H&M "black cars" to be scrapped at TMNY

[Otto Vondrak]

If you want to see the Hudson & Manhattan cars at the Trolley Museum of New York in Kingston, get up there this weekend. They are slated to be scrapped by the 31st. H&M 510 and 513 will be no more. The museum decided to scrap the cars since there was no interest from other groups to preserve these cars, and TMNY does not have the funds or work force to attempt restoration on their own.

Due to a recent reassessment of our collection and the realization that we will not be able to restore all of the cars, these cars have been deaccessioned from the TMNY collection. They are currently being offered to other museums with the hope that they may become part of another historic collection. If you have thoughts about how these cars can be saved, please contact us at 845-331-3399. They are for sale by TMNY on a where-is, as-is basis.

http://tmny.org/tmnytube.html

[philipmartin]

First: too bad the museum would scrap a car because they couldn't maintain it.
Second:

deaccessioned

What language is that? I don't think it's English.

[umtrr-author]

It's a technical term meaning (more or less) "removing from inventory".

The process of taking items out of inventory can be very complicated for museums and other non-profit groups particularly if the item was acquired as a donation of some sort, which may have some strings attached. There sometimes needs to be a formal proposal made and voted on by the membership, and this can spark considerable debate and politics. Not saying this is the case here, but I'm aware of these situations with respect to other groups not connected to trains.

[fredct]

First: too bad the museum would scrap a car because they couldn't maintain it.
Second:

deaccessioned

What language is that? I don't think it's English.

Is too:
http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?gwp ... ccessioned

[philipmartin]

"deaccessioned:" It's meaning is self evident, but it strikes me as atrocious English to use in a public announcement. Since I hadn't heard it before, I thought somebody had made it up on the spot. I've heard NJ Transit use the term "deboarding" trains a few times, instead of "getting off" trains. It makes me cringe. Plain English in public announcements, please.

[ExCon90]

"deaccessioned:" It's meaning is self evident, but it strikes me as atrocious English to use in a public announcement. Since I hadn't heard it before, I thought somebody had made it up on the spot. I've heard NJ Transit use the term "deboarding" trains a few times, instead of "getting off" trains. It makes me cringe. Plain English in public announcements, please.

I believe deaccessioned is what is known as "technical jargon"; i.e., a term having a specific meaning which differs from the ordinary dictionary meaning (if there is one). Deaccessioned denotes that a specific procedure (outlined by umtrr-author, above), was followed; would another "dictionary word" serve? There is a valid question whether technical jargon should be used in communications with the general public, but deaccession is at least specific, and those interested in the quoted announcement may be presumed to be familiar with the usage. (In general, I agree about over-use of technical jargon -- I'm always disconcerted at the thought of airplanes boarding passengers instead of the other way around.)

[Otto Vondrak]

First: too bad the museum would scrap a car because they couldn't maintain it.

Too bad no one stepped up with offers of help, donation of money or materials to restore the car. Antiques don't restore themselves.

"deaccessioned:" It's meaning is self evident, but it strikes me as atrocious English to use in a public announcement. Since I hadn't heard it before, I thought somebody had made it up on the spot.

I never heard of you before. Who made you up? Of course, a quick internet search brings up several valid definitions of "deaccessioned."

But we've discussed the announcement more than the actual act. Where was all the concern when the car was sitting at TMNY all these years?

-otto-

[philipmartin]

Too bad thy couldn't just let the cars sit there, with out scrapping them.

[Otto Vondrak]

Couldn't they just let the cars sit there, with out scrapping them?

Better idea, could we bring them to your front yard, and let them sit there? The cars were too far gone to save, they were taking up space which could be used for other things, and they made the place look like a junk yard. General clean up was the motivation, I assume. Again, it's too bad people are showing so much concern now, after the fact...

[Otto Vondrak]

Don't worry, one example still survives in Connecticut:

http://www.bera.org/cgi-bin/viewcar.pl?car=503

[RussNelson]

I agree with you about "where were you before the cars rotted away" ... on the other hand, if you wanted to bring them to my front yard, then something might get done about them. As it is, Kingston is way too far away for me, and probably most of us, to participate in any regular work.

[keithsy]

That would be a nice project for PATH to take those cars back and preserve them as history. But, a gov't bureaucracy is not capable of such a thing.

[OportRailfan]

PATH already loses money on every ride they provide. It costs like twice as much as the fare just to break even I believe. Thus it's not even a question