**LONG ISLAND PRESERVATION NEWS**

I believe that until enough has been raised to move and begin restoration of the balance of the 39, those funds remain in escrow accounts. That would be the most transparent way to to assure donors their money has not been squandered. I don't think RMLI has made that mistake.

I would hope so Rich.
It would be a real shame if her donations intended to restore here was spent on non restoration expenses. Because every dollar counts, and if those dollars are being spent to for example visit her boiler or to sound her whistle on SRC 475 (which frankly sounded beautiful) or on another no 39 component than that’s just a pure shameful waste of very limited and precious funds.
God willing this waste didn’t happen we’d have a shot to see this project through. If it did, the project is a wash. But with all the starts and stops which I honestly haven’t followed through with since they signed the agreement I all but thought 39s deal was canceled. It’s great to hear it’s not over yet!!!

That said, besides 38/35 which other lirr steam number/builder plates are still here today? And are they in a museum or private collection?

Personal opinion and this is not a comment on the RMLI: I would like to see the museum and the PRR groups go "ba##s to the wall" in a dedicated push to fund the G5s project. Yes, they have other obligations to their equipment, but restoring the G5s should be priority #1. There are numerous ways to conduct such a campaign short of going door to door with a plastic cup. Money for our kinds of projects is always slow, but it can be accelerated if the will to do so exists. One thing any donor can do is explicitly mark their donation for the G5s restoration campaign and that alone.
Campaigns such as this one have to show why history is critical, make a big deal about why it should be done, and what it represents for the collective good.
I note that OBRM has acquired two tickets to a Billy Joel Concert at Madison Square Garden, and is including a brochure explaining that in their recent solicitation for renewals. Very good tactic on their part! Same could be done for Broadway shows, games at the coliseum, and similar venues. I don't know how OBRM intends to dedicate the money earned, but this is a capital idea .

We all have great ideas and options to offer to boost fundraising for 39.
That said the field is crowded at the moment, what do you guys think needs to be done to set 39 let’s just call it a (Pennsy style G5) out ahead of the pack?

What’s the pros and cons of the G5 over the K1 and T1?
How would they fair together operating in preservation?
What engine has more to offer the public at large?
Though an oxymoron, which of the 3 would be able to steam at the most cost efficiencies to their operators?
Where does the interest at large stand for the G5 class? Compared to the other classes being restored/built?

The important question though is where did this movement fail? Why did it fail? And why do we all need to do to re rail this movement?

We can’t keep asking and relying upon the same circle of dwindling supporters for donations. Rich seems see that.

I get really tired of people preaching "it's drying pool and there's only so much money to go around". That's nonsense. First off, you write letters and apply for every conceivable grant out there. Expect to apply three or four times to get some traction. That's how the game is played. You write for support from railway suppliers, leasing companies, companies which sponsor events, insurance companies. You write, write write, and individually sign as many as possible. Use postal mail when possible using letterhead stationary from a printer, but email sometimes is the only route - so use it! When you write, include numbers and clear photos which show action and progress while you wait for the contributions to come in. Explain, "when we hit a goal of $100,000 the new backhead and crown sheet will be installed (or whatever you are going to do)" and then work like hell to meet that goal in the stated time. If potential donors see work happening, they reassess their giving plans. DON'T WAIT UNTIL YOU'VE AMASSED THE TOTAL NEEDED. Use what you have to show you are moving in the correct direction. Do what you've promised and never siphon off donations to the locomotive to fund parties, carnivals, or mixers.
Look, people have money for what they want.
OBRM's concert approach is the most innovative thing I've seen in years. Kudos to those guys and whoever thought up that approach.

As far as "why a G5s?" Several solid answers: Strasburg shops, Strasburg Railroad, Pennsy design and family face which never got "the PRR beauty treatment". Pennsy style and design at it's best. RMPA is across the street - big draw to see a live PRR design engine. Pennsy fans are fanatics about their railroad. Could be moved wherever the K4s goes and double headed. Will make money for Strasburg and RMLI*. Biggest 4-6-0 ever designed, unique boiler in the USA, the artifact is put in top condition and operated, and eventually will be returned to Long Island for permanent display**.

*N&W 611 earned $20,000 on an operating day during the 2020 season, and this was the year Covid broke out. Do you really think a live PRR steam loco rebuilt by Strasburg, on Strasburg, would do less? Think again.

**I'll be dead by then, but placed in a climate controlled building for a technologically savvy world. What a leap of history and faith. Built before the depression and rebuilt 50 years after men walked on the moon arriving in another Long Island built vehicle.

Wow, Rich you really hit some key nails there.
You’re correct about raising for part
Of the project at a time but I think this was damaged by the one lump sum contract.
Forgive me, there hasn’t been any work on 39 made public in many years?
I certainly haven’t seen it.
This lack of progress don’t help the situation, or does it?

I do Agree that a running PRR built G5 in PRR territory would bring money and the pennsy fans.
Respectfully I think the donation pool
Is being split too many ways so the focus on one to completion has failed.
The whole thing is a shame.
There so many components to this And frankly a lot a emotions around it.
Maybe this thread will fire some new motivation up.

"Lump sum" is the killer. Okay, I'll get off my soap box and faded seamlessly into the crowd.

Were MP54s combine 1391 and RPO 4209 scrapped at Riverhead? I can't find any info about them during their time in the 2000s, and I assume they were scrapped sometime in the late 2000s due to their dilapidated state. Is this correct?

Yes. Both had severely rotted by the time they were scrapped and the RPO collapsed while being loaded onto the contractor's trailer.

RMLI took a great deal of unwarranted "heat" for the scrapping of these two unique cars. In fact, they were a disaster waiting to happen, and even if they'd been indoors, the corrosion that finally killed them would have likely gotten them anyway. Had they collapsed on a visitor, that would have been the end of the whole collection. I think the control stands might have been harvested. I hope so.

Scrapping of parts of a museum collection is certainty something it's very easy to misunderstand and assume a museum is in the wrong about - which was something i was guilty of too.

At the end of the day it often weighs as heavy on a museum's staff as it does you or me.

All photos: Bill Mangahas (October 1979)

newkirk wrote: ↑Wed Dec 22, 2021 7:07 pm All photos: Bill Mangahas (October 1979)

What's the number of these two cars, and when were they scrapped? Were they kept at Riverhead as well?

I wasn’t happy about the loss of these cars either, but I did have the privilege of going in both of them. It wasn’t a good sight.
Lead paint pealing off the ceiling and wills, glass shards from the open windows
Ripped and tattered remains of what little seats remained in the combine.
I didn’t recall the control stand. As I didn’t make it that far.
These cars were wrecked and needed a million a piece to rebuild at the time into a loco haul car.
The liability due to tue severe decay dictated these 2 had to go.

4153 in CT is in much better shape than these 2 were. But with no home now it’s a matter of tim before it goes too.

I believe offers are still open on 4153, and pre-covid there was at least surface level work being done to it.