> Sorry, but mid continents back lot does look
> like a junk yard. Why cant they put up
> buildings like real good museums like
> illinois railway museum does to keep the
> cars in until they fix them? Ill bet the
> money they spent on restoring that last car
> could have put up a couple sheds.

> NW

Illinois Railway Museum assesses each car that comes on the property something like $100 (or more now) a car foot to put up buildings. And this money has to come into the treasury at the same time the car is acquired. Look at any of IRM's acquisition fund raiser bulletins that come with its newsletter.

Many of IRM's original buildings were funded by donations by several monied donors that gifted money repeatedly.

Every museum has a "back room." With railway museums and other "Large Outdoor Object Museums" this space has to be larger than a single room. IRM and some other railway museums have been able to actually fund a room large enough to hold railroad cars.

Mid-Continent has managed to gather togeather one of the premier collections of 1900 era railway equipment. I have visited it twice several years apart. I have to admit I was surprised to find the same displays in the depot on the second visit. And while the exhibit building was wonderful, it seemed that the same locomotive was inside the shop and the same cars out behind it.

I don't know if private ownership is helping or hindering the cars. But, often private ownership hinders the museum. Maybe you can't move the car. Maybe the owner has got kids and a sick mother and can't come out and put on that exterior paint he promissed two years ago (and he won't let anyone else touch the car).

The museum that I'm involved with acted something like 30 years ago to terminate private ownership of equipment at its site. Anything new coming to the site had to deeded to the museum or acquired directly by the museum. It moved forward to obtain ownership of the privately owned cars and has been sucessful.

Brian Norden

bnorden49@earthlink.net

> Illinois Railway Museum assesses each car
> that comes on the property something like
> $100 (or more now) a car foot to put up
> buildings. And this money has to come into
> the treasury at the same time the car is
> acquired. Look at any of IRM's acquisition
> fund raiser bulletins that come with its
> newsletter.

You forgot to add that IRM's bylaws require the General Manager to find and acquire at least one new piece of equipment each month, whether we need it or not. The purpose of this bylaw is to ensure that there will never be any empty yard tracks, which might otherwise float away in the next heavy rain. I understand there's been some suggestions to change this to three weeks, but it hasn't been approved by the Board yet.

Oh, Randall.....you might have said that you were joking!! The GM is heavily into acquisitions, but there is no policy to acquire at the speed of light! Also, the track space [not barn space] charge is $75, not $100 per foot.

beast@mc.net

Also, the track space [not barn space] charge is $75,
not $100 per foot.

What is the barn space cost ???
$100/ft would be cheap for what you get!


lamontdc@adelphia.net

> What is the barn space cost ???
> $100/ft would be cheap for what you get!

The basic requirement for new IRM acquisitions is track space, which is $75/foot. The theory behind this is that it covers the cost to the Museum of building the track that the acquisition will sit on. Above and beyond that is barn space - if you want to put the car inside, it's an additional charge (I think it's somewhere around $100/foot) that covers much of the cost to the Museum of building the barn. Our barns are 400' long and four tracks wide, which means that track space "subscriptions" will theoretically pay something like $160,000 towards construction of a new barn.

Frank Hicks

fullparallel@wideopenwest.com

> Also, the track space [not barn space]
> charge is $75,
> not $100 per foot.

> What is the barn space cost ???
> $100/ft would be cheap for what you get!

It varies, based on the actual costs for construction. Right now, we're estimating around $105-110/track foot. And with any luck at all, within the next 6-9 months you will see THREE new carbarns at IRM, adding around 5,000 feet of indoor track space (a 50% increase over our present two miles) and a permanent shop area for the Steam Coach and Freight Car Departments. This construction project (still in the planning/approval stage by our BOD) was made possible not only by track fees, but also a completely unsolicited and unexpected bequest of over $500,000 from a one-time visitor who was impressed with the collection and the friendly volunteer who gave him a private tour. The money was supposed to go to another non-profit (non-railroad) organization, but they ticked off the donor and were rude to him, so he changed his will. Just goes to show that sometimes, the best thing any of us can do is smile and make nice with the visitors, no matter how off-the-wall the questions might be.

And yes, Mr. Hicks was kidding. There is NO standing order on the number of pieces of new equipment to be acquired...other than steam, of course.

kevinmccabe@avenew.com

What's the standing order on steam acquisitions, if I may ask?

Sincerely,
David Ackerman


david_ackerman@yahoo.com

> I'd like to respectfully take exception to
> the comment made in regards to private
> collectors. I've found many collectors have
> prevented numerous scrappings. Furthermore,
> I have seen many collectors as concerned or
> more concerned about historical fabric than
> some museums. Some collectors do better than
> some museums and some museums do better than
> some collectors--it' a two-way street.

Point taken. I generally take a dim view of private collectors because there are so many horror stories, but of course there are exceptions to any rule. By "collectors" I was thinking mostly of the people who have amassed large collections of equipment no individual can possibly handle, not someone who's taking good care of one car.

> What's the standing order on steam
> acquisitions, if I may ask?

> Sincerely,
> David Ackerman

Same as everything else, really--historic significance, condition, availability, cost to purchase/transport, likelihood of restoration funding, availability of track space funding, and the many other considerations that go into every acquisition (and that must be detailed in writing before the Board will consider it).


kevinmccabe@avenew.com

I understand where you are coming from. I know there's one particular piece of equipment I would love to have whose current owner does nothing with it (and does not want to part with it). There's definately a fair share of bad seeds and horror stories that have come from the private community over the years.

Regards,
Gerald W. Kopiasz

> Point taken. I generally take a dim view of
> private collectors because there are so many
> horror stories, but of course there are
> exceptions to any rule. By
> "collectors" I was thinking mostly
> of the people who have amassed large
> collections of equipment no individual can
> possibly handle, not someone who's taking
> good care of one car.


hrrhs@aol.com

Guys we are dealing with large artifacts, you have to have a certin amount of junkyard. You should keep it out of site a s much as you can.

The Mid-Continent has just spent a lot of money restoring a passenger car and is spending money on getting their C&NW steam engine back in shape.

There are all good projects, the kind of things museumsvof all kinds should do.

I am glad that one of the Master Craftsman involved, Glen Gurea, has the Western Railway Museum next on his project list. He will soon be comimg to California to do the rest of the woodwork on the SN 1005.

The steel frame was riveted back together this past summer. It looks great!

ted_miles@nps.gov

> I read on this site the praise for mid
> continent. Have any of you actually been
> there and seen all the railcars that are
> just rotting away while they make a few look
> really pretty and then hype them up? And all
> their steam engines are rusting away to junk
> while they pull their pretty cars with an
> old alco switch engine. That museeum is in
> really sad shape despite all theyre hype.
I suggest to CNWguy that he volunteer his time and talent to help Mid-Continent restore equipment. All those cars out behind the Car Shop are scheduled to be restored. Many or most have a tarp over them to prevent further deterioration. Some are residence cars whose owners work first on Museum projects, then on their own sleeping quarters. There is so much to do, some little time, so little money, but it is a labor of love, fully archived. Come join us!
> NW


JSteamernubes@aol.com

Kevin-

What is the status of GTW 6323? Is she still privately owned? Is her condition such that she could be more than static display?

TJ

Port Huron Museum

tjgaffney@phmuseum.org

> Kevin-

> What is the status of GTW 6323? Is she still
> privately owned? Is her condition such that
> she could be more than static display?

> TJ

No, not privately owned anymore. As to "more than a static display," sure--got half a mill or so? Like any large steam loco, the overhaul process is both time- and money-intensive. I'd love to see it run (though not as much as our CB&Q Hudson, perhaps), but until someone (a) donates the funds and (b) provides a good reason to do it, such as a guaranteed place for regular running, I wouldn't hold my breath.


kevinmccabe@avenew.com

> Kevin, I seemed to recall a couple years ago, you folks had an effort to /public discussion of restore(ing) the Hudson(3007?) is that still an ongoing project or shelved?

superheater@beer.com