Perhaps I'm wrong, but I gather Sean is a youngster. And I admire his dedication and enthusiasm. There's nothing wrong with dreaming - heck, I dream of seeing the roundhouse restored too. But Sean, you need to temper the dream with some reality of how things work in today's world.
I doubt the whole country gives a rat's rear end about the LV. West of the Mississippi probably even many railfans have only a passing knowledge of it. How much do you know or care about the Utah Ry? Or the Spokane Portland & Seattle?
FGLK already has a shop, centrally located. I'm not speaking for them, but why would they want to come out some branch, spend millions, to restore this place? If they had that money to spend they could make a far better, more functional facility starting from scratch.
Here's a suggestion Sean, and anybody else who seriously believes this can happen. Start gathering prices. How much for a dumpster, and how many loads will it take to clean the place out? Call a construction company, see how much the charge would be for a hoe ram to pound out the concrete. Get hold of an insurance company, ask what liability insurance would cost while all this is being done. Measure one of the windows, get a realistic estimate on replacing all of them, then estimate how many will be busted out by the kids before the work is even done.
You can go on and on, but when you look at the reality of some of those numbers, maybe you will get a different perspective. And contrary to what you may think, the government is NOT just sitting around with bags of cash waiting to give it to projects like this.
My guess - and this is just my personal gut feeling not any firm knowledge - is that RIG (next door) is already working closely with the county to get the environmental stuff taken care of so the building can be removed, they can buy the land, and expand their operation, and at some point in the future return it to the tax roles. They are a growing multi-million dollar company, providing many jobs, and I'd guess would carry more clout that a well-intentioned but understaffed and underfunded group of volunteers.
Look guys, I'm not being a grinch here. I would like to see things saved. But right in Manchester, there were two wooden LV boxcars rotting away for many years. One, LV 75510, has been rescued, for now. That was a "wrong way door" car, and there is already one preserved at the RR Museum of Pennsylvania. http://www.northeast.railfan.net/images/lv75073.jpg The other one still sits there, perhaps the ONLY surviving wooden "right way(??) " door LV car left. Saving a boxcar is FAR easier than saving the roundhouse. But I don't see anybody stepping forward to tackle even that comparatively simple task.
Dreaming is fine, and I can close my eyes and see the roundhouse restored and ALCOs being turned on the turntable. Unfortunately, I believe that's as close as it will come to reality. And I'm about done here - if you want to beat the drum more go right ahead. I promise, at the grand opening and dedication ceremony, to step up to the podium and tell everyone present I said it would never be done and let them laugh at me. It would be well worth it!
I doubt the whole country gives a rat's rear end about the LV. West of the Mississippi probably even many railfans have only a passing knowledge of it. How much do you know or care about the Utah Ry? Or the Spokane Portland & Seattle?
FGLK already has a shop, centrally located. I'm not speaking for them, but why would they want to come out some branch, spend millions, to restore this place? If they had that money to spend they could make a far better, more functional facility starting from scratch.
Here's a suggestion Sean, and anybody else who seriously believes this can happen. Start gathering prices. How much for a dumpster, and how many loads will it take to clean the place out? Call a construction company, see how much the charge would be for a hoe ram to pound out the concrete. Get hold of an insurance company, ask what liability insurance would cost while all this is being done. Measure one of the windows, get a realistic estimate on replacing all of them, then estimate how many will be busted out by the kids before the work is even done.
You can go on and on, but when you look at the reality of some of those numbers, maybe you will get a different perspective. And contrary to what you may think, the government is NOT just sitting around with bags of cash waiting to give it to projects like this.
My guess - and this is just my personal gut feeling not any firm knowledge - is that RIG (next door) is already working closely with the county to get the environmental stuff taken care of so the building can be removed, they can buy the land, and expand their operation, and at some point in the future return it to the tax roles. They are a growing multi-million dollar company, providing many jobs, and I'd guess would carry more clout that a well-intentioned but understaffed and underfunded group of volunteers.
Look guys, I'm not being a grinch here. I would like to see things saved. But right in Manchester, there were two wooden LV boxcars rotting away for many years. One, LV 75510, has been rescued, for now. That was a "wrong way door" car, and there is already one preserved at the RR Museum of Pennsylvania. http://www.northeast.railfan.net/images/lv75073.jpg The other one still sits there, perhaps the ONLY surviving wooden "right way(??) " door LV car left. Saving a boxcar is FAR easier than saving the roundhouse. But I don't see anybody stepping forward to tackle even that comparatively simple task.
Dreaming is fine, and I can close my eyes and see the roundhouse restored and ALCOs being turned on the turntable. Unfortunately, I believe that's as close as it will come to reality. And I'm about done here - if you want to beat the drum more go right ahead. I promise, at the grand opening and dedication ceremony, to step up to the podium and tell everyone present I said it would never be done and let them laugh at me. It would be well worth it!
