I think a major change in many people thinking needs to be made when it comes to disposition and deaccessionment of equipment.

I know a party that purchased a piece of equipment from the Baldwin group several years ago. At the time he had inquired of the others sitting nearby. He was told they were not for sale. Fast forward to this summer when an advanced party was sent to take pictures in prepration for loading. And all the equipment that had been asked for was being cut up in the back ground. A little planning and for thought would have made this out come a little different.

Same party was considering a SD9. An add on RYPN listed one. One of the terms being "must be removed in 90 days". Killed any thought of it right there.

I am currently in the middle of shipping a blue carded running locomotive that has taken almost 90 days to get thru the class 1 hoops and logistics. I can't imagine how long it would take any all volunteer museum to work it out in their spare time!

90 & 180 day terms are NOT actually trying to save equipment. That's just enough time to stress people out. Here I have a carrot that I wouldn't offer for 50 years, and now you have 90 days to do something about it. That doesn't give the unexpecting a chance to even consider it.

We can debate the future of "preserved" equipment until we're blue in the face, BUT the list format on the front page is a very good starting point in an effort to save a few pieces.

Case in point: A small transportation museum in NY state went on a scrapping binge about two years ago. Some very nice equipment was cut up, including a semi operational steam-powered clam shell crane. Now some will chime in with "If you yourself couldn't save it or move it asap or preserve it once you took possession, then advance notification would be a waste if time and wouldn't change a thing".

To this I say Horse Sh...! Why? Because my company found out as scrappers were working ON SITE and were able to rescue a DL&W piggyback flat, truck it to safety, preserve it and eventually find the correct trailer to put on it. Rescues happen. This one was almost by accident.

Is this the exception to the rule? Absolutely. However, not every organization is penniless or overburdened. There are people out there who want certain things and have the means to acquire, move and preserve them.

So if there's a mechanism put together to advertise pieces on the chopping block and it sees maybe one or two out of every hundred items saved while the rest get scrapped, I think it's better than all hundred being lost. Quite frankly I'd be glad to assist in the effort.

Dave

Excellent and very crucial point, which can't be repeated anough. Don't be penniless and overburdened. If you are, figure out why and what steps you need to take to change it.

dave

We have two reliable mechanisms already available: the ARM/Train Quarterly magazine and the classifieds on this website. What we need is an awareness campaign to let our fellow preservers know these resources are available. Perhaps Bros. Ledbetter, Mitchell, Isaacs, Wrinn and others unknown to me could collaborate to get some column inches in the Quarterly and TRAINS, to name two publications. A well written story regarding deaccessioning and/or sale of equipment, highlighting some success stories, near-misses, and a few that got away like the examples already shared in this thread could go a long way.

Wesley

I don't disagree with the above discussions, BUT...

I don't think "save" means what you think it means.

Scenario 1: "Saving equipment by moving it". 20 railroad museums deaccession 20 cars each, and acquire 20 cars each. They spend ten grand a car moving them, so they have spent $200,000 moving. Now the 20x20 cars are "in the right place" and thus "saved".

Scenario 2: 20 railroad museums each spend $200,000 on a car barn which holds 20 cars.

Which of these really saves cars?

Seems to me the contents of the City Point Museum at Belfast, Maine, is a perfect candidate for this sort of listing.

If nobody does anything restorative or preservative to the cars subsequently, or they're not made presentable or accessible to the public..................... neither.

And what if somebody might, but it is not known yet whether they will?

Here's another one: Which is MORE likely to get restored: the car in the rain, or the car in the carbarn? Hint: Which one is a volunteer likely to be more motivated TO restore?

[quote="robertmacdowellHere's another one: Which is MORE likely to get restored: the car in the rain, or the car in the carbarn? Hint: Which one is a volunteer likely to be more motivated TO restore?[/quote]

The one which appeals to him or her from a purely emotional rather than rational perspective. How it is housed won't make a difference.

How did a discussion about an information exchange turn into yet another carbarn debate?

dave

Railway Museums and Tourist Railroads are not the only places our artifacts can find good homes.

I recently visited the Mill City Museum (as in milling grain into flour) in Minneapolis. A beautifully restored GN wood boxcar is used with mannequins to show the loading of sacks of flour.

The town of Isaquah, WA just paid big bucks to have a Portuguese tram restored to run on a short piece of track. At least one U.S. streetcar, which will never be restored, sits just down the road in Yakama, WA.

The town of Wheeling, WV approached Seashore asking for their trolley back. Nothing happened.

At the Amtrak Station in Salma, NC I just found this beauty.


I'm sure you get my point. We need to think broader than intermural interchange.