While you are at it, there's an 1878 vintage 3-foot gauge Porter Bell & Co. product sitting out back here we could saddle you with, er, have you look at.TJG

The Baldwin mogul will be out of the shop in late spring / early fall. Plenty of room for your Porter then........dave

The thing to remember that, if we are working on historic restorations - that there is no room for our own individual preferences for astectics. What is important is to examine the evidence uncovered in the restoration process to understand how the object was changed, when it was changed and why. Backdating is a difficult decision to make, as it often involves removing the innovations that extended an object's working life. If we allow our own preferences to intervene, then the object represents more of the restorer's preferences than a historic object. (Akin to comparing a novel or movie based on historic events than a historical work with numerous citations). As with everything there is still room for personal judgement - but backing judgements with solid evidence does much to raise the credibility of the project (no matter how big or small). I would surmise that much of the 765's historic fabirc has been lost over the years - so there wouldn't be much evidence left to uncover. However, it does have tremendous value as an operating artifact. With this in mind - would there be any insurance advantages in retaining the mars light as an added safety device? Tom Cornillie

I think there is room for presentation of an object in several different "restorations". We've seen, studied, observed NKP 765 and NKP 759 in late NKP livery. The images and artifacts are well documented. Now we'll have the chance to observe the engine in an as-built version for several years. UP has done this with UP 844 in and out of two-tone gray. Our Museum has taken this approach with restoration of DC Transit 766, back dating it to the 1930s to interpret the car as it was operated after a major rebuild by Capital Traction Company. You could argue that this is playing favorites, etc. But let's have a look at presenting artifacts as something they never were like "WM 734" in Cumberland. Once you pull on the thread be careful what comes unraveled.From what I've read, the folks in Ft. Wayne have done their homework.Wesley