Fantasy B&M museum location and your 5 must have locos/cars

If you won powerball or found a way to get your state to fund it...
Where would you build the B&M RR museum?
And what 5 locos or cars would have to be included?

Location: Dover, NH
-Easy access to I-95.
-Rail access via Amtrak Downeaster.
-Possible RDC excursions over the NHN.
-Great train watching of Pan Am, Amtrak, and NHN at one spot.

Must have items:
1. Maine Central 252 (GP38)
2. Springfield Terminal 643 (SD26) Why not?
3. MBTA 1005 (F40ph) Gotta save a screamer!
4. Boston and Maine 1803 (Guilford 45, GP9)
5. Boston and Maine 303 (VTR 308, GP40-2)

Interesting that three of your five locomotives are not original B&M equipment.

Dover would actually be a great location, for all of the reasons you listed, as well as the fact that it's relatively central to the B&M territory.

Portsmouth would be a good location too, but probably not as good as Dover.

Yes, but they have all been used on the B&M mainline for many years... the history is still being written.
I think it would have been nice to have saved an NHN GP9 too....but ya gotta save them before it's too late!

Of course. But some of the diehard B&M fans, especially the old timers, might scoff at the 252 and the 643, because those units would remind them too much of Guilford.

I think it would be a great collection, though. You would probably have a hard time getting the 1005 and the 303, but the other three are actually plausible. (PAR will sell anything if the price is right.)

Naturally, I would add MEC U18B #407 to the list. No surprise there.

How about a D&H motor while we're at it... one of the Alcos would be perfect.

You would also need a traditional B&M boxcar or two. Not sure if there are any B&M passenger cars left...?

What about the stuffed-and-mounted B&M F7A at Conway Scenic? Think they'd be willing to part with it? It deserves at least a cosmetic restoration, and would be a great show piece for a B&M museum. Nothing says "B&M" quite like an F unit in Minuteman paint.

It's amazing how much can change in just two and a half years! MEC 252 has been sold and restored, B&M 4268 will undergo a complete restoration in the not-so-distant future, and two B&M GP9s have been repainted into heritage colors. I don't think any of us could have predicted these events when this thread was started in 2009.

Between Conway Scenic and Pan Am, we almost have the B&M Museum we've discussed here.

Let's see, I'd have the GP9 1732, RS3 1508, and and SW1 1109.
Should have a Milk Car - how about 2 - 1910, 1920 one mechanical refridgeration, one top iced.
The B&M ran wood coaches into the mid 50s - how about 959?
Cabooses, wood 104406 and steel C72R
Boxcars - 70341 double sheathed wood; outside braced wood 71870, 72249, 72480; steel 76079 40ft, 77843 50ft
and a drop-bottom gondola 92788.
How's that for a fantasy?
Wait a minute!!! That equipment all exists at the Railroad Museum of New England's Naugatuck RR in CT.
Restored? Several items. Available for future restoration? Yes!

Never being much for remaining within parameters, I'd focus on one piece of power and the support necessary for that power to go to and fro and up and down in the world between the 207 and 413 area codes: the 3713. Without a Powerballish mass of cash, the large Lima might otherwise never again turn a wheel under its own power. Who's not gonna support The Constitution?

Indeed. Even though I generally consider myself more fond of diesels than steamers, it would be mind-blowingly awesome to see 3713 hauling @$$ across the Scarborough Marsh at 70 MPH.

Dover would actually be a good spot, particularly if the enginehouse could be secured.

Objective: Equipment that will attract visitors

3713
BM dining car 3285 at Illinois Railway Museum
BM 6-4-6 Pullman sleeper Salisbury Beach
Any surviving GP7/9/18 or F. Pick one
Flying Yankee

YES, definitely the Flying Yankee. How could I forget? And since NH owns it (for better or for worse), Dover would be a great location.

Yup, good 'ol RMNE, can't get no respect from the Boston boys. Ya think Honest Nick will give up that B&M wood diner? Or that Tom will sell Salisbury Beach? Guess again. Or keep dreaming.

CVRA7 puts up a nice list of B&M stuff, and it pulls no comments from any of you guys. 14 pieces!!! That stuff is all REAL, and not fantasy-- in the hands of a preservation group and in a safe location, and always happy to have some friends to care for them. Where else is there so much vintage B&M equipment in one place??

I'm in Maine and can't afford much more than a stick of gum these days, hence my inability to be involved at RMNE, but I've made my respect and admiration for that organization very clear in other threads on this site. I've said it before, but here it is again: "If I lived closer, I'd be there all the time."

Clearly they have a wonderful collection of B&M equipment. No on can dispute that, which perhaps is why no one commented. It's just one of those basic facts we all know, such as the sky being blue and the grass being green.

C'mon Mr Malone, this thread certainly is in the "dreaming" category (uhhh, see title). And speaking of dreaming, you think that people would be compelled to visit a museum that featured a bottom drop gon?

I find this thread most interesting from the standpoint of collection rationale. In fact, it reminds me of the policies a number of museums (including the RMNE) had in the late 60s/early 70s. If it is your "favorite piece" that ran on your "favorite line" it should be saved. I realize I am being an academic snob and that this is a "fantasy" thread but the comment on the drop bottom gondola says it all. The gondola has just as much a story to tell as a B&M Bluebird. What would the rationale for the 1005 be? My point is, we still, even after forty years of a dedicated, national preservation movement we still really don't get it. Again, I do not mean to be critical (maybe I do actually) and dreaming is great (I do enjoy these discussions contrary to my reality check) but why should the public care about these pieces? If I may, perhaps, instead of just laundry listing in these threads, we rationalize as well. I think you'd be surprised how quickly the list dwindles.

You make some very good points.

In terms of funding for these types of things, I think it's almost always easier to get people to donate money towards the acquisition or restoration of a locomotive than a freight car. I'm not saying that's right or wrong... but for the majority of rail enthusiasts, and perhaps even the majority of retired railroaders, motive power is more compelling and captures their imagination in a way that a gon or a flat or a tank car cannot. Capturing their imagination is how you capture their dollars.

The flipside of the coin is that the price for an old gon is usually a helluva a lot lower than the price of an old locomotive... so instead of having to raise $100K, you might only have to raise $10K. If you play your cards right, you might find one well-off person who donates the whole amount in exchange for a plaque or something. That's a lot harder to do with a locomotive.