I see that this topic has sparked a lot of discussion here on the interchange and I thank everyone here for contributing. There have been some excellent points brought up that support both sides of this topic. Thanks!I feel that innovative technology after the 1960's should be canidates for preservation in the future. An example of this would be the Amtrak auto train cars mentioned in a previous topic. These innovations are still present in today's passenger railroad service. Why shouldn't these cars along with other retired Amtrak equipment not be preserved? Amtrak may not be a fallen flag, but it still has played a critical role in passenger railroading for many decades. The most succesfull wide cab locomotive to this date has been the General Electric Dash 9, why wouldn't an earlier model be preserved in the future? How about the newest innovation in electric trainsets here in America, the Acela Express? These Modern Locomotives represent railoading of the 2000's, just like Steam Locomotives did in the 1900's.These museums will grow as time moves forward. The railroads in America are beginning to make another comback as the interstates become more cluttered with 18 wheelers. Railroads are not a dying form of transportation here in America. If the gas prices are predicted to rise over $3.00 per gallon by the end of the summer here in the northest, why wouldn't larger industries make the switch to rail service?But these are just the opinions of a 16 year old who became a railfan because of trains from the 90's ...Lehigh<>George

Please, I was just joking, sort of. People can preserve whatever they want, where ever they want. But as one who got to see the end of "real" steam, and one who has worked with real diesels for almost 30 years, I can attest that US mainline railroading lost its magic when the last fires were dropped in 1960. Yes, today's locomotives are far better than steam; they're just not very interesting, that's all.