Endangered RS3s

[Alcoman]

It appears that they were after just the couplers..nothing else.

Who are "they"? Vandals? Thieves? The Historical society?

I don't think that anyone who is trying to preserve an Alco would butcher the locomotive in that way. So it had to be a thief who wanted the coupler for its scrap value or his own locomotive.
BTW-There is an ad in Rail Swap regarding someone who has 2 couplers for sale. Look under Diesel Parts-last page of ads.
You can draw your own conclusion there.

[Luther Brefo]

So what is the chapter or the city doing to protect these engines. I suppose they will now realize that leaving these locomotives out in the open is not the best way to ensure their futures.

Who owns what and what are their plans for the engines?

[Luther Brefo]

It appears Tim Truscott may have some affiliation with the Mohawk Chapter as per the links below:

http://www.crisny.org/not-for-profit/ra ... apdist.htm

and

http://www.crisny.org/not-for-profit/ra ... h_hist.htm

And here is the Rail Swap ad: http://www.railswap.org/cgi-bin/classif ... =retrieval


So what is the real story here? Did the chapter decide it would be a good idea to sell the couplers or is there something more to it?

I'd hate to jump to any sort of conclusion here but something just doesn't seem right.

[RS-3]

I agree, something doesn't smell right here. On the surface it down right stinks. I hope someone looks into this.

RS

[Kuyahoora Valley]

The M&H website shows Tim Truscott as President of the chapter. I recall his name from 20 years ago when I was going to college in Schenectady so he's been with the chapter for quite a while.

Of all the surviving D&H RS-3s, the Albany Port RR seems to be in decent shape. 4088 was a pretty good engine and I don't understand why it was scrapped. I'm going to try to find a contact with City of Albany and see what I can find out.

KV

[pablo]

Before everyone gets into a tizzy, is there any real chance that someone is going to save these units? I mean...really.

Now, if there was a functioning histrocial society, it would be theft.

What's to stop someone with some cash from simply backing up a truck and cutting out what he or she needs? The answer? Nothing.

I'm surprised it hasn't happened yet. Isn't that GE important for some of its parts that ALCOs can use? Main generator or something?

Dave Becker

[RS-3]

Well if the AP RS-3 was in that good of condition when donated, and apparently still is, then yes, I see no reason its not saveable. Do we know that someone *isn't* trying to save at least one or two of these units? Sure, a lot of the equipment there won't be saved. But cutting off the couplers sure wson't help. And if the city owns the AP RS-3 and not the Historical Society then its not their's to cut up. I'd rather get in a tizzy now than when its too late.

My question is how in any possible sense, could the act of cutting off the couples be deemed anything but detrimental to the possible saving and any unit? And can we say we *know* no one is interested in saving this, or other pieces of equipment there?


RS

[Kuyahoora Valley]

The reason I asked the question is that I am finally in a position to hopefully save the right unit, preferably an RS3 and preferably ex-D&H. So I'm not in a tizzy, but wanted so information in advance of a fact-finding trip. If the unit is hopelessly vandalized then it's not worth my time and money. The fact that the couple was cut off and the unit damaged makes it incrementally harder to move by rail. Maybe it would be cheaper to truck it anyway, and maybe the FA group will take several more years to move their unit. Maybe the city would be willing to donate both units to a good home, contingent on that entity having the resources to move them out in a timely manner. Maybe the city has "forgotten" about them and once reminded will either willingly re-donate them or just decide to scrap them to get them off the books. The M&H chapter has not done a lot recently to advance the cause of rail preservation in the Albany area, especially if they were involved with cutting off these couplers and simply the overall rotting of the various locomotives in their custody.

[thebigham]

Bump for research...