I checked the link and watched the video. I'm rather impressed by what a nice job they've done with this amazingly quirky setup. It looks pretty dang good! (From a "take your kid on a Santa train" perspective, not from a preservation point of view)

There is a pub in Ireland that doubles as a small rail museum and has a diesel locomotive in the bar!!
https://www.dochara.com/places-to-visit ... ay-museum/

Can't forget the front 10 feet of MoPac #124 in Dupo, IL !



From the interweb - "124 was the final operating steam locomotive on the Missouri Pacific. It lead a train of retired steam locomotives to Dupo on April 7, 1955, and was donated by the railroad to this park shortly after. Only the front ten feet of the engine remain, as the Dupo city leaders at the time did not want to display a full engine."

73
RwC

22 years ago, I was contacted by the railroad museum in Merida, Yucatan regarding restoration of their standard gauge Baldwin 4-4-0 #350. At that time the museum director mentioned to me that they had another 4-4-0 #351, which they were planning to cut in half "to show visitors how a steam engine works". My suggestion that a restored, running locomotive would be a better display for this purpose came in the nick of time to prevent this (in my opinion) travesty. Unfortunately, somebody had already amputated one of the #351's drivers and made it into an "artwork".

The weird preservation came about a few years later, when poor old #351 was put on display at a winery in Central Mexico, still lacking the fourth driving wheel. I guess she is now a 4-3-0 ???

Interesting story Sammy! I had to look on the internet for a photo of the old American and I found a shot of it pulling a freight back in 1963. Neat looking engine! Built by Baldwin as a wood burner in 1887 (s/n 8846) and sporting 66" drivers! Yes, weird preservation as a 4-3-0, but a new set of drivers could be made I would think. Hope the winery appreciates her!

Les

Les, The sad part of this weird story is that the #350 is still in pieces, too. A lot COULD be done, but politics and finances are the two big obstacles. Sound familiar ?? The guys in Mexico have an even harder time than preservationists here do...

Aside from the aforementioned hanging 4-8-4, the upside down type 52 and the front 10 feet of the MoPac loco, the weirdest one I have personally heard of is this;

Around 20+ years ago, a group tabled a proposal to make a tourist spot on the shores of Slocan Lake, British Colombia (Canada) to showcase the wreck of the CPR 2-8-0 #3512 (it is covered previously on this forum, but long story short the loco, tender, caboose, plow and log cars fell off a barge midway across the lake in 1947 and are currently resting on the bottom, 700' down).

Not a bad idea if done right, it IS an interesting story...But the koo-koo bananas part of the plan was -as the focal point of the display - they proposed to build a short section of track beside the lake - IN ANTICIPATION OF SOMEBODY ELSE, SOMEDAY POSSIBLY RAISING AND DISPLAYING THE LOCO.

Yup, you read that right. They were requesting Gov't funding for a train display....with an invisible locomotive. When this rather key point was brought up, the response from the group was that visitors were supposed to imagine what the engine looked like and pretend it was sitting there...

Needless to say the proposal was eventually denied, but after it went much farther 'up the chain' of committee meetings than I had believed possible in a sane society.

I do suppose in a way they got their wish, but instead of just an invisible locomotive, the whole damn thing wound up being imaginary.

73
RwC

Yes, and if you approach the powers that be with a reasonable idea, you will immediately get nowhere....

My weirdest contribution to this topic was "saving" the body of an ex Kansas City PCC trolley car from Philadelphia. Penn's Landing Trolley (or whatever they were called that day - "Have Museum, will travel" - "Soon to appear in a vacant lot near you") was rationalizing vandalized parts of its collection and a scrap dealer had offered to help. I convinced Dutch Springs Quary near Hecktown, Pennsylvania that a well stripped metal trolley car body would be a nice underwater attraction for S.C.U.B.A. divers. There is a bit of preservation to the story, the door motors and PCC accelerator are still in the car, somewhat safe from thieves. Cold fresh water is something of a preservative.
There is also an ex ConRail New Haven RR caboose in the Willow Springs Park quarry in Millardsville, Pennsylvania, but I had nothing to do with getting it there.

2018 video of the PCC car at Dutch Springs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QHTBuhDM28

2019 video of the caboose at Willow Springs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gB2z4EFAhcQ

There is also a coal hopper (AEPX 4034) sunk in Mermet Springs in Illinois. It was sunk in 2005. The car was given to Mermet Springs after a derailment near the quarry. BNSF gave the damaged coal car to the quarry after it blocked the entrance way for several days.
2013 video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcseempiPUY&t=2s

There is also an 0-4-0ST sunk at the bottom of Sherkston Quarry in Sherkston, Ontario
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=43687

Let's be careful about starting a sunk in a quarry thread here.....

Bad news, Dave. Click the last link before your most recent post.... when you get all the way to the end of it, you'll see the wise remark I was trying to post here, but you had better aim than I do.

Here is a link for a sculpture tribute to Melbourne trams.

Raising the Rattler Pole
Melbourne, Australia
Not the result of an accident, hurricane, or aliens, this is an eye-popping tribute to the Melbourne tram.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/rai ... ttler-pole