NC&StL box car/Flying Duchess 0-6-0T from England/KRM

googanelli · **Posted:** Thu Nov 24, 2011 8:20 pm

I am so incredibly dissapointed right now. That plate needs to be in their collection for preservation. That was the biggest engine the L&N ever had. It just goes to show you that they have their priorities in the completely wrong place.

Joe

PLATFORMCAR · **Joined:** Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:22 pm **Posts:** 429

...perhaps Mr. Wilkins will know the answer to this question.... the car shown below.... what is the story with it.... it is at New Haven KY at KRM.. is it some old wooden water tanks that KRM just stored on this flatcar, or was this ever in any kind of service ( revenue or company service ) ... interesting nonetheless...

thanks

Dean Levin

wilkinsd · **Posted:** Fri Nov 25, 2011 10:13 am

Water car from the L&N's Louisville Wreck Train.

Les Beckman · **Joined:** Tue Aug 02, 2005 1:25 pm **Posts:** 6468

wilkinsd wrote:

The ad lists the locomotives as "running when parked" which is misleading to the buyer for the reasons stated below:

1. MRS-1 from a coal company in Western Kentucky. When it arrived at KRM anti freeze was found in the oil. It hasn't run since.

2. Alco S-1, was diagnosed with a bearing problem in the prime mover. Hasn't run in 10+ years.

3. FM Switcher. USA 1846. Truck removed for failed conversion to roller bearing. It ran, but is a "kit."

4. GE 45 ton switchers, numbered 76 and 77. These came from the Naval Ordinance Plant in Louisville. One was somewhat operational, the other was not.

Last month, the KRM board called an emergency membership meeting. I wasn't able to attend, but did learn of what transpired from a trusted source. The Board of Directors stated that the museum was in "great danger" and asked the membership to approve a suspension of the bylaws without going into detail what the danger was, or what the board intended to do about it. With the exception of one lone "no" vote and some abstentions, the measure passed. In other words, the same people that put KRM into the shape it is now, as evidenced in Mr. Levin's photographs, now have unfettered control over the place. They've been on a scrapping spree as well recently, without offering the scrapped equipment for sale or gift to another museum. Then again, what is left of the membership approved it, so they in a way get what they deserve.

My theory is that the hometown bank that holds KRM's debt is not as friendly as it used to be. The bank was bit hard by the mortgage crisis and is operating under an agreement with the FDIC.

About the same time this special, emergency membership meeting was called, I got an issue of the newsletter in the mail. There was no mention of financials, or any impending crisis.

What is happening is a good example of how not to run your museum or grow the membership. When your very existence depends on Thomas and TEA-21 grants, with very little long-term planning or fundraising, this is where you end up. Expecting rich people to donate, without a concrete plan, or a track record of success is a poor way to run a non-profit. Failure to develop the membership, evaluate your collection, and placing too much control in a few hands will not end well.

David - I got an e-mail today that advised that a L&N (ex-C&EI) Troop Sleeper is also being offered for sale. Might this also be at KRM? If so, then it is apparently not just diesels and historic items.

Les

Thomas Cornillie · **Joined:** Sun Apr 29, 2007 7:19 pm **Posts:** 272

Hello all,

Does anyone here have a complete roster of equipment for KRM that they could share or link to? This would be especially helpful for the freight cars - many of which no longer have clear reporting marks or numbers. I suspect that freight cars will be the first to be targeted in any scrapping effort.

rrpicturearchives.net has a good set of photos but many have limited to no caption information. However it seems that the roster could be edited if someone would be willing to provide more notes.

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/locThu ... x?id=48672
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/rsList.aspx?id=KRM

Thanks,
Thomas Cornillie

Note - I had a bit of Déjà vu in making this post - and realized that I made almost the exact same request over 7 years ago.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9924

wilkinsd · **Posted:** Sun Nov 27, 2011 12:12 am

As an update, the attached document arrived in my mail over the Thanksgiving weekend. I have scanned it as a .pdf document and attached it to this post.

I'm shocked, in 18+ years as a member, they finally send out a fundraising letter.

KRM is asking for donations, but they won't tell you what your money will be used for. Is it to build covered storage or repair the equipment (in deplorable shape) as shown in Mr. Levin's photos? Or is it to pay the salary of the executive director who sent the letter and keep the light bill on? At the special membership meeting, referenced in the letter, the Board of Directors asked the membership to indefinitely suspend the bylaws so they they could put some "high rollers" on the board. Never mind that there was already a procedure to appoint non-members to the board. Either way, combined with the eBay auctions, the scrapping and selling of equipment, and now this letter, it appears that things could be very bad for KRM. I think this letter represents that those in charge of KRM have realized the museum is in trouble too late and are doing too little to fix the issue.

PLATFORMCAR · **Joined:** Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:22 pm **Posts:** 429

David... thanks for posting that letter... I read that letter with interest, and I share your same opinion, that a plea for help, with very little specifics as to how that financial help will be utilized is a pretty weak effort on part of the museum. I find it unlikely that members and non members would write checks, solely based upon a vague plea for help, without understand why the need is so great

I wish them the best, however I suspect this effort won't appeal to the masses.... as without specifics I can think of a quick hundred worthy preservation projects that would immediately be better suited for my donation dollars...

Perhaps David or Les can comment... is this the C&EI trooper sleeper previously mentioned.. ( picture taken in New Haven )

thanks

Dean Levin

Les Beckman · **Joined:** Tue Aug 02, 2005 1:25 pm **Posts:** 6468

PLATFORMCAR wrote:

David... thanks for posting that letter... I read that letter with interest, and I share your same opinion, that a plea for help, with very little specifics as to how that financial help will be utilized is a pretty weak effort on part of the museum. I find it unlikely that members and non members would write checks, solely based upon a vague plea for help, without understand why the need is so great

I wish them the best, however I suspect this effort won't appeal to the masses.... as without specifics I can think of a quick hundred worthy preservation projects that would immediately be better suited for my donation dollars...

Perhaps David or Les can comment... is this the C&EI trooper sleeper previously mentioned.. ( picture taken in New Haven )

thanks

Dean Levin

Dean -

Your photo is actually of a Troop KITCHEN car, rather than a Troop SLEEPER. I'd be interested in knowing whether this car was in service for the L&N, or C&EI or C&O or ....? Of course, KRM doesn't publish a roster of their equipment so can't find out that way.

Les

wilkinsd · **Posted:** Mon Nov 28, 2011 11:10 am

Les,

That is the only WWII era troop car at KRM, the one Mr. Levin pictured. It's of L&N origin, I believe, from a wreck train. It was the wood shop when the museum was in Louisville. I don't know where it was before it came to the L&N, it may have been C&EI, or may have come to the L&N from government service.

I think the C&EI troop sleeper is at another museum. As Les' e-mail indicated, it wasn't clear in the intial contact to him where the car was.

Didn't the Railway Museum of Greater Cincinnati have a C&EI troop sleeper?

With regard to the roster, or lack thereof, there hasn't been a roster published by KRM since the late 1980s when it was part of the annual report. An annual report hasn't been issued to the membership in decades, though the financials are always avaiable for inspection at the annual meeting (sure, who has the time at the short meeting to actually review the financials and ask questions?)

If one is interested in a roster, perhaps they could contact KRM and get a list from the old annual reports. Few things have been added since then, it should be easy to reconstruct. Then again, I doubt KRM even has a full list of what they own.

wilkinsd · **Posted:** Mon Nov 28, 2011 2:16 pm

Les,

This is the car someone probably was refrencing when they sent you the email. For clarification it is not at KRM.

David

http://www.ozarkmountainrailcar.com/detail.asp?id=591&n=LN-Troop-Sleeper

Les Beckman · **Joined:** Tue Aug 02, 2005 1:25 pm **Posts:** 6468

wilkinsd wrote:

Les,

That is the only WWII era troop car at KRM, the one Mr. Levin pictured. It's of L&N origin, I believe, from a wreck train. It was the wood shop when the museum was in Louisville. I don't know where it was before it came to the L&N, it may have been C&EI, or may have come to the L&N from government service.

I think the C&EI troop sleeper is at another museum. As Les' e-mail indicated, it wasn't clear in the intial contact to him where the car was.

Didn't the Railway Museum of Greater Cincinnati have a C&EI troop sleeper?

David -

If the Railway Museum of Greater Cincinnati does indeed have a C&EI Troop sleeper, it is not on their list of equipment. Of course, they don't have every piece of equipment listed I don't believe.

Les

wilkinsd · **Posted:** Mon Nov 28, 2011 5:30 pm

Les, I was "thinking out loud" before I found the Ozark ad. The photos show that it is not at RRMGC or KRM.

nictd1000 · **Joined:** Fri Oct 17, 2008 1:30 pm **Posts:** 73

I wonder if that car is actually the one listed at a museum in Alabama. The one that also has a ex Monon Troop Sleeper baggage.

Ryan

etalcos · **Posted:** Mon Nov 28, 2011 11:24 pm

The Ozark Mtn. car is indeed at the North Alabama RR Museum in Huntsville.

ETA

wilkinsd · **Posted:** Wed Nov 30, 2011 12:28 pm

As a semi-related update, I knew the KRM had in its possession a lot of records from the Kentucky & Indiana Terminal Railroad. The records have been sitting, for some time, with no real plan or vision to catalog them. Given the fact that KRM has other challenges it is facing now, I contacted a historical society in Louisville to see if they were interested in taking possession of the records. They are, and I put them into contact with KRM.

Hopefully some good can come of this.

NC&StL box car/Flying Duchess 0-6-0T from England/KRM

Who is online