We have a row of old cars behind the old southern depot.Last meeting maybe 8 people showed up.Can't get them to see my vision of turning the string of derelict cars into a mini mall rent out each one to a small business, A copy shop a coffee shop a bed an breakfast ,etc I think it's a good idea.

This has been an ongoing situation for decades. I got frustrated trying to convince them to put some patches over the giant rusty holes in the sides of the cars. They have a real entrenched attitude...they think they have all the answers and they think people like YOU are out to steal everything they have!!!

I think the last public event they hosted was in...oh...2003. So maybe they will have an open house this year (oh goodie)? Break out the little green vests...sew on a patch or two...all aboard!

(Eight people! That many? Was there enough chairs?)

T7

Yea it's pretty bad ,I can get all the free paint I want at the transfer station on Baxter Av Since I can't get any help doing prep. I think just putting gallons of latex paint on top of the rust would be better then nothing .On top only that way they won't see it so I won't hear any complain about it not being Southern black.

Use a little Posphoric acid to abate the rust before applying the paint. It is sold in paint stores and I like JB acid best. Just let it dry after spraying, or brushing, and then rinse with clear water to remove any dust or powder. The paint will grab on better after treatment with the acid.

Looking at pictures on Google, the interiors of the cars still look pretty good. Granted, no idea how old those pictures are, but how bad has it gotten down there?

Each and every car has it's own special little hell going on. Some leak...some are full of mold...some have so much dust you could write your name on the floor. None of them are well presented as being proper museum displays...well maybe the RPO (which is full of dirty junk).

In order to do "anything" with them you would realistically need to spend a mountain of money. Throwing paint on them is only going to go so far. Only one has proper climate control...only 3 have working lights...only one functioning toilet for the whole string of cars. They used to have "open-houses" where they encouraged people to make the long, hot walk through the cars...it gets old pretty fast. Nothing exciting about an old Amtrak coach with a rotten floor and mold on the walls. Or a 12 double-bedroom sleeper with shag carpet that is so hot and smelly that you can barely breath. One of the cabooses is nice...if you like cabooses. The other cabooses are piled full of old junk.

This is THE wanted poster for bad NRHS chapters...their plan is to see which gives out first..the money, the "leaders" or the equipment. My suggestion for James is to find something more useful to do with his free time. There are better organizations who actually do things.

T7

This image is a few years old. It shows a typical rust hole in the side sheet of the Seminole. The members do not care about this nor other rust holes in the car. The roof leaks as well...as do the windows.

'Seminole' doesnt look too bad in this shot: http://www.flickr.com/photos/23711298@N07/5581221088/sizes/o/in/photostream/ Then again, one photo does not an analysis of condition make.

Okay, so I hadn't ever heard much about this place, even though I'd been to Knoxville many times. here's some pictures from three years ago for all those who are as confused as I am.

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/archiv ... x?id=54975

Edit: How's the 706? I rather like that car...

The other side of the Seminole is worse then this view..that is where the big rust holes are. But even on this "good" side of the car you can see bubbles of rust coming up everywhere if you know what to look for. On the inside you can see numerous rust streaks where the rain runs down the ceilings and walls. I would guess that about $500,000 would stabilize this car so it could continue to sit for more years.

The 706 (South Carolina) is one of those cars with steel sideframes covered with stainless sidesheets...so there is not much left under the sheets. There are a few windows missing on the other side which has let rain in for maybe 18-20 years. So the floor is a worthless soggy mess...the whole interior is moldy and rotten. This is another $500,000 project.

Their justification for letting the cars rot away is "we could either spend the money to fix up the cars or we could continue to have a place to meet".

So...once a month 6-8 people will gather to talk and maybe see a slide show. The president-for-life treats the "museum" like it is his own private property. Nothing will change anytime soon.

Old Smoky sponsored great spring and fall excursions from the 1970s untill something happened in 1985.Only 2 or 3 trips after that,I have been told it was because Old Smoky angered NS management. It was disgruntled Old Smoky members who started the Southern Appalachia Railway museum at Oak Ridge . Anyone in the area who supports railway preservation goes to Oak Ridge. I am surprised the depot owner doesn't kick old smoky out,the old cars hurt the looks of what otherwise is a beautiful building.

Johnny,

I'll help out here a little bit.

1) When your NRHS national director (asshole, half deaf and speaking loudly, also the former supreme dictator) calls Carl Jensen an arrogant ass while Carl is standing right behind him, you don't get the trips you once did....

2) When your young and dumb and try to run off the aforementioned NRHS national director, but do a less than thorough job, and install an even worse group to run the organization, you get invited to leave....

3) Once invited to leave you determine that its easier to start a new organization than fix the one your being thrown out of. Plus you can get out from under the USELESS NRHS national structure. NRHS agreed that folks shouldn't have been thrown out, but was unwilling to do anything about it. Then, they (NRHS) are arrogant enough to recruit the new group to become a chapter. REALLY???? Their overtures were dismissed without comment.

4) The former depot owner, and I would assume the current one also, allow the cars to stay in order to have a "screen" of sorts between their facility and the urban mess outside their property. To that end OSRM generally has only painted, lettered, or glazed the building side of the equipment. "Only the railroaders and bums will see that side so we don't want to waste time fixing it up." Indeed, why would you ever want a railroader in your preservation group?

5) The Oak Ridge crew does a fair job in the big picture, but perfect by no means. They have absolutely done more than OSRM ever has, or most likely ever will. OSRM could have made a big, positive, impact on rail preservation in the East Tennessee area but has instead been perhaps the greatest deterrent.

ETA

Ah yes...the former national director who had no interest or knowledge in railroad history. He was just a unrelenting bully whom the board of directors allowed to run the orgainization to his own tastes. People joined...they were insulted and threatened...they left and nothing got done. When you go down to a meeting now you will see them presided over by the bully's favorite straight man. The two worked together to pick on people and to make sure nobody had any success in anything they tried to do. The bully's wife still shows up to meetings too...just to make sure her husband's legacy continues.

I wish somebody who lives in the city would A) challenge their non-profit status and B) complain to zoning enforcement about the unsightly mess. This should happen just because they should get what they have been giving for all these years. It would be heart-warming to see them savaged in the press and then evicted.

T7

Well the NRHS chapter meeting I went to two weeks ago turned into a near riot when we were told that National dues are going up to $50 and will likely go up 10% or so per year for the next several years and that even with that the National is having "cash flow problems".

I wonder how many of these renegade Chapters are out there. We all know about the Mohawk & Hudson Chapter with the NYC motors and missing funds and Alco photos and the several dead chapters left on the books to make it appear to still be a National organization. Then you have the O&W and Rochester Chapters that have renounced their NRHS affiliation with others voting to leave in the near future. Thanks for pointing out this situation in Knoxville. I think the more we learn of these situations the more likely the viable Chapters will break away before the final NRHS collapse and the issues that will cause. Perhaps some kind of loose affiliation similar to RPCA or ARM/Train can be created to allow historical groups to share info/best practices between them.

There's still other options, of course:

http://www.rlhs.org/

http://www.massbayrre.org/othe.htm