Returning SP 2479 in San Jose, CA to steam is not dependent upon finding a home. These are two separate issues. Work is continuing on the locomotive with funding being more of a problem. Present focus is rods, cylinders and valve gear. Progress is being made but at a slow pace.

John Ezovski

I visited it in the early 1990s as well. It is kept in the old Cotton Belt engine house in Pine Bluff; and was undergoing a boiler hydro at the time of my visit.

Aside from the boiler dome being uncovered and the smokebox door open for the hydro, it was intact and looking great.

The AR RR Museum also retrieved SSW 2-6-0 #336 from a nearby park, and had it in the engine house that houses the museum as well. It was looking a little sad at the time; the smokestack was missing, though it may have been removed for the move and not yet put back.

A couple of C&O Kanawhas come to mind also: especially #2700 at Dennison, OH., and maybe also #2789 at Hoosier Valley RR Museum in Indiana.

I can't speak for the 2700, but the missing parts for the 2789 are kept in one of our "storage" freight cars at HVRM. We also have a brand new set of flues for the engine, residing in another "storage" car. We are slowly doing a cosmetic restoration on the locomotive, with the idea of restoring it to service.....someday. When that day will come is uncertain. In the meantime, the engine is kept inside, while the tender resides outside during the winter and then in the spring, the drawbars are put back on and the reconnected locomotive and its tender are pulled out for photogaphs during our operating days.

Les Beckman (Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum/North Judson, Indiana)

While not abandoned per se, there are any number of museum projects which got through the dissection part, only to have the project stall, or die out. Besides
locomotives, both steam and diesel, quite a few interurbans/streetcars, freight and passenger cars, and others leap immediately to mind.

Just on a more immediate availability level and time/money factor, many of these projects would seem to be good candidates to be revisited and have themselves, at a minimum, cosmetically completed and not taking up shop space.

How about an ALCO 0-4-0T that is privately owned now. The previous owner had it operable until about 1990, then had to move out of state....He gave it to a nearby rail historic society chapter, who then stripped it of "collectible" parts (bell,whistle,headlights,builders plates,etc) and abandoned it...saying that it would be too difficult/ not worth moving.
Luckily, the property owner keeps it reasonably painted. I've tried to get him to sell it to me....his typical response is: "people like it where its at".
He has shown some interest lately in trading it for a caboose.....anybody have a caboose they want to part with?

Some great rail historical society! Strip an operable locomotive of it's parts and abandon it?

I've made serious study of seeing how railway museums succeed and fail.

Why would anyone stop a project midway and just walk away? There are two questions here with two different answers.

Why did they stop? -- Because they hit a serious, unexpected problem that they believed was beyond their capacity to solve. (1361).

Why didn't they put it back together?-- Because the motivation for the work was the hope of having the piece running. Once that hope was dashed, they lost interest and never really found the time to finish. Often, the people "just go away".

What follows is -- Somebody drives a forklift into a piece. Somebody mistakes it for scrap. Somebody relocates it because it's in their way or they thought it was the part they needed, and now it can't be found. That critical surface never meant to be exposed to the weather rusts and pits from 20 years of exposure. (case in point: bull gears and bearing surfaces.)

This happens because of two faulty presumptions: #1 we'll be reassembling it so soon the weather won't affect the pieces momentarily stored outdoors, and #2 the people who know how/what/where will stay with the project til it's done.



That's why a 30-stall roundhouse is not what you want, because in 20 years, you'll have 20 stalls full of abandoned projects. WRM deliberately designed their shop to have room for only two projects total.

So where is this unit, Also where are said parts, did they put them in storage for safe keeping.

Isn't everything on that list...

Robert
While I share some similar sentiments in your assessment of why some museum/restoration projects fall to the wayside, that is but the barest list of possible reasons.

The list of reasons for a project languishing is likely as long as the list of potential candidates itself. Money certainly is a big factor, manpower a close second. When you have a large operation, and new projects come online for whatever reason, the current projects take a back seat, and those "next in line" move a bit further down the food chain.

A case in point is IRM with the recent Trolleyville collection cars.
They're highly motivated to get some of these cars operable and presentable ASAP.
Their important to the regional aspects of the museum collection, and having these cars out, fresh and shiny for those that donated so much to get them to Union is an important piece of the puzzle, showing people tangible results of their donated dollars. Having said that, if anyone follows IRM's activities (across all departments) either in person or via online (message boards, blogs, etc) they've done an admirable job of keeping up with those projects that were on the front burner this time last year AND getting these new cars presentable. Not many organizations can muster that type of manpower or monetary resources.

Another aspect to consider in why projects are abandoned is the very nature of museum operations themselves ,ie managing the volunteer workforce. Very simply stated, anyone who's spent more than a day or two at any operation (big or small) knows there is a lot of politics in play. Without wishing to really earn my pay as one of this board's moderators and open a huge can of worms by listing any number of examples, most, if not all of us know exactly what I speak of here. We've all seen productive volunteers fall by the way, and projects either abandonded or left to languish for far longer than need be, because someone simply felt their "leisure" time was better spent elsewhere, not fighting with someone, to simply provide a lot of hard work with no pay. Let this last paragraph simply be a reminder to all of us to respect each other, each other's projects, and each others right to work.

John, I agree about the politics. That might be reason #1 on your list, Robert.

Around this neck of the woods, politics and arguments between volunteers have stunted MANY projects. Happily, a few of those are now moving forward under different folks.

One notorious case I am very familiar with was the "boss" of the museum who drove off almost every trained mechanic or steam person on the property years ago... and they haven't fielded an operable steam locomotive since. Thought it is always "next year..."

Now that I write that, I think I actually know of three situations in that same hole right now. Not naming names and locations, as it doesn't matter. The point is, many projects lack proper management, and those quickly devolve into Lord of the Flies: Railroad Edition.

Rob

RCD,
That 0-4-0T is located in Oviedo, FL. Formerly owned by Dick Perkins, was intended to be, I believe, part of a small tourist operation that never got off the ground there.
I think it was general portland cement #2 or #42?, Steam loco info shows it as #42.
Missing parts include: builders plates,whistle,bell,safety pops,turbo gen,cab gauges, headlights. no major parts, like rods are missing. Has 14EL brake,all valves present,no brake handles........
I have been told that the historic society had those parts in their collection, however they moved several years ago and sold alot of the collection off.

Hi,

Would someone please give me a brief description of the "Sandy River in a barn" and the NJ Humus steamer?

The idea of another Sandy River engine surviving has really piqued my interest.

Thanks,

Charles

Sandy River #6 was covered in Trains Magazine's August 1983 issue. The loco is now at the Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington as their #9 (a later #/RR for the same loco). Yes, it was literally shoved away in a barn in 1935 (or thereabouts) and stayed there for nearly 50 years.


To add to the earlier discussions, another reason loco restorations simply slam to a stop is simply the death of a loco's owner or restoration funder. I've personally seen 3-4 locos sitting in limbo after the passing (unexpectedly or no) of its past owner.

Might I remind everyone that former CP 972 has been languishing in "kit form" at the Strasburg RR for probably a decade or more. Although I fully trust the competence of the railroad and its shop forces (and, probably necessarily in this particular case, its legal counsel), I actually have to wonder of this is in danger of becoming as "lost" as 475 was before its rescue, or the West Va. Northern 2-8-0's in Pennsylvania.

Another "kit": CN 92 has been semi-disassembled for restoration since before I first set foot on the Wilmington & Western in 1982. Twenty-eight years and counting.....