Railroad Forums 

  • **LONG ISLAND PRESERVATION NEWS**

  • Discussion of the past and present operations of the Long Island Rail Road.
Discussion of the past and present operations of the Long Island Rail Road.

Moderator: Liquidcamphor

 #301398  by midwest fred
 
If you follow RT's list - I've been there and done them all. Volunteered literally thousands of hours, funded and accomplished operational restorations.

Small tourist RR out near me here in the midwest in the last 7 years has received multiple state matching and ISTEA grants, rebuilt their 12 mile RR to run 30mph + from nothing. Same story as always - small group of dedicated individuals making it all happen, inclusive of the normal politics.

You guys are surrounded by money and people on LI - there's got to be a better way to raise the dollars so you can contract things out and get stuff done. Let me give you one idea. Check out the following website:

http://www.alcoa.com/global/en/communit ... elines.asp

If you guys were to approach Alcoa in the proper manner, I make you a bet you could get some serious dollars to actually restore the 200 - not just repaint it (again). Given the history of the car as the first all aluminum bodied railcar (built in cooperation between Alcoa and PRR Juniata), and given the history of aluminum railcar construction in the US, I bet about anything that, if approached correctly, they would consider a grant to fully restore the car. Has this ever been tried?

There's more $$$ in the NYC and LI area than most - and just about all those companies have or had a connection to the LIRR in one way or another. Would love to see you all stretch for something big. It's disappointing to me that in all these years, things have not been accomplished like getting the 1556 on the road, or saving any of the few remaining first generation locos. Will be interesting to see just how far the Istea money goes on the 39 as well.

All I'm saying is that I am hopeful that someday somebody back there will figure out a way to tap all the money that's floating around your neck of the woods. There's too much potential not to see an operating museum succeed on the east end.

Fred.

 #302287  by Mr rt
 
Midwest Fred,
Good input on your part for those who haven't thought about the "problem".
You are right, there are lots of folks & $ here on the East coast,
and you are also right about what's holding us back is politics & aptitude.

Years ago lots of customers who loved trains & trolleys came & filled the farebox. Just look at the dwilding quantity of RxR hobby shops & monthly magizines. It's a new ball game out there folks !

At the 3 trolley museums I'm with 2 of 3 have plunty of members, but they all are now going after the local folks to come by for a ride or a birthday party. That isn't going to be enough :-(

Need prof. mngt that can structure the place better & knows how to fund raise. There are two problems with this: most of those kind of folks want to get paid for that kind of service, and the membership doesn't realy want those "outsiders" telling them what to do.

I say wake up, better get some folks with these proffesional skills interested in helping you orgn. or it's just going to be a matter of time before it goes the way of the hobby shops :-(

 #305573  by RetiredLIRRConductor
 
It is that way with a lot of things. When I was a kid, school yards and ball fields were full of people playing baseball, stickball, Basketball, and touch football. There seems to be less interest theses days in playing sports. Maybe the computer is partly to blame

 #313897  by Otto Vondrak
 
Let's try to steer this thread back on track- this is for news postings... if you'd like to discuss the workings of musems and tourist lines, we have a forum for that. Not that the above posts were not helpful, but let's try to keep this particular thread focused. Thank you!

-otto-

 #323424  by Alcoman
 
It seems that the Railroad Museum of Long Island is looking to "Rent" its RS-3 in exchange for bringing it up to FRA Standards. See Rail Swap under diesel locomotives.
http://www.railswap.org/cgi-bin/classif ... ifieds.cgi

Very Interesting idea....
Alcoman

 #350457  by Mr rt
 
#35 isn't going to be "restored" any time soon,
but #39 the work is under way.

 #362208  by Mr rt
 
Friends or Engine 35 ......
Did a drive by LI Bus & was surprised to see that the coaches & cabooses that were stored there are gone as well as the connection to the old Central Branch.

When did the cars move & where did they go ?

 #362212  by Mr rt
 
BTW, was reading an item in the paper tonight that is funny, but not funny ha ha !

Remember when the County asked the engine 35 folks to leave ?
Well guess what is coming to Museum Row ?????
A Merry-go-Round ... yep the old Nunley's one that they had in storage & wanted to put in Baldwin somewhere.
Why ... something for the kids ... gee I thought kids loved steam engines ?
 #385966  by MADDOG
 
Pending good weather, the Oyster Bay RR Museum will be having a work session at Mitchel Field to perform some metal work on the 2900's and repair some of the damage sustained while the equipment was in Hicksville, We will also be painting over as much graffiti as possible. AGAIN---- weather permitting.
We will meet at our work trailer in Mitchel Field near the US Naval Exchange. If anyone wants to come down to join the Museums efforts and help out, call Gary @(516)233-8852 or Wayne@(516)417-7410
 #386066  by MADDOG
 
Sorry folks, I thought I put the date in. It will be held WEATHER PERMITTING on Saturday 4/14/07 at 9am. Feel free to call.
 #386538  by SwingMan
 
Very quick question: Since I'm not a member,does that mean I do not get to come onto the property? Please tell me, quick!!! :-D lirr415
 #386659  by Frank
 
MADDOG wrote:Pending good weather, the Oyster Bay RR Museum will be having a work session at Mitchel Field to perform some metal work on the 2900's and repair some of the damage sustained while the equipment was in Hicksville, We will also be painting over as much graffiti as possible. AGAIN---- weather permitting.
We will meet at our work trailer in Mitchel Field near the US Naval Exchange. If anyone wants to come down to join the Museums efforts and help out, call Gary @(516)233-8852 or Wayne@(516)417-7410
What kind of damage did the equipment sustain?
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