http://www.onlinesentinel.com/news/Wate ... tive_.html
Maine Central 470 has come up yet again...

In short, New England Steam Corporation has a tight business plan and political backing from state officials to make this work. The locomotive will be rebuilt and operated in along two tourist corridors with independent tourist operations, one being the Downeast Scenic Railroad in Ellsworth, along the Acadia National Park corridor, the other along the Maine Eastern Railroad, from Rockland to Brunswick. Both railroads have signed letters of agreement with NESCO. Pan American has agreed to move the locomotive in tow, once the journals and bearings are addressed. Is short, we have done a heck of a lot of work to make this happen. What happens now remains in the hands of the City Council.

I can not make further commentary in this arena until the matter is settled. I am certain Mayor Karen Heck would welcome your opinions, either by email or telephone.

mayor1@waterville-me.gov

http://www.waterville-me.gov/department ... /index.php

Have you gotten back to the reporter yet?

Sounds like some fact checking is in order and some reporters are good at running stories w/o doing this.

Bob H

I have sent an email to the Mayor asking her support for the New England Steam Co. proposal to restore MEC 470. It is a great thing to have this loco stay in the state of Maine and to once again prowl our railroads.

Bob D.

To add to what Dick said, please send emails to the council members as well with your support for NESCo. They will be voting on it and your input helps.

Their contact info is at the link Dick posted.

I'd think they would be overjoyed to get paid anything to have the liability taken off their hands.

It might be useful for NES Co. to post their credentials and business plan for the sake of credibility if expressions of support are desired. Right now i don't know anything about them other than Richard is involved, which is a positive thing, but I'm not going to endorse a program about which I know very little.

dave

Well Done, Richard Well Done....

It's the effort of a host of dedicated people, Terry. There appears to be a surge of "nay sayers", totally expected, expressing themselves on Facebook. THose people who believe we have a better idea should email the City Council and Mayor, no later than this afternoon.

BTW, all official commentary will be delivered through the website. We do have a Facebook page as well, but the only commentary anyone should believe will come via the website.

Please wish us luck, get aboard, link our website to your groups website, remember us in your will, involve your company, buy products bearing our logo "The Mascot of Maine" , get vocal about demanding a better future for 470, and by all means, visit us regularly!

Our first reading with the City Council went well, with concerns voiced by one Councilor and two citizens, one who suggested lead paint removal and asbestos abatement plus a fence and paint job for $5,000 . One wanted to restore the locomotive as an Eagle Scout project or have the local college kids take it on as an event. There are two more readings scheduled, the next in two weeks.

We would appreciate your taking the time to thoughtfully compose an email supporting operational restoration of MEC 470, rather than leaving it standing unprotected and deteriorating as it has for 60 years.

http://www.waterville-me.gov/city-government.php

I think the "mascot of waterville"l has a better ring to it. Anywho, a fence, lead and asbestos abatement, sandblasting and a paint job cannot be done for $5000 nor did the citizen say that last night. What the citizen said was that there was a locomotive which was sandblasted and painted down in New Jersey for around $5000. They had some paint donated by Sherwin Williams and they had some volunteers helping out. A fence will need to be constructed around this locomotive either way for liability reasons. I also believe some sort of structure should be built around the locomotive to protect it. I do not believe the city of waterville should hoard the locomotive if they never intend on doing anything with it. The locomotive is in unbelievable shape and I believe with just a paint job we can hang on to it for at least another five years until we can make a well informed decision. Richard knows that that locomotive only needs cosmetic work in order to stay in good shape. now I do appreciate what everyone is trying to do with the locomotive and by all means if you've got 3 million dollars and you can make this thing roll I'm all for it but show me the money. Don't come at me with some $10,000 grant that may get I can get the same grant. You also can't just buy this locomotive and sit on it for 2 years hoping you'll get some money someday to work on it like your 1969 Nash project in your garage. You know what I mean if you're just going to sit on it then we can sit on it how about a coat of paint until we all decide collectively how to get this thing rolling down the tracks. And just so everyone knows it seems to me that they're strong ties to this locomotive in the city of waterville and they do not want to see it leaving the state especially for measly $25k that will barely heat City Hall for 6 months. I hope that somewhere someway someone can come up with some money and restore this thing and get it on the tracks I think that would be awesome why doesn't everyone get together collectively and form their own committee and get this thing going. Together we have enough manpower and money to get this project done but everyone wants to own it for themselves

I think the "mascot of waterville"l has a better ring to it. Anywho, a fence, lead and asbestos abatement, sandblasting and a paint job cannot be done for $5000 nor did the citizen say that last night. What the citizen said was that there was a locomotive which was sandblasted and painted down in New Jersey for around $5000. They had some paint donated by Sherwin Williams and they had some volunteers helping out. A fence will need to be constructed around this locomotive either way for liability reasons. I also believe some sort of structure should be built around the locomotive to protect it. I do not believe the city of waterville should hoard the locomotive if they never intend on doing anything with it. The locomotive is in unbelievable shape and I believe with just a paint job we can hang on to it for at least another five years until we can make a well informed decision. Richard knows that that locomotive only needs cosmetic work in order to stay in good shape. now I do appreciate what everyone is trying to do with the locomotive and by all means if you've got 3 million dollars and you can make this thing roll I'm all for it but show me the money. Don't come at me with some $10,000 grant that may get I can get the same grant. You also can't just buy this locomotive and sit on it for 2 years hoping you'll get some money someday to work on it like your 1969 Nash project in your garage. You know what I mean if you're just going to sit on it then we can sit on it how about a coat of paint until we all decide collectively how to get this thing rolling down the tracks. And just so everyone knows it seems to me that they're strong ties to this locomotive in the city of waterville and they do not want to see it leaving the state especially for measly $25k that will barely heat City Hall for 6 months. I hope that somewhere someway someone can come up with some money and restore this thing and get it on the tracks I think that would be awesome why doesn't everyone get together collectively and form their own committee and get this thing going. Together we have enough manpower and money to get this project done but everyone wants to own it for themselves

Semp, I'd like to point out this sort of thing is not unheard of and has happened in the past. Look at ATSF 2926 and NKP 765, both formally owned by cities and have/are being/been restored to full operation by private donations and grants. One of the points of the meeting brought up by the councilors was the lack of funds NESCo has. But without having an agreement with the locomotive, no donations will come. The same councilor got a quote for a city owned museum for 470 and the Lombard tractor to be housed together and have them both restored would cost $3 million. Operational restoration of 470 will cost half that.

Semp's memory of the exchange is in error.
We will not engage in such an argument.

the New england steam group looks dedicated to me, the city might be mis-understood about "taking it apart". If its done like 765 was, it will go just fine.

Looks like a smart looking engine to restore and run.