up for the monthly car pool from Baltimore to Orbisonia to add sweat equity, I guarantee you--and I can also rapidly fill up another car pool to boot.

LNER4472-NOSPAM-@bcpl.net

There's no lack of talent in steam in the Northern Midwest. Have you spoken with Midwest Locomotive and Machine Works in Wisconsin? They are expert in many things like moving dead stuff.

900K does seem like a lot of money to me too. Good luck.

dave

irondave@bellsouth.net

Does anyone have drawings of the Keystone number plates used on P.R.R. passenger engines?


catnap@westpa.net