Have you ever wondered why Whippany (NJ) Railway Museum's 0-6-0 Steam Locomotive No. 4039 (ex-Morris County Central No. 4039; ex-Virginia Blue Ridge Railway No. 5; nee-US Army No. 4039, built ALCO 11/1942) has sat on display and has not been rebuilt, 3 1/2 years after being awarded a TEA-21 grant that would have restored her to full operation ?

Well, the "scuttlebutt" is that the folks at the Morris County (NJ) Planning, Development & Technology (Morris County DOT) have been sandbagging the project since its initial successful award in August 2001. The locomotive is listed on the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places.

The musuem partnered with the MCDOT (with approval of the Morris County Board of chosen Freeholders) to secure the grant. Once the grant was won, the project was scheduled to move forward. It never did...through no fault of the museum.

In mid-2004, the museum was contacted by officials at New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJ DOT), who oversee TEA-21 projects. They provided information that the grant was in danger of being lost due to MCDOT's inaction. Those associated with the 4039 began making phone calls, letters and e-mails to the Freeholders, who in turn, questioned their contacts at MCDOT. The reply was, "We know about it and it is not about to be lost." Apparently, this was "lip service" and allegedly, MCDOT knew what was happening and was waiting for the grant to expire.

In mid-February 2005, there was a meeting between museum reps and officials from both NJ DOT and MCDOT regarding the grant. One NJ DOT manager began the meeting with the statement, "We consider this project to be a dead horse. If the project does not commence within the next two months (April 2005), the grant WILL BE WITHDRAWN." So MCDOT was lying all of the time...to the museum, the Freeholder Board, and those who continually supported the project with letters, manpower, and money. And no one at MCDOT seems to be held accountable.

The County Transportation Director apparently does not support the effort and its importance. The TEA-21 grants are used mainly for historic preservation projects, but this one is being blocked for whatever reason.

When advised that other Counties throughout the nation (as an example, Suffolk County and the Railroad Museum of Long Island worked together on the successful LIRR Steam Engine 39 TEA-21 grant and on-going rebuild) have worked with many rail preservation groups to restore a variety of rail equipment, the MCDOT Director replied, "I don't care about any other counties, THIS is Morris County!" With that remark, the manager from NJ DOT countered with the fact that Monmouth (NJ) County had done a series of very successful grants with the United Railroad Historical Society of New Jersey.

New word is that NJ DOT has been working with MCDOT to move the project along...although it is slow going. NJ DOT made it known that the museum had done nothing amiss, and had always submitted its requested paperwork and information in a timely manner. MCDOT was the organization that dropped the ball.

The sand is running from the hourglass. Another fine example of how one government bureaucrat (who is paid a salary by the residents of Morris County, many who are museum volunteers and supporters) can attempt to destroy the hopes and dreams of so many. TEA-21 grants are Federal awards, passed down to the State governments. No local official should have the power to allow them to expire and eventually be withdrawn.

Many people are watching and waiting. April is fast approaching. Can you imagine the media response to this story ? hopefully it will not come to that.

What is worse is that one of the people who held the project up for most of the time has his own pet project that may get funded with the money about to be lost in Morris County.

Since I work for the County, I asked the people in charge, here is the answer I got from the Morris County DOT;



I don't know the back story, but from the Whippany RR Museum site they also needed to raise money prior to work commencing on the project. All I can say is I have dealt with Tea-21 and ISTEA money for County construction projects and they are an absolute pain in the A** to get approvals for. If you do not have all your ducks in the correct row, you don't get the money. When the project is as something as far out as a steam engine restoration and not a building restoration I can imagine the people at NJDOT Local Aid (the clearing house for the money) have no idea what they are doing.

If you know of anyone that could be the project manager for this restoration, let me know, and I will pass the name along to the right people.

Chris Vitz
Principal Engineer
County of Morris

Chris;

This is certainly the place to ask that last question. As far as I know there is one, just one, commercial shop in the general area which has successfully done this type of work on a regular basis and half of their staff seems to show up on this board, as does their CMO.

Ahem. Are any of you gentlemen near Lancaster awake?

GME

Know her well from days on the MCC. I'm would think the people from the Whippany Museum have an idea of who they would like to assume this task. The individiual who did the hydro-static testing and initial evaluation of her is from the great state of Connecticut. I have photos somewhere of him marking the boiler after her arrival at Whippany. The NYS&W Historical Society also had a nice article on her movement from Newfoundland when she was purchased by Frank Larkin and moved to Lackawaxen prior to the Whippany people assuming ownership. We used to call her "Shake, Rattle, and Roll".

Add another organization to the TEA-21 recipient's list, and that is the Fort Wayne RR Historical Society. The 765's overhaul has been funded by ISTEA and TEA-21 money. TEA-21 is an 80/20 program, and the Morris County Central would have to raise their 20% before the project could start. Have they been able to do that? I don't know.

I guess we are fortunate to have some very enlightened people to work with at the state and county level in Indiana because our TEA-21 experience has been just fine. We have had to request a few change orders (more money) and time extensions to the grant after uncovering unexpected problems, but our project manager has always had the paperwork right and the work was properly justified, thus the extensions and the additional money were approved.

Like every government program, TEA-21 is a very political process and is typically handled by the highway deparment or DOT in the state. The funds are actually administered by the county where the project is located. However, it is not a highway project, so some additional words of explanation are needed to help the highway guys understand a steam locomotive project.

I wish the MCC people success, but it sounds like they are up against someone in the process at the county level who simply does not want to be bothered with this project. That's too bad.

Hi,

I hope that things can get rolling and this engine gets restored. They are wonderful locomotives to run and maintain. The link below should take you to some pictures I have taken of our two 0-6-0's 2023(4012) - 4039's sister, and 2024(4076) - built by Lima 2 years later. These two locomotives split a 126 day operating season and travel in excess of 5500km each year. They are very reliable, very strong and look great.

http://community.webshots.com/album/204221454gtxzzf

Take care,

Kris

===

Forgot to make mention...No. 4039 is listed on both the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic places.

Also, the engine is "The Official Steam Locomotive of Morris County", as per a Resolution adopted by the Morris County Freeholder Board in January 1997.

4353;



Obviously from your comments you are closely involved with the project, but to claim that the MCDOT is corrupt is outright wrong! I do not know why there were the alleged delays, but I will continue to ask questions.

The MCDOT consists of a total of two people and a bunch of new assistants. Mr. Reilly who had been a driving force there retired last year. Those two people are transportation planners, not restoration experts or railfans. The steam engine project is not the only project they work on. They apply for funding for ALL County projects and have other projects which are definitely a higher priority than the steam engine. While it may be your only project, having safe roads and bridges is more important than restoring a steam engine.

Would you rather have an outside someone that knows what they are doing and pushes the project along, or the same people you claim to be corrupt? And no-one is saying that someone from the museum will not be project manager, but the people at the MCDOT must go through a process to find an acceptable person, they can't just pick someone because they have scraped paint before. And while that person may be a good project manager, can they prepare payment vouchers, applications, etc.? If they have never done that end of things before it would be a problem.

Since you are so involved with the project, would you like me to put your name on the list?

One additional note, if a County employee were selected their salary would be paid as it normally is from the general funds, it would not come from the grant money. I can't say the same for an outside consultant, but it depends upon how the grant was written. If it included consulting fees, than that money may come from the grant.

I have one additional question, since I am not a steam engine guy, nor have I been involved with this project or any other restoration project. How does anyone expect to fully restore a steam engine for $380,000? I wouldn't think this number is even close to half what would be needed. Even 5 years ago this would not have been enough to do a full restoration. And if you talk about moving it to a shop, there goes probably 10% of the budget.

Chris

After reading many of the comments here, I think I should post here.

I attended the meeting on February 9th. The Morris County Transportation Director came into the meeting and took us all by surprise with his anti-4039 stance. Frank Reilly, who as Chris mentioned, retired at the end of August 2004. He told me at his retirement party that he would still be working with the county as a consultant, and that he wanted to remain involved with various projects, i.e. Lackawanna Cutoff, etc, as well 4039. His absence at the February meeting was somewhat strange to me.

Are the people at Morris County DOT corrupt ? Maybe not, but past events show that there is no interest in this project. Where did that attitude come from ? The lower level employees, as well as Reilly's replacement cannot be held to blame. However, if Reilly had an idea that there was trouble brewing with his superior, maybe he could have alerted us at the Museum to try and correct the situation.

While there ARE other county-related projects that are of larger concern, that is no excuse to let this project die. THIS project is OUR concern. We've worked very hard in the past to purchase the locomotive, sweated and toiled over it to get it to Whippany from Honesdale, PA in 1995 - '96 and have continually worked to raise additional funding. We have also LOST funding, due to lack of progress. We had a large commitment of funds that were eventually withdrawn because this project went nowhere. Is it any wonder that we now might be just a little miffed ?

This locomotive is a switcher...not a big road engine. It is not superheated, has no modern, high-tech appliances to rebuild or upgrade. The grant money is not our only source of income set aside for the project, but yes, it IS the major chunk. To lose these dollars now because someone does not agree with the historic preservation merits of TEA-21 is unacceptable.

BTW, I was named as a possible project manager at the meeting. If the county wants one of their own general funded employees as the PM, that is fine.

Three and a half years is too long to get a project moving. The engine could have been restored in that amount of time.

Steve Hepler
President, Whippany Railway Museum

With respect Chris, resources necessary are directly attributable to the needs of the locomotive and the standards to which you are aiming. I have restored a small locomotive to operable condition for less than $50,000 for a nonregulated, unintensive, occasional demonstration user. Not knowing what she needs or how far she needs to go, nobody can provide better than a WAG ballpark estimate. As for moving to a shop, if she is sitting outside without tools and equipment and capabilities handy, the cost of transport will be more than saved by the gained efficiency of being in a well equipped venue. Presumably, knowledgeable people made some determinations before the figure was quoted for the grant?

Dave