Cool. Damn, I'd forgotten about a lot of what happened....... I was lucky enough back then to do some interesting things.

I apologize if bold-facing my post read awkwardly. My point in doing so was to highlight to the original poster and the photographer that those two articles would be a wealth of information to anyone wanting to go down this path.

Have a plan, have resources, know contacts in industry and related areas (heavy-haul trucking), know government officials and be on good terms with them, think outside the box-not just the railroad item, but things like community reaction, movement path vs. utilities, potential soil issues, environmental sensitivities...all of this and more deserves thinking and planning, then more thinking and planning, especially in an era of instant news/communications, media spin, tight $, etc.

I have strong connections in the fields of heavy hauling and communications. As for government connections, that would take some time. The plan for all that is what we’re here to come up with

Well, like a burned out light bulb in a psychiatrists office, they first must want to change. If they are already talking about moving her to a new display area, great - motivation is there and all you need is a demonstration of community support and good experienced planning help. The best thing you could do now is to start working in the community to build support and in-kind offers for help from local businesses. It's far harder when nobody cares unless your goal is to remove it from the community, at which time local interest is not favorable. If the reality of asbestos remediation scares them, they don't understand it would also need to be done to scrap her, so having a backup plan of an interested museum ready to step in and take her away at it's own expense is a very good idea. That's where we on this list might be able to assist.

I like your comparison in the first sentence. I do know for fact Jackson wants her moved to the Amtrak station. In a letter sent to me by the wastewater treatment plant owner, he said (and I quote):

“There is some local volunteer activity regarding restoration and moving the locomotive to a location within the City, possibly to a site near the oldest active train station in the country, now owned by Amtrak. The engine is in need of maintenance, but the City has been unable to expend funds on such a project over the last few years.”

As far as I know, both the plant and city want her moved and restored anyway, they just can’t do it themselves

Now that I think about it-a site near the Amtrak station...what site(s)? Who is the owner of said site(s)? Who contacts the owner to discuss, and when? If there is no potential new site (or timeframe of availability of said site is not known), then adjust thinking accordingly.

I don’t know what site specifically or when they want to move it, and that isn’t the point. Whether she gets moved or not is up to the city, it’s their locomotive after all. Where she is currently is what we’re trying to focus on.

No - the interest in moving it is your foot in the door. Concern yourself with the big picture of the whole project unless you wish to be an inconsequential sideline.