The part of this I can't figure is why the scrappers of the RS3 and u25 have no apparent trouble accessing and navigating the site.

Has anyone considered the GG1-in-the-basement solution? Cut the carbodies into sections that will pass over the buried pipe or however they get off the property, and move the trucks separately to where they can be craned.

There was relatively little trouble in putting the G back together; she still has her 'evidence'. There was a Skytop rescued in similar fashion, by cutting it into movable pieces. Better to save the artifacts than to wave the hankies?

I sense the total lack of cooperation coming from several sides. Moving the electrics over established track should be a piece of cake. Why is the museum paying to have the Diesel's scrapped, when the scrapper profits comes from the metal it collects. The ALCO and U-Boat are sad losses to begin with, but the two electrics, particularly the prototype "S" are last examples. This whole business of treating Danbury preservationists in this manner stinks badly.

In contrast to the popular legend, the reality was that the PRR effectively built a "new" GG1 numbered 4876 out of the multitude of parts scavenged from WUT in 1953. The populist legend of it merely being "cut into three pieces" makes a nice tale, but is distortedly-stretched truth. I believe the PRRT&HS put the kibosh on the "legend" in their periodical "The Keystone" recently, but "a lie will make its way around the world before the truth can pull its boots on."

To this instance, in theory it would be possible to disassemble enough of the NYC electrics to lighten them enough to eliminate any pipeline concern, but that would probably take cranes that themselves would (allegedly) jeopardize said pipeline. It would be seemingly be more rational to bring in giant 100-wheeled trailers (the road equivalent of the RR's "Schnaebel car") to spread the load more widely--trailers that the likes of Silk Road, etc. may not own and would be a factor in their lack of response to help move these.

I have witnessed scrappers "lose their shirts" on a scrapping job when they badly overestimated their "jaw cutter's" ability to cut through plate metal, and had to resort to truckloads of acetylene and days/weeks of labor to torch apart something they thought they could chew up and load out in one day.

I've seen one museum that can't get a scrapper worth the name to show up and rip apart old rolling stock as a result of such shenanigans.

I call total BS on the whole notion that the locomotives can't be rolled over the pipeline. At a depth of 30 feet, you could stack a pair of Allegheny's and roll them over that pipe without it ever knowing they were there. Just a convenient excuse to not be cooperative. This whole saga is very much what we face in preserving and restoring old cars. If you can't store things properly long term, don't acquire it in the first place, and save everybody the heartbreak of having to scrap it later. In the grand scheme of the cost of rail preservation, open, three or even four sided storage sheds are dirt cheap.

The more likely scenario:

Somebody noticed or mentioned the pipeline, the developers called someone in (or even just spoke on the phone or sent a short e-mail), told them the supposed weight of the locos (no doubt rounded upwards), and ignorance took over, as in they thought something like a fully-loaded Army tank with another one atop it was going to be driving on one tread over the pipeline in marshy ground on a wet day.

Unfortunately, it would be incumbent upon the potential rescuers to disprove their fears with countering calculations and engineering, which they still may not accept.

If only there existed some easily-assembled framework or structure that could be built to spread the weight of many wheels and their load over a larger, linear right of way......... maybe using wooden beams with pieces of long steel atop them, that could support and guide specially-flanged wheels.......

Best to find a Transportation or Ordnance unit nearby, they could click off 'heavy vehicle recovery' from their annual training cycle if they have it (and most would if they're supposed to move heavy vehicles).
The only problem here is that only a HET tank transporter has a chance on something that long and heavy. Even heavy mechanized units rarely have those.

Unlikely, the M1020/M1000 HETS is rated to carry 70 tons and is only 33 feet long. The S1 is 114 tons and 39 feet long, the T-3a is 142 tons and 56 feet long.

Rick, I think you mean 2 decades. It always amused me when someone would "rediscover" the locos and sound the alarm for their preservation. Then the usual "does IRM know" would be replied. BTW, your "Preservation is a participation sport" needs to become a t-shirt.

The Danbury Rust Museum continues to be one of the most mis-run organizations I have ever seen. They continue to "save" equipment with no real plan in place. They take donations that disappear into the ether. They continue to let the collection that they do have rust into the ground while spending literally nothing on their upkeep or "salvation".

Perhaps if they could rethink their non-viable business model based on a "train ride" which consists of 5mph over a thousand feet (if that) of bad order track followed by a 4mph reverse move, they might be able to generate some actual revenue and/or interest. They also need new leadership that has perhaps run an actual successful business before. (Crazy idea, I know)

I remember thinking how nice that NYC wood caboose they have was starting to look after it finally received a coat of paint. It now looks worse than when it started. Same thing for all of the non-relevant Canadian equipment clogging the yard. Sell something to pay for a real restoration project? Unthinkable!

Typical Danbury bullsh*t.

C.

It's a real shame sarcasm doesn't work on the internet.

The weight is not a problem to the pipeline. Such loads are commonly handled on the "Giant 100 wheel trailers" Not trailers though they can be towed, they are usually self propelled, and the number of wheeled segments is assembled appropriate to the load, They are made by Goldhofer and they keep the load level and maintain equivalent ground pressure when needed. They would certainly be lower ground pressure Than the loads of scrap, not weighed or even guessed at with some education.
Butt who would bury a pipeline 30 feet deep and why? It's not like it needs gravity for pressurized gas to flow. Is it even there?

THE ELECTRICS HAVE NOT BEEN SAVED

Cold hard fact: Until they are out of Albany, they are still likely candidates for becoming razor blades. With a $125k + price tag for just the move, smart money is on the blades.

It's okay, not everything gets saved. Go find a viable project, run by knowledgeable folks, and give them your money.

This story reminds me of the Big Boy #4005 when it moved from one museum to another in Downtown Denver, Colorado back in the 90's. They had the same problem with water and gas pipelines running under the section track that would be laid to get it out of the old museum. The owner of the museum said they had meetings with the city, and if a pipe did break the museum would have to pay for emergency repairs, overtime, street closures, and lost revenue if a business had to close. In short it would probably cost the museum millions of dollars.

The museum had to pay a lot of money to get experts to figure out exactly how much PSI was being exerted per tie as the train rolled over it. There was some interesting information from the study and I would love to get my hands on those papers. The owner of the museum said the rails and ties did a amazing job at distributing the weight of the locomotive and the PSI was pretty uniform regardless if it was measured at the front, middle or end of the locomotive.

What was the Big Boy move that had to be done with a rubber-tired Schnabel-style mover? That was quite a show.

Of course nothing rubber-tired would help in this case, where there isn't even improved ground.

I'm still thinking something like an R crane could be assembled in there to 'unload' the trucks going over the buried line, the same way we could suspend overweight people so they could run on treadmills.

Without intending any further comment as to the assertedly hapless custodians of NYC S-1 #100, I would point to a certain fact of history, causing me to wonder if a possible solution may be found at this late moment...

My premise is the argument as to the underground utilities is a self-serving fabrication intended to end this story - soon.

In 1964, the NYC did something entirely out-of-character: They DONATED #100 to an organization that was proposing to build a facility in Niskayuna to "tell the story" of early electrification - from the GE perspective, of course.

PLEASE NOTE: Prominent among the proponents was then-Governor Nelson Rockefeller.

To the extent this sad story continues to rattle within the society of railfans/railroad historians and other like followers of the industry we love, the end will come sooner rather than later.

NYC #100 is an important, though imperfect, artifact of a larger story, i.e., the first years of DC electrification. Is there a "Rockefeller" figure to be found, who could or would elevate the story and get things rolling (literally)??