Re: PC: B&O Museum

[mpend <mpend@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Walter B Turner wrote:
> 
> The B&O Museum has a HUGE collection of equipment. If they have something
> of interest and it is not displayed and/or restored, you should contact
> them about obtaining it if possible. They have been in the process of
> centering their collection on the B&O specifically and Baltimore in
> general; anything not fitting in is a target for removal from the B&O
> Museum collection.
> 
> Some equipment will be sold, some traded and some scapped. Their Little
> Joe went to MILW territory where it would be appreciated (even though it
> wasn't a MILW unit.) The L&N U25B 1616 went to Chattanooga where it basks
> in new gray and yellow paint.
> 
> Sadly some of the equipment will be scrapped. Many museums scambled to
> get all of the equipment they could, especially when it came to passenger
> equipment. (The B&O Museums former corporate ties put it in the situation
> of sometimes having to receive and keep equipment it didn't want in the
> past.) While it was good that this equipment was saved, many of the
> saving organizations do not have the resources to restore (or sometimes
> even store) this equipment. If a museum (not just B&O) has equipment that
> it doesn't want and can't use, something has to give. If nobody wants it,
> the scrapper is waiting.
> 
> While scrapping is bad, there are some slight plusses. First, the scapped
> equipment generates revenue to preserve other equipment; it's sad that
> anything has to be scarpped, but without cash and entire collection could
> rust away. Also, many of these scapped cars are heavily stripped before
> being scrapped, yielding otherwise unavailable parts to restore other
> equipment. I know someone that owns a very old Pullman. He was able to
> buy parts salvage rights from a B&O Museum car that was being scrapped.
> One car is now gone, but another is well on its way to a first class
> restoration.
> 
> What to do?
> (1) Get involved somehow in restoration. Join a club or museum. Work on
> excursions. So something to generate cash and furnish labor that will
> save equipment. Every little bit helps.
> (2) Help get equipment back to its home. Often, neglected equipment is
> far from its home. All things being equal, if a museum in California has
> a Santa Fe coach and a Pennsy coach, which do you think will get
> restored? The B&O has done some trading, and other groups should follow
> the lead.
> (3) Get to know you local rail scrapper. Sometimes the scrap dealer is
> easier to deal with than the car owner. I know of a case where a railroad
> will not deal with a museum. However, the museum knows the scrappers and
> can get equipment from the scrapper when they get it from the railroad.
> Scappers are not evil people trying to destroy rail heritage, just
> businessmen trying to earn a living; they'd just as soon sell equipment
> to a museum as to sell iron to a mill. (Just don't expect a handout.)
> (4) Realize that everything may not be saved, but still try to save as
> much as possible while concentrating on important pieces.
> 
> Bryan Turner
> 
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Amen Brother!!!
 -Mike