There was an interesting discussion on the RYPN Interchange board revolving around preserving an example of a Dash 8 and lack thereof…some complaints about GE as well…
Regardless…other units come to mind like the one pictured above. The irony of the past cannot be ignored. How many lowly 0-4-0 switchers were preserved from the age of steam while the most powerful steamer ever built, the PRR Q2…and many other notable examples were melted down in a myoptic recycling of metal…lost forever. Is the same erasure going on now? Where are the former Trona Baldwin’s? Amtrak F40’s? We had to import the only two examples of a PA from Mexico where they were little more than frames. Diesels as unworthy examples of motive power to be preserved…? I wonder aloud in this post why this is…will a generation who stand trackside today have nothing to show or reflect upon from the “good old days”? In all the hubub of day to day railroading…maybe some perspective has been lost…
Because the purpose of business is to make money. To make money you use items that are the most efficient and get rid of the items you no longer need. Most people get rid of the old car when they get a new one because it has value toward the purchase. Now multiply the cost of a car by say 300 and the answer is obvious.
And just because you like something doesn’t mean someone should have to pay to take care of it for you. Preservation is very expensive and very few are willing to pay to even see it.
The other side of the economic coin is the donation of equipment for preservation…while the Santa Fe, UP, PRR and B&O once maintained historic collections…only the UP remains…the others were redistributed to museums long ago…Many a preserved piece of equipment has been negotiated through scapyard negotiations above or at the cost of recycling the metal for resale…while also many a Class 1 still continues to donate equipment…however it appears more of a lack of interest rather than economics than tips the scale for any motivation to make an effort to do so. Perhaps not, but it is, regardless of the reasons…a short sighted equation of value.
The basketcase Alco PA in Mexico…should be up and running very soon…a second to follow…there are afew folks who beg to differ…no trucks…scrapped…One can really appreciate the efforts of afew individuals…Where ever the first run will be…I will be there.
There are quite a few F40PHs floating around, a few have moved to commuter agencys. One has moved into presevation in Portland, OR. Many have donated their diesel engines to repower Russian built locomotives in Poland. There is a nice three unit set operating the Ski Train out of Denver, CO.
Leave it to Doyle…one of the unsung heroes of our day…sweat, money, willpower…I enjoyed the tribute to Bondo on his homepage…also when asked why he did’nt paint the PA in Santa Fe colors…?..he said, Because it’s mine.
There are quite a few preserved and restored/operable locos. How about SMS and their Baldwins in Jersery. There is a group out west that has operating A-B F unit set in WP org/slvr. RR museum of PA has a GP7 or 9 painted for PRR a GP30 in CR and C-415. There is a small museum in Dallas right nest to the state fair ground with a ATSF F45 and F unit in warbonnet colors, a UP centennial and a TXI RSC. The UP loco shops in Little Rock, AR even has a centennial out by the main entrance. Preserved diesel aren’t hard to find. There is even a retired x-MP SD40-2 that is on display at the Amtrak depot in Barstow, CA. That is about as modern a loco that you are going to see preserved.
