I think the biggest reason you don't see much from the 1960's and later is that it was no longer the railroads glory years. Railroads became secondary to most of the public.

At least that is IMHO.

2 other reasons for unpopularity of newer artifacts with the people who decide what to save:
It's too familiar to them, so they think that it is too commonplace to be rare enough to save. [Amfleet]
They are unfamiliar with how to maintain and repair it, so they think that it is too risky an acquisition. [printed circuit boards]

There are lots of stories about first generation diesels not saved, because the people running museums at the time thought that they were not collectible or worthy...

There was a long debate at Bay Area Electric Railway Museum before they acquired a Boeing LRV... and yes, I understand that there are issues keeping it running... Modern stuff is complicated, and requires skill sets and parts not always available.

One other factor at play here, indirectly:

Railroads are holding on to equipment longer and longer, as long as it's successful.

Imagine how it looks to a commuter agency, Amtrak or a major railroad when its customers or employees see the exact same cars that they're "stuck" riding to work in (or running, in the case of crews) daily sitting on display in a museum as a "historic relic." And, yes, that applies to the F40PH and SD40 right now.

The contributors to this forum understand better than most the longer-term economic lives of railroad rolling stock. But Joe and Joan Q. Public see an "Amtrak" Slumbercoach or C&NW bilevels at the museum or "old-time railroad" excursion, and all of a sudden the commuter train or Amtrak look as attractive as the guy who tries to drive the carpool with a 1960's VW Bus or a 1972 station wagon......

I think a major part of the perceived issue is based on lack of supply, not lack of demand. There is very little railroad equipment built after 1960 that has been retired and available to save. Specifically:

Steam -- none built after 1960. Nothing to save.

Streetcars, interurbans, etc. -- none built after 1960 until mid-1970 (the Boeing SLRV) and one from each property has been saved.

Rapid Transit -- There were only five operators of Rapid Transit in 1960. I believe examples have been saved of most retired fleets built in 1960 or later. IRM certainly saves a pair of CTA cars of each type as they are retired, I suspect Seashore does the same for Boston. There are several NYCTA cars saved from the early 60's. We are coming up on the retirement of the first fleets at BART and WMATA. It will be interesting to see if someone takes the plunge to save examples

Railroad Passenger Cars -- Not much intercity equipment built after 1960 until Amtrak, since passenger service was rapidly dying off. The Amtrak fleet is still in service, as are most of the commuter cars built after 1960.

Diesels -- lots being built, but lots are still in service so not available. My impression is that diesel models from this era have been saved and will be saved as they come out of service. For example, the IRM roster of internal combustion locomotives lists 10 out of 50 built between 1960 and 1974. I suspect they are not done collecting!

Freight Cars -- lots being built, but lots still in service. Once again, the IRM roster shows that 12 of their 106 freight cars were built between 1960 and 1979.

Too funny, since I ride a set of very used ex-Metra (Chicago) gallery cars on my daily commute on MARC rail here in Maryland.

http://acm.jhu.edu/~sthurmovik/Railpics/05-06-30_ST_LOUIS_TRIP/MARC_53+gallery-car.html

Wesley

My precise point. I was told MARC and VRE canceled plans to acquire more of these cars from Metra and/or a broker specifically because commuters, spoiled by the relatively new Nippon Sharyo and Kawasaki (or whoever) cars, were repelled and "outraged" at these "preposterous" "cattle cars" and "boxcars". I actually interviewed passengers on behalf of the broker for a couple VRE trips; there were a few unprintable comments.

Our eventual verdict: The rebuilt C&NW cars were fine for a new agency such as Nashville where nothing had ever operated before, but don't dare try to slip them amongst newer cars on an existing operation.

Not every one rides on a train so a metra double decker coach would be really cool to people in other parts of the country. When the RMNE ran Day out with Thomas, despite the vintage cars, despite the fact they were all decorated up with streamers balloons and TTE stuff, despite the fact that a locomotive with a face was in the consist, people still boarded the train thinking it was Metro North and where baffled when they learned they got the wrong train.

A Silverliner and a Metroliner electric MU car are in the collection of the Railroad Museum of East Strassburg Pennsylvania. Budd RDCs and PCC trolley cars are in other Museums. Examples of all are still in use in revenue public service. Whay would an ordinary museum official want any more of them?

In the case of an RDC, perhaps you're looking to expand service with a "doodlebug"-style experience, but there really aren't any true "doodlebugs" on the market (Edwards Rail Car notwithstanding). That would be a case of acquiring a utilitarian piece of equipment, not a historic relic. (And I think saying RDCs are still in revenue service may be pushing it a bit....)

Ditto PCCs. There are enough of them around (well, there were) to pick them up and use them expendably without wearing out the one-of-a-kind Home Town Transit Co. car that survived. That's the strategy that led the Baltimore Streetcar Museum to cooperate with the Friends of the Philadelphia Trolley and acquire two PCCS, a preserved Philly car and a work car, plus parts for an El Paso/San Diego "replica" car.

Metroliner/Silverliner: They never ran in, say, California or North Carolina or Florida, so they don't fit there, and there really aren't any more original Metroliners that haven't been heavily rebuilt as cab cars. But if the IRM, Museum of Transportation in St. Louis or the NRM in Green Bay wants an example of late-20th-century passenger commuter equipment or a "pioneer of American high-speed rail" to round out their very broad collections, why stop them?

Please don't tell the folks at Trinity Rail Express, Ft. Worth, TX, about RDC's not in service. The same goes for TriMet in Portland, OR.
Several are still in regular service in British Columbia, too.

trolleyira

It is very interesting to talk to non-railfans (especially young people) about train rides they have taken. Very interesting. And you cannot discount their experience because they are the new generation of consumers.

One thing these people hate is the slow pace of a modern train. They will hate sitting in a station for even 5 or 10 minutes. If they have to sit next to a covered hopper for 30 minutes...it is like the end of the world to them. And a long trip (24 hours or more) will seem like an eternity to them even if they are aware of the acutual length of the trip before they go.

Another is the scenery...which I am beginning to agree with. There was a time when you rode trains and there was plenty to see...now you usually see crudely chopped trees and bushes, vines...and a few giant industrial complexes. Not much more.

The equipment usually confounds them. They have pre-conceived notions about the cars that do not turn out to be true anymore. The new stuff is plastic and stainless...more like a school bus then a choo choo.

If you can go online and find some old reviews of the AOE, read them with an open mind. It is very interesting what people think.

There are a number of General Electric U-25B diesels in museum collections. Orange Empire has a retired Southern Pacific unit that has a build date of March 1963, same month that the last streetcars ran in Los Angeles. There has been some discussion about giving it a paint job, since its SP gray and red paint is badly faded, but at least one member said "leave it that way--it looks just like it did in revenue service." The newest diesel in the collection, Santa Fe FP45 #98 (nee 108, EMD 1967) is scheduled for repainting, and a fund drive is under way to restore its Warbonnet to pristine glory. It's the only FP45 in running condition, but over half of the nine that Santa Fe bought are preserved in various places.
One type of diesel that didn't escape the torch was the Fairbanks Morse H24-66 TrainMaster; I saw these in action on the Southern Pacific "commute" line between San Jose and San Francisco, and remember how they took off like the proverbial bat when leaving after a suburban stop. (there is a Canadian version preserved, not sure what its operational status is)

I agree on some points in the discussion, but.....I don't know that as much "new" equipment has been preserved, when compared to "old".
I tend to have my doubts about old versus new, considering that most rail equipment is perfectly capable of lasting, perhaps, forever.....
I believe things like commuter equipment should be recycled into new and or "heritage" operations elswhere when it's replaced.... too often, the "new" is seen as the thing to have.... then it breaks down/costs more than the old,etc.
we have a situation, where many people haven't been exposed to things like interurbans and they've been sold in advertisements, ideas, such as- a car with more than 100K miles or older than 5-10 years is junk. Our modern population can't quite grasp the idea that anything can be made to last 20, 50, even 100 years.
As a result, now, locomotives that are rebuildable are sent to scrap rather than rebuilt, because they are "too old". This especially applies to passenger equipment.
preservationists, many of whom are older, look to the " golden age" for their choices for preservation... and forget that the golden age was 50 years ago......
The average person doesn't care how old a commuter train is.....They care only that it gets the job done, doesn't break down and is comfortable to ride on.
Interestingly, I believe that too many of us are fixated on things like steam....consider this: a previous post made mention of Fairbanks H24-66 Trainmasters......how many of us recall that just a few months ago NS scrapped perhaps, the last two left in the US? granted, they were much modified, but were they not worth preserving?