Little surprise to find NRHS "on the margin" - and continuing to fade out.

At Glenmont NY, two early "gearless" NYC locomotives (S-1 100, T-3 278) rust away, perhaps the most important extant examples of their period. Their neglect has, if anything, been facilitated by the actions of NRHS, and its Mohawk-Hudson Chapter, in particular.

NRHS knows the importance of these engines and their omission from their "endangered" list is not inadvertent!

Their failure to provide for their care, or to seek others willing or capable of doing so, is a shameless disgrace.

NRHS, like all other non profits is required to follow certain accounting rules which require donations made towards certain projects to be only be used for their intended purpose.

The Alaska convention is a separate project supported by ticket sales which are doing so much better than expected that capacity has already been added to some events.

Net income from it, can be expected to support other NRHS events including RailCamp which is intended to operate at just break even or somewhat below

Details on both events can be found at NRHS.com

Bob H

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.

Many of us are well aware of the travails and perils of the Mohawk & Hudson Chapter as custodians of these and other pieces of rolling stock, and you are unlikely to find any defenders of that Chapter here. But please elaborate on how the "neglect was facilitated" by the national NRHS. This rises beyond claims of wanton neglect, and implies willful neglect, and/or obstruction of preservation efforts/offers by other parties.

I inquire about this in search of constructive criticism, not mindless venting. The role of the national NRHS, aside from various rather small grants, has never been to directly assume responsibility for the actual hands-on preservation of rolling stock, stations, and artifacts, aside from a film and book library (now in storage) and the Alco photo collection (debate that in a separate topic, please). However, I will fully agree that those locos were far more deserving of nomination as "endangered American rail landmarks" than much of what the NRHS did nominate recently.

When someone criticizes the status quo, my near-automatic response is "Suggest a viable alternative." I've not heard of anyone that wants to "rescue" these locomotives that has any shred of capability in that regard.

The NYC electrics (a U25B and RS3 also) were probably left off the list because there is a very serious (and funded) effort to remove them from the property and move them to safe homes. The only thing holding this up is the adjacent property owners un-willingness to allow the movers onto their property.

Otherwise, yes, they should probably be at the very top of the list.

FYI the Mohawk & Hudson is no longer involved with these pieces. They transferred ownership of the locomotives to the Berkshire Scenic in an effort to save them. They should be given a little credit for that (it was also previous individuals that are no longer with the group that caused the initial poor situation).

I think some items were left off the list simply because they couldn't list everything...
The funny part is that at the board meeting at the Tacoma convention in 2011, there was a huge argument over Alaska being a viable location. Several people (mostly from chapters in the Northeast, I noticed) argued nobody would go. It got so bad, the president of the NRHS took the mike and reminded everyone, "Uh, you folks are aware that Alaska is one of the 50 states, right?" which countered a comment I didn't hear but took that someone was considering this a convention in a foreign country. Being in the state closest to Alaska, I think a few (myself included) were more than a little offended to hear such a backlash against a convention that wasn't in the usual expected locations. Heck, I heard grumbling from people at the Tacoma convention that Tacoma was "way too far away from anything" in the words of one attendee (who was also from the Northeast)...
I'm glad to hear the Alaska convention is shaping up. A scheduling conflict is the only thing keeping me from going.

Actually there already has been a foreign NRHS convention....

In Toronto, 1980 sponsored by the Buffalo chapter.

Bob H

Back to the topic of the endangered items, the Gary Station is a bombed out shell and I think it's well past endangered. I am surprised if it did not self destruct without assistance in a strong wind. Most of the listings are reasonable enough if you make the term "endangered" a sort of generic yellow caution flag. In comparison, I think the NTHP does a much better job of defining endangered in more specific terms.
http://www.preservationnation.org/issues/11-most-endangered/america-s-11-most-endangered-historic-places.html#.UY69WKI3uSo

You are right that it should be a separate argument. That being said, the NRHS does hold some responsibility in that the M&H Chapter, along with at least 5 others I know of, have essentially ceased being functional chapters with members, meetings, elections, etc. In the case of M&H the national allowed there logo to be used and in fact they promoted the whole Alco library after it was obvious that the Chapter and their role in the collection falling into, shall we politely say "disorder" was obvious as multiple people contacted the National to express concern over the situation.

So the National did not create the situation with those electrics. They certainly (had) have an obligation to revoke the status of chapters no longer meeting minimum standards (which it did know was the case with M&H for a long time). But once they do this and a number of "living dead" chapters are deleted then the pretense of being a national organization goes away.

Well, if it's not a "national" organization, what is? R&LHS? TRAIN/ARM? The subscriber list of Trains Magazine or NARP e-mails?

I would agree that chapters, like mens' lodges or quilting bees, deserve to "die" when the membership dissipates, loses interest, etc. There are/were a whole bunch of Chapters in SR territory whose sole function seemed to be running SR/NS steam excursions. There are some who failed in their missions, and others for whom the mission failed them in spite of their efforts (the failure of the Hagerstown group to save the Hagerstown roundhouse being an example). There are other chapters that might as well just become "Friends of the Railroad Preservation Project We Support".

But the NRHS remains national in membership and scope--for now.

Recently I was going through the notebooks and scrapbooks of a rail historian and NRHS member who, at the time he was alive, must have been the only member in a 50-mile radius from his home. I blundered across a postcard sent in inquiry to a Chapter in 1954 with regards to a historical inquiry he had about a railroad in that state (not his own). The reply indicated that the Chapter secretary sent him membership information for the NRHS. which I think got him to join--in 1954.

Here's the kicker: The guy who replied on behalf of the Chapter is STILL the same Chapter's membership secretary--in 2013.

Two years have already passed since this NRHS "endangered" list was published. Has anything positive happened to these endangered objects and entities since then?


http://www.nrhs.com/news/nrhs-announces ... -landmarks

ACL 1504 has been repainted this year: https://www.facebook.com/ACL1504

Move E.B.T. to the top of the list. Add B&LE 643. Add NYC 3001. Trust that the A.C.L. Pacific is safe. As for the rest, we can just hope for the best.

Tom

https://www.facebook.com/savetheliongardiner

Well the Lion Gardiner has had some progress, new owners and moved to Colebrook for restoration.

Rich C.

Update on the Stewartstown Railroad

We are back up and running again. May 2015 marked the first time that a revenue passenger train ran again on the rails. Former Reading Coach 1341 is 2 months away from nearing completion. We will be running every weekend in October and December.