The recent discussions on here about builder's plates on Ebay brings to mind the long term effects of acquiring and disposing of railroadiana.

As a teenager in the 1950's, I recall many railfans telling stories of how they "preserved" various items but mainly builder's plates, number plates, headlights, bells and whistles from steam locos slated for scrap. Some did visit lines of dead steam engines with chisels and hammers for sure. Some had "inside connections" that advised which engines were going to scrap and were allowed to remove the items they wanted. And, some railroads or scrap dealers sold items to railfans directly.
Some claimed they were merely "preserving" the items since they were "going to scrap anyway".

For instance, the ICRR sold items at Paducah Shops. CN, GTW and B&O had company sales operations and the prices were reasonable. IC's prices included headlights with number boards for $ 20.00, whistles for $ 65.00, bells for $ 80.00. (I bought a headlight for $ 20.00 from the IC.)

Other items I paid for during those days include an L&N headlight for $ 8.00, N&W Y6 builder's plate for $ 5.00, GTW 4-8-4 builder's plate for $ 5.00, etc., etc. I had several lanterns given to me from a roundhouse foreman and I bought a pair of marker lights for $ 15.00 which were shipped to the IC freight house in Louisville.

Skip ahead to 1999... I bought more number and builder's plates from widows of passed-on railfans by either direct sale or auction ranging from $150 to $ 2,000 each.
The last one is from a famous loco so I went nuts and spent too much for it. But, that's my perogative. So far as I know, none of my items are from existing locomotives. However, in one of the auctions the original plates from ATSF 3751 appeared. I don't know if the buyer consequently made them available to today's owners of the loco or not.

I once found a Pullman door plate with the name of a car I owned for sale on Ebay. I contacted the seller and he told me, "Good luck in the auction". I didn't bid.

The issue here is, are some of the plates surfacing today originally stolen items? Probably. If it's know that an item is from a preserved locomotive, should it be sent back to the owner free from the seller? I think so.
But the others, from long-scrapped engines are at this point merely souvenirs and should be worth what the market will bear. How can you go back 50 years to prosecute a person who's passed on, or his widow who probably doesn't have any idea how he obtained the item or how much he paid for it 50 years ago?

Are we going to have a railfan police brigade to go around to all the auctions and train shows?

Those who have these collections should make up an itemized list of their collections with descriptions, dates acquired, prices paid and estimated current values and put it in their safe deposit boxes if they intend to hold on to everyhing until they croak. The list would be helpful to widows or estates when the time comes to either sell the collection or donate it to a museum. (BTW, not all museums are worthy of or interested in receiving these collections.)

Just my 2 cent's worth.

-Jim Herron

hrvideo@mindspring.com

Another situation that arose with industrial and shortline railroads was the abandonment of locomotives following closure or bankruptcy, later to have the locomotives acquired and preserved in a museum.

Awhile back, I was contacted by an owner of a MLW builder's plate. I believe the story behind it was that this father or other relative had taken from a locomotive that had been abandoned. When I pointed out the locomotive was now in a museum, the plate's owner told me he was going to contact the museum and try to reunite the plate with the locomotive.

But even this a very grey area. The Long Leaf lumber mill was shut down for a couple of decades before it was made a museum, but the assets were still owned by the Crowell family. Some builder's plates and probably other items were taken during that time. If the holders are found, they could probably be prosecuted for stealing, since the property was probably posted during it's time of abandonment. I would imagine, however, that the museum would just like to have the plates back.

That the Reading plates were removed from the locomotives during the time they were in service has already been documented. It was highly likely they were not purchased outright, but removed either by railfan or employee.

But to lump all holders of such items as theives was also the tone that bothered me. What makes this all difficult to comprehend is the fact that something that had so little value at one time that anyone could pick them up for next to nothing can now net hundreds on e-bay. Even if the plates were "unofficially liberated", the persons doing so probably thought the locomotives would be scrapped one day, and the railroad itself didn't care.

-James Hefner
Hebrews 10:20a

Surviving World Steam Locomotives
james1@pernet.net

One railfan found the boiler test plaque from SP 4-8-4 #4460 at a flea market or the like and bought it for just a few bucks. This is the plate that goes on the backhead of the loco, in the cab. Knowing that the Museum of Transportation had this loco in its collection he sent it to us, asking nothing in return. This is so nice, as well as rare, that we encourage others to follow suit. I hope the guys who took one of our GG1 headlights some time back follow his example.

Museum of Transportation
rdgoldfede@aol.com

Obviously, anyone who steals a plate or anything else from an operating railroad, museum, or private individual is a criminl and should be prosecuted if and when caught.

hrvideo@mindspring.com

> Obviously, anyone who steals a plate or
> anything else from an operating railroad,
> museum, or private individual is a criminl
> and should be prosecuted if and when caught.

That's true, but I'm a bit shocked at the venom displayed here. When we KNOW full well that people will steal from their aged mothers, churches, and even orphanages (look at the 3 looted in Iraq), should we REALLY be expending all this energy and hate over a couple little pieces of scrap metal just becaus they belonged to a RAILROAD?

Find a copy of the theft report and turn it over to the authoritities, or simply pay the going rate if you want them that badly. But PLEASE lets try to keep things in perspective. Okay?