Seaway News: https://www.cornwallseawaynews.com/2021 ... f-neglect/

Interesting philosophy...

Wow! Facadism returns. It was a huge trend in architectural “preservation” that has mercifully been beaten back in recent years. It’s the old “we’re going to save the old Main Street department store by ‘preserving’ the front wall and building a box store behind it.” It’s a terrible philosophy for buildings or trains.

I'm more amazed that the Baldwin Worksplate is still attached to the loco in the photo in the article.

Only held on by 3 screws in 2007...


At least the loco seemed to have been freshly painted back then..

Isn't this the former Salt Lake & Utah locomotive #106 built in 1930?

I think someone is in for a major disappointment.

Yes. Then purchased by the Grand River Railway in Ontario in 1946 before being purchased by the Cornwall Street Railway in 1962.

According to Westinghouse Electric records this loco consisted of 81,175 lbs. of mechanical parts supplied by Baldwin and 42,925 lbs. of electrical parts supplied by Westinghouse and installed at the East Pittsburgh Works in 1930. Those weights, plus 1500 lbs. of sand, add up to its in-service weight of 125,600 lbs. Hmmm, not quite "75 tons." I found it amusing that they propose to sell the "transformer" in addition to the motors. Transformer? It's a DC loco folks. What mastermind came up with that information?

The following is my personal opinion.
Removing the operating equipment from within the unit is a bad decision and not consistent with preserving it as an historic artifact. To be blunt, few people are going to travel to that city just to see this locomotive. Its value is an an historic artifact rather than a tourist attraction.
"Salvaging" the components can mean several things -- scrapping, selling the components for use elsewhere, or storing the components for safe keeping. In the short term, the first two scenarios may return a few dollars towards the cosmetic restoration, but hardly enough to be of significance in the long term maintenance of the artifact.
While locomotives were preserved by cities in the past on good faith, one can understand how the city councils of today see park locomotives as a liability. Civic politicians, and administrators know little about these artifacts.The artifacts enter a boom and bust cycle. The artifact is allowed to deteriorate, it becomes an embarrassment to the sitting town council, which, unable to make a decision will hire a consulting firm at some expense to evaluate the artifact, then council will authorize a coat of paint and a few flower boxes. Civic staff will gather for a grand unveiling of the "restored" artifact. In a few years, the process repeats itself. In the end, more tax dollars are spent on consulting fees than actual preservation of the artifact.
Rather than turn the artifact into a meaningless shell that will continue to rot away, the city should offer the artifact to an institution that will provide safer storage and hope for long term preservation.

Agreed - the salvage value (if any after paying for removal) of obsolete internal components isn't likely to pay for conservation or restoration costs, is disruptive and irreversable and should not be pursued. Find it a good home where it can be kept under roof and cared for by knowledgeable people. Is Toronto too far away?

Montreal is much closer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Railway_Museum

There's also the Halton County Radial Museum that has similar equipment.

Been to Halton, nice collection.

Does Halton have any standard gauge track, or is it all Toronto gauge?

Haven't made it there yet, but I plan to go the next time I'm able to make to Ontario.

Just thinking moving to another province could be an issue. Not sure just how much less politically divided things are up there than down here.