Why am I not surprised??

Please understand that Preston is right in these matters,

RMDI is a business yes, but be aware that the folks over there are aware of the "preservationist cause" and with being said I know for a fact that they have helped a many preservationist in getting parts needed to keep the preserved "Alive"

at reasonable cost in some case less than what the cost could or should be

Capitalism you gotta make a buck, and last I checked their money still doesn't grow on trees

Seconded.

RMDI is run by people who are in the business because they like trains, not because it's the fastest/easiest way to make a buck. It's like the auto junkyard that holds onto those classic cars at the far end of the lot because the know, deep down, that someone's going to be desperately looking for that rear end of a 1974 Lincoln Continental or 1967 Corvair grille, but come summer when the mud is gone and the loader can get back there, well.......

RMDI will work with serious preservationists. If you really need it and have the resources to pay for it and get it out of there, they're work with you far more than most places, including some "railfan-run" railroads. Frankly, they're the only reason we're still talking about that FP7 in 2010, a good ten years after it presumably should have been scrapped. (No, RMDI didn't own it--one of their clients did.)

PS: This history indicates that 97A was used as a parts source for sister 97C at Steamtown in the 1990s: http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_bo ... /shs5a.htm
So how many "strikes" against this loco are we up to by now?

We kind of got off topic here. Was the CNJ 1012 worth trying to save? If it has not yet been cut up, is it worth someone doing something about it?
J.R.

I sure do wish our Group had more money to do an undertaking of that loco, It sure would look nice painted up in Milwaukee Road Colors. The Village has asked us years ago to add a locomotive to our collection. If still saveable good luck to those that try, just remember if you do get it we have a place in Sturtevant for it

Again good luck

[/quote]I had contacted the owner 4 months prior to the G&U unit being scrapped. He was amenable to a sale for scrap value. I asked him to contact me if/when scrapping was on the horizon and he said he would. I had the cash available to complete the sale.[/quote]

In spite of the outcome, I'm glad to hear that somebody was being proactive. But why wait until "if/when scrapping was on the horizon?" That could have given the owner the impression that you were just a tire kicker. How different the outcome might have been if instead you'd said, "I'll take it" and had put down a deposit.

If I'm not mistaken, those units were in pretty good condition, and the original G&U S4 was really "low mileage."

At any rate, this particular tale shows that cash in hand will beat good intentions any day.

Walt Lankenau

I was in the process of moving 2 other ALCO switchers by truck which was a time-consuming, expensive and logistical challenge. So I didn't have the time to dedicate trying to get a third one at that given time, but would have a few months later. So two others got saved that were going to be scrapped, and they had several years of advance warning, along with many board postings asking why won't someone save them. There would have been much lamenting on the boards if they got cut up, yet there have been very few positive comments after the salvation.

Saving old switchers is not easy. They're hard to move on own wheels due to bearings and coupler requirements. Trucking is expensive and you need cranes at each end; same with flat car. Bearing and coupler conversions will cost $30k easy, which is around scrap value for the locomotive. So buy it for scrap value, then put $30k-$100k into moving it...only makes sense for an entity with $$$$ who has a historic interest in a specific unit to save it.

Many years ago (10 or 12?) the ARHS did make an inquiry about this locomotive and was told it was not available and that the owner of RMDI knew it was one of very few CNJ switchers in existence. Never went back to ask again.
One good thing is that there are shortlines in the Coxton area that could probably move this locomotive to a close by restoration location.
RWJ

Is it gone yet?

That CNJ SW-1 was on a list once but it was far from complete and very far from moving on it's own wheels legally. Aside from the plain bearings that had been exposed to the elements, the wheels were near paper thin. Up top, there was proof positive that the locomotive had been used as a parts source for many years. With a near empty electrical cabinet, mostly missing control stand, lack of traction motors, removed governor amongst other things, it is more of a shell than it was an SW-1. I'm not sure of the condition of the V6-567 but I think that part of it was more rare than the SW-1 itself and if that V6-567 could become a parts supply for say the LV 112, I would say that at least it was not all lost to smelter.

But this isn't my game. There are wiser players with a lot more capital than I have to do anything about it. We can all keep dreaming but reality suggests that it rarely works out the way we'd like it to. Many more will see the scrappers torch. Why do we act so surprised every time this happens?

[/quote]

I was in the process of moving 2 other ALCO switchers by truck which was a time-consuming, expensive and logistical challenge. So I didn't have the time to dedicate trying to get a third one at that given time, but would have a few months later. So two others got saved. . . [/quote]

Glad to hear it was a matter of having too many irons in the fire and that two other units were saved. Still, it's sad to hear of good engines like those G&U units being lost.

Walt Lankenau

Apparently the 1012 isn't gone yet, but it's already lost a lot of parts in the past few days. I know it was a parts unit in the past, but apparently that had stopped, I suppose around the time it was put beneath the coaling tower.

I didn't post this to knock RMDI or any other outfit that does what they do. Just a shame that it's ended up this way. Honestly, one of my long-term goals was to make Ron a firm offer on the 1012. I'm nowhere near being able to do that, and as we see here, time has run out. Facts is Facts!

-Micah