I am in that group that can't afford a new car. If I had good public transit where I live, I wouldn't drive it. Many of us cannot afford newer vehicles.

Is there a "SEMA" for rail or mechanical restoration?

What can we as a railfan community do to be able to keep vintage rail equipment, especially steam locomotives, exempt from environmental laws and keep them running into the future?

The only idea I can come up with so far is maybe to start a petition on upcoming vintage train excursions in support of environmental exemption.

Robert T.

SEMA really has there act together and we in this field have nothing close. The last year (1998) I had dealings with them they had a monthly budget that could restore a steam locomotive every month.
(and more).
There is another option (humor please remember that) Find what the NIMBY's and tree huggers like doing in thier free time and wage a campain against it. Socer? to dangerous and to much noise, Biking very unsafe, to many injuries. Same with hiking. all these injuries drive our insurance costs up.
All of these activities and camping put to many people out doors. This ruins the very thing they are fighing to save. All the trails ruin pristine woods. etc etc.
While were at it I bet they all mow the lawn depriving the atmosphere of oxygen production from the grass and pretty wild flowers that would grow. What about all the chemicals they put on thier lawn. What if certian weeds become extinict? Then they replace th O2 with polution from the mowers. I'll bet none of them use the old reel push mower. Oh wait that's old school it must be bad.Scrap that also.
It's all going to come back to education, teaching the people the value of what we do and inform everyone that it's not going to destroy life as we know it. The big draw back will be this will take what little resources we have (time and money) and divert some of them to something unpleated to preservation.

Which gets us back to the issue of the "public image" of railroad preservation, which ends up being a divided image because part of it rests with museums and the other part rests with various "historical" groups. That in turn takes us to some issues we have previously discussed at great length, including the NRHS and other groups that can't seem to let the public know they exist or maintain a website that is within two or three years of being up to date. So is there any hope?

Some guy who leaves a 400 watt computer on night and day because he doesn't want to wait for Windows to go through its admittedly too long boot up routine, will blog his neighbors into a frenzy about that $%%&^ steam engine, as he eats his dinner from a single use petrochemical derived black tray with a landfill half life of about 5000 years, even as his missus (significant other) relentlessly drives their two kids to soccer/baseball/swimming/other organized activity designed to turn junior and juniorette into a thoughtless drones.

His concern won't the proper attitudes of the Captain Planet crowd that serves a crop of environmental entrepreneurs, it'll be keeping a scratchless sheen on his Prius that he congratulates himself for buying, utterly mindless of the environmental issues associated with nickel extraction, and keeping cinders out of the heated pool that he doesn't even think of as having a "carbon footprint"', because its heated with household AC, and we all know that's "clean energy".

He will be not be calling Congressman Mercenary, he'll be soliciting the more immediate attentions of a local petty tyrant in order to try pass MUNICIPAL restrictions against ol' 99.-Al's example of the Colorado narrow guage as being exhibit 1.

I confess I have no solution to deal with pharisitical hypocrites who inflame popular hysterias that in 100 years will be as well regarded as the various fears that were associated with the presumed evils of passing through the tail of Haley's Comet nine decades or so ago.

carbon emissions ARE a problem as a whole, the 65-70% of cars on the road built before 1995 with lower emissions standards ARE a part of the problem.

A few miles to the North of where Mr. Crosby plies his trade, is a peculiar geological feature known as the Archbald pothole, a remnant of the days when NEPA had GLACIERS. Similarly, a few tens of miles East/(Southeast?) is Hickory Run State Park, which has an attraction called "boulder field", which is a collection enormous stones left by GLACIERS. Of course, the Scranton's glory days were built on extracting coal, the result of the accretion of layers of vegetable matter grown in tropical or near tropical weather.

It is a foolish notion to assume the climate is invariable, and that we are the sole, primary or even a significant cause of that change. Jefferson wrote about the snows of Virginia-because n his life there was mini ice age that was gone long before there were steam locomotives in any number, let alone SUVs.

I assume that you have some statistical evidence to support your assertion that baseball turns people into mindless drones. The Grand Ole Game gives our society a sense of longevity and history. Didn't you see Field of Dreams? Nothing could be more true than the statement (paraphrased) from the movie: that through all the change, one thing has remained, the one constant always there (except for strike seasons)...baseball! Some great baseball movies show good footage of team travel by train. Most of the fields we play on back up to rail lines. How could someone become mindless in that type of environment?

While we are on the subject of mindless drones and in need of a little humor, here is a preservation related story that I noticed this morning:

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/ ... 2520070618

Apparently drains had not yet been invented in 1957.

Anyone for burying a locomotive?

I wonder how they kept the savings account from being grabbed by the state after fifty years with no deposits or withdrawls....

MX (Obviously Not My Real Name)

Anyone for burying a locomotive?

MX,

They were going to do that in Minot, ND a couple of years ago. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed, and the intended victim, a Soo Line Pacific is still with us above ground.

With regard to the D&S smoke issue; what has been the ultimate definition of the problem, and what is its intended solution?

RTK

Off topic, but I wonder how that case of Schlitz tasted after 50 years. :)

I couldn't agree more with Mr. Crosby's sentiments.

However, whether the sky is falling and we face enviornmental disaster in the next 100 years or if all the big bad nutty enviormentalists are going to come and take all our toys away are two arguments that are polarizing and beyond the points we should be addressing in this forum.

The real question is that there seems to a real momentum for some serious regulatory that will affect historical preservation and operation of historic equipment. How are we going to deal with it.

I can picture of an EPA guy showing up and asking "is that 244 tier II or tier III compliant?" and I don't know whether to laugh or cringe.

.....if you can get past the shotgun blast, and pry the friggin' keys from my cold, dead hands. Two of those have been in my family since they were purchased, and the third is one of the few things these days which actually allows me to slow down and remember what is TRULY important; family, friends, and the memories made with the them.

Have a nice day.


TJ "32 goin' on 70, and born 50 years too late" Gaffney

We are noticing the result of over 230 years of unchecked introduction of new laws and regulations. There is nothing that has not been touched by the hand of the government, and now all that is left is to keep pecking away at your freedoms a little at a time until you wish for the freedom of a Communist state!

The only way to fight this (short of a revolution) is to keep the pressure on our congresscritters. However as is being demonstrated by the current immigration legislation, they don't even listen to their constituents any longer. (Did they ever?)

I would think that if Thomas the Tank Engine were to spew black smoke and say that the smoke is good for the earth in a generation public opinion would change about locomotive smoke!