> PC 6237 - EMD SD45 - Tacoma Rail SD40-3 3001

Ok, it's not an SD45, but it is still around (last time I checked anyway) and Tacoma Rail maintains their locomotives well.

(I was rather surprised one day when I found out I was riding in some ex PRR passenger cars that they own and being pulled by a former PRR locomotive as well! I didn't expect that in the Pacific Northwest.)

The SD45s from the PRR were the last major diesel locomotives purchased by the railroad. 3,600 H.P. and all contained in a single engine made them the most powerful locomotives on the PRR, and they tied with the C636 on the Penn Central. They were used around the system for any task from Helper service on the Pittsburgh Line, to road service. All passed from Conrail, to CNW, to various owners. About 20 of the original 130 units built for the PRR(almost 10% of total sd45 production) survive today, only one retaining it's 20-645.(NWIX 765)

Does this sound good for a plaque? And a pitch to show interest in it?

Let me use another example for preserving this. GP units, yes they are smaller, but why do we have 20+ just gp7s preserved, with some museums like the IRM having 2 or 3? Sure the gp7 was the first wildly successful diesel that roamed the rails and it killed off steam, but did we need to go and preserve one from almost every railroad that produced orders? The answer is no, but we went and did it anyway.

The point I'm trying to make is, what's another SD45 going to be? Sure it might cost a good amount to preserve it, but remember what's more important about the PRR's SD45, compared to others. They were that last locomotives to be ordered and serve the "Standard Railroad of the World". Sure the PRR had other models on order, but They were not delivered until after the Penn Central merger.They also were the powerhouses of the PRR, with no single engined diesel until the SD60 of the late 80's surpassing it.

Unfortunately you couldn't possibly be more wrong. If every active member of RyPN each gave you $10.00 you'd have about $8000. We have about 2200 members, but only 800 of them have been active within the last 3 years. So your $500K assertion doesn't fit the facts, I'm sorry to say.

Early in this thread there was a comment posted comparing the price of 4 axle geeps to 6 axle SDs. There is a great disparity between the two classes of locomotive.

GPs of all models have had their values inflated because they are the platform of choice for rebuilders, whether they are making gensets or upgrading them to -2s or even -3s. That is why they command prices into the mid $200,000 range.

On the other hand, there is a glut of SD40s in storage all over America. I have personally reviewed over 300 of them. I know a scrapper that purchased 53 running SD40-2 locomotives from CN for a little over 50,000 each. You can't touch a 2nd generation GP anything for anywhere near that price.

The reason why there are so many GP7s preserved is because each group wants to "save" one of their own. Much to my dismay, the last existing WM GP7 was cut up while I was in the process of trying to find a home for it. That would make the count 31 if I had anything to say about it, but obviously, I did not.

There is another way to have your cake and eat it that has not been mentioned on this forum, primarily because this is the realm of the 501(c)3 and they have means to accomplish projects that commoners do not. I set out over 12 years ago to create a for-profit corporation that could be used to raise the funds to purchase, restore, and operate "my road" stuff.

Today we have an FA2, an S-2, two GP9s, an SD40 (currently at MEI to get a fresh blue card and a coat of gloss black), a commitment on an SD35, and two non-"my road" units, one of which we use to earn the $$$ to do all of the above. We also have a troop sleeper, several cabs, 2 ballast hoppers, and a 3TM.

If you want it bad enough, you will find a way to do it. If you wait for grants and loans or hold fundraisers to make your dreams come true, you will most likely never realize them. I think that is kind of what Howard P. was trying to say. It takes work. If it were easy, there would be SD45s for everybody in every possible paint scheme.

My $0.02

There is a BIG problem, however, with using this particular locomotive as an example:

The locomotive in question was the personal acquisition of a somewhat well-to-do individual of my circle of friends. Technically, this GP30 was a "rich dude's big toy" plain and simple, operated on an excursion line that was also, to be frank about it, the "plaything" of a few wealthy and not-so-wealthy enthusiasts/investors. Dick Sanders battled cancer and eventually passed away; his wife donated to loco to the RR Museum of Pa. in what was apparently his wish, and I'm certain some discussions went on before and after his passing. The donation of the 2233 was, according to the RR Museum of Pa. director at the time, the first time a piece of rolling stock had been donated to them by/from a private individual.

To re-create this plan, some SD45 enthusiast must be rather wealthy, or someone has to start playing the lottery/pools/horses and win big. Or, conversely, SD45 enthusiasts have to convince a well-to-do individual (or more than one) that preserving another SD45 is a worthwhile expenditure of his/her money.

Ah, but that's part of my point here. Did it get saved by 10,000 railfan donations at $10.00? Or the personal relationships at a high level of an individual?

I think the exception is often the standard. If you research the history of the museum collections, locomotive by locomotive, everyone has a story, and a good one. It's worth the time to find out just how things happened.

Even when it is a 'corporation' that makes a donation, chances are there's an individual at the top of it that has the passion, or is supported by the top. Who? Why? There are a LOT of museum collections that owe their basis to an individual - and later passed it on, and a small dedicated core that pulled it off.

There are some notable exceptions - for sure - where an organization has mobilized a donation system (often online) to achieve a preservation goal, but I hazard a guess that the individual preservation and donation stories still outnumber them, or many groups would admit that the majority comes from a handful of members.

Even at some of the biggest organizations out there, learning to know people - their interests, background, donation histories, etc., is still a highly effective tactic in these efforts. I'm just suggesting that example is a classic of this group...where most might have assumed it was part of a museum collection, or PRR, or donated by Conrail....or bought somehow...... That's how it happened?? Really?? Exactly.

Put the two together - an efficient donation system AND the personal knowledge of the preservation-minded individuals in financial and power position to make things happen, and its a winning team.

But the truth is the 'bottom-up' grassroots public small-donation solicitation, well.... lets hear from those that have achieved a $300-500K project - not just a match.

Randy,

At ELDCPS we have probably used all of your suggested tools. We have a monthly giving program where we directly charge a credit card every month or debit a bank account. We recently took on leasing some track and are pitching to cover the rent by this method. We have Paypal and credit card donations available on our website - or a printable form for those who prefer not to do online transactions.

We also sell a lot of merchandise. Some items like our EL coffee and Pullman soaps generate a lot of nice repeat business. Most items are one time collectible purchases so we try to introduce 2 or 3 new items a year.

The biggest sources are the wealthy enthusiasts and many times the foundations they are associated with. Each one is different but once you find someone with the resources and the interest you try to meet their specific requirements and interests. Obviously the question is how do you find them? Sometimes they join your organization on their own. Other times someone in your organization knows them and can introduces you. A few times I have just done a cold call. In one case a week later I had a $50,000 check in my hand! The big thing with a potential large donor is to do your homework. You can find out a lot about people on the internet and especially on Guidestar if you are dealing with a private foundation. Be able to pitch your project in terms that match their other giving. If they give out a lot of education money explain what educational programs will be created as part of the project. If they give to the scouts explain what kind of youth activities you will do - perhaps tying into one of the badge programs. I had one one who only gave to pet cemeteries - that didn't work out too well.

Finally there is government money. Early on we did get TEA money which appears to be gone now. The rules varied from state to state. In our case Pennsylvania was pro-rail when it came to awarding money. There is still some money out there but usually it is small and targeted. We have been awarded some for cultural experiences - in our case telling the story of the Pullman porter and African American dining car employees. Right now we are pointing out our potential to boost local tourism - we'll see have that goes.

To get back to Randy's question, I am happy to get our $10 donations from many people but you cannot do a big project/acquisition with just that.

Tim and others,

Did you ever see an episode of "Seinfeld" where George Costanza, instead of giving out Christmas cards and presents to his co-workers, gives out slips saying "A donation in your name has been made to The Human Fund" [a bogus "charity" that George made up, to keep from actually spending any money]...........

...... and a couple days later, the boss calls him in and says "Hey, headquarters just called and told us to get rid of a bunch of change before the end of the year in charity donations locally.... Tell me more about this 'Human Fund'........"

Now, jokes about a spurious charity and a lowlife George aside, I'm told that the last-minute "get rid of some money" and "last-minute local search for worthy charity" angles are far closer to reality (or were, in the "boom" 1990s) than most of us care to admit.....

I am putting this project idea on hold because, upon taking everyone's input in the matter, and more pressing projects in the preservation field (Sayre's U23B,GN 325 come to mind) Have decided it, as many have also said, is not worth the time or money for an already pressed world of preservation to introduce a 7th SD45 project into the preservation field, that can easily go belly up like so many other projects for various reasons have done.

That being said, I also think that the much larger amount of PRR SD40's would be more worthwhile to pull out and display highlighting a design that survives today on class one railways. While the SD45 was eliminated in the 80's from conrail, SD40s from the same timeframe and era exist in rebuilt forms, and with 2016 being their 50th anniversary of continuous service on a class one, one of the only engine models to survive that long on a continuous line of class ones.

Finally with the final wording, as the Alexander above has stated, it isn't that far off for corporations to make dumps of money to charitable donations. If a corporation were to be convinced to make a massive donation for a huge tax write-off, I think that this project could become a reality, but until then, I shall focus on the massive amount of engines that need restored,repainted,etc.

Did you include in your count SP's first SD45 #7457, ex-8800, preserved at the Utah State Railroad Museum?

I don't think I saw this preserved SD45 in this thread, but it was the subject of an earlier dicussion here this month. It still retains its 645-20, but is missing some other smaller components.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=31894&p=162289&hilit=1776#p162289

Scroll down for it's latest status in the poll

http://www.facebook.com/#!/VA.Museum.Transportation

Here's what SD(P)45 units I know of as preserved

NW 1776- Roanoake, VA
SP 8800- Ogden, UT
EL 3607- St. Louis, MO
GN 400- Twin Cities, MN
WC 7525- Union, IL
WC 7495- Duluth, MN
CR 6670- Roanoake, VA

Roanoke is spelled with only one "a"...:) CR 6670 is an ex EL SDP45. It is on VMT's deaccession list, and is available to anyone who makes a reasonable offer with the intent of preserving it (we're talking way under scrap value here) and can arrange for it's movement in a timely fashion. It would sure look good pulling the ELDCS's equipment......Who knows, for the right price they'd probably even throw in a GG1

The SDP45, Could 5k be a reasonable offer? I'm assuming everything in the yard is not to be displayed at the VMoT?