It would be neat to see an SD26 preserved in a museum type of setting. The biggest obstacle, as I see it, is money. The economy is struggling, and that effects everything, including preservation efforts. Museums, tourist railroads, and preservation groups are struggling just to stay afloat and take care of what they already have in their collections. And we all know that PAR would never donate anything to anyone. (They wouldn't do that even when the economy was great.)
Another obstacle is that I can't think of any museums or organizations in New England that would be interested in preserving a piece of Guilford history. Now please don't take that as a bash against Guilford or PAR; it's just that the organizations in this region can barely afford to preserve important pieces of history from the original railroads (BM, MEC, DH, et al.)... we've all seen how difficult it has been to preserve a national treasure such as the Flying Yankee... now imagine trying to get people to donate money towards the preservation of an ST SD26, in today's economy... I think that would take a miracle.
For better or for worse, it would probably be a lot easier to convince one of the various Santa Fe organizations to get on board with an SD26 preservation effort. The rest of the obstacles regarding money and the economy would still apply.
MEC407
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Pan Am Railways — Boston & Maine/Maine Central — Delaware & Hudson
Central Maine & Quebec/Montreal, Maine & Atlantic/Bangor & Aroostook
Providence & Worcester — New England — GE Locomotives