Howard, I don't think anyone was trying to diminish the amount of work done, simply stating that if we count the OEM replacement parts you guys sourced from the ends of the Earth as original material (and they are) then there was very little that isn't 'original fabric' that needed to be replicated. I took that as a compliment, and I think you should, too.

Dennis

"About the only "reconstruction" the hydraulic guys have had to do is rebuild the short hood."

That is the part that really got my goat. If the writer would have bothered to look through the web site, he would have seen all the parts that needed (and still need) to be replicated. The #2 cooling section doors and rooftop aftercooler lines were major efforts. Maybe its an ego thing, feeling that those efforts are forgotten or ignored.

Howard

Even I know not to question the amount of work the Niles Canyon guys have put in to restore/reconstruct the SP 9010! Its not your typical restoration project. Its in a league of its own.

Mr. Wise, I have been following the restoration progress of the 9010 for years just wanted to say you guys have done a fantastic job! Looking forward to seeing it move under it's own power one day soon. Thank you.

Thank you for your kind comments!

Howard

P-51… There are stories that during the Vietnam war, if the registration number could recovered, the aircraft was not “lost”… but this was more political than rational

Sandy… while restoring a TR-3 some years ago I ended up replacing the frame… California’s DMV still considered it the car I started with, not the car that donated the frame… so maybe the frame is not the sacred cow…

Howard… No one can diminish the effort and result that has resulted in bringing back SP 9010… It is a full blown restoration, probably the best in railroad preservation… well beyond what has been done or will be done with either of the PAs… More defendable than the incredible effort that brought back the V&T McKeen…(see note below) You and your team) are not only restoring the carbody, but restoring the drive train… a Krauss-Maffei (as owned by the SP) was its drive train… hydraulic rather than electric… and its German “high speed” diesel engines… not only have you rebuilt the lost cab and other carbody parts, but you have made one engine operable, and recovered from Europe the parts to reconstruct the drive as designed…

Dave… yes… “Period of Significance” is the key… if you take the time to research and understand the artifact, then you can define the artifact and establish a period of significance, and from that plan the work needed to restore the object…

To the original question… there is no test which says that if this object is 51% original its original… (insert your specific percentage as needed) but instead, it’s the identification of the significance, and all that it was… appearance, significant systems, and occasionally smoke or sounds, and from that, how the work to return the object to its appearance and operation was achieved… Removing a rusted panel and replacing it with a new, functionally and visually accurate replacement does not diminish a mechanical object… Locating, acquiring and using appropriate salvage or other original parts to replace missing or deteriorated components does not diminish the finished product… Making good choices when original parts are not available or cannot be fabricated is good practice, but does make the finished object less original… and is a slippery slope… a 12 cylinder Alco 251 in place of a 16 cylinder Alco 241 may be the only option, but moves away from the specifications of the locomotive as built, but may represent the specifications of the locomotive as rebuilt as some point (back to Dave’s “period of significance” question) And will in many ways sound like and maybe smoke like the original...

Randy

“the note below…” Having completed the McKeen, the same team restored a 1875 Baldwin narrow gauge 2-6-0 from Carson & Tahoe Lumber & Flume… maybe the most accurate original restoration for operation of a 19th century locomotive yet attempted… based on scholarship… old parts located and refurbished, new parts carefully crafted copies of originals with minimal changes (all well documented) to allow operation in a modern regulated environment…