That's a fairly definitive article and a good read, although very Chicago-centric. ;)

Truly a stunning day of events for all concerned !

For those here in the Chicago area that felt like they'd been sucker-punched as Chicago's Olympic bid was unceremoniously dumped in the first round, an even sweeter victory has been had (at least for those of a rail-inclined interest!)

It will be an interesting next several months as all organizations involved scramble to find trackage and storage space for their respective new "toys". An interesting note in the Shoreline article is the mention that FRTM is deaccessioning a piece of equipment long held in their collection, presumably to free up indoor storage space for at least one of their two new cars. Clearly the effects of this auction will not be limited to just the 30-odd LSE cars.

As has been noted previously, and I'll throw my two cents in for the less-than-two-cents value they represent,, a LOT of thanks and recognition needs to be put out for the efforts of the Brookins family, the LSE board, and Mr Wall. No less important is it to note that the winning bid was indeed the consortium bid, to have two railroad museums working together is a rare enough event at times, to have this many, and to have them come to a consensus on so many pieces of equipment,, a milestone achievement in and of itself.

One man's opinion, the "new home listing" is a great mix of just enough, yet not so much that any one operation looks (at face value) to have tried for more than they can handle. It looks like this entire operation will be a great success.

Two final notes.

First, Let no one forget that this is just the invitation to the dance. All of this needs to be paid for by Wednesday. I would have to assume that part of the consortium negotiations is to have a payment plan in place, but one would have to assume equally that most, if not all of the players involved are putting themselves on the hook by way of loans, promisory notes, etc. ALL of these folks still need our collective support to bring the cars to their new homes, retire the respective debts, and maintain them for future generations. All of those folks that stated they didn't want to donate because they didn't know what a given museum would get/where their dollars would go,, time to get out the wallets my friends. All of them need your help, and know we all know who has what.

Finally, an incredible debt of gratitude needs to be acknowledged first to the Brookins family, and then to the membership of Trolleyville and eventually the Lake Shore Electric Railway. While ultimately their struggles and problems allowed these cars to find new homes, it's important to note that a lot of this collection was VERY WELL CARED FOR, for roughly 50 years. Sad but true to note, there will be other museum efforts that succumb down the road, highly unlikely that very many will be able to offer such a well preserved collection as this one was. Somewhere Gerald Brookins must have at least a wistful smile on his face.

Andy
Clearly the final, but most important question of the day ....

How many compressors did you score ????

I'm probably not the only West Coast juicefan who has watched this saga unfold from the other side of the Rocky Mountains. It's good to see cars that I visited in North Olmstead 32 years ago finding new homes. It was especially gratifying to see one of the Vera Cruz open cars go to Fort Smith. I visited there for the first time in 2007, and the car looks like a "good fit" for their operation. And the term "herding cats" (as in the TV commercial of a year or two ago) came to mind when news of the "consortium" first appeared. Well done, folks--gotta plan another coast-to-coast RV trip!