Passenger Trains > After only 85 years....

After only 85 years of faithful service, CN passenger car "Cacauna" is meeting its maker at Saginaw, Michigan. The car had been stored in the Saginaw Valley Railroad Museum for about 15 years but had deteriorated badly with roof and side sheet leaks. The decision was made that this car was beyond saving. A team of workers has been removing the useful hardware such as berths and
light fixtures, doors and windows. Soon the car will meet its fate at the torch of a scrapper. A sad moment indeed...

TIOGA PASS

Norman Orfall
Helendale, CA
TIOGA PASS, a private railcar

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Sad indeed. A photo of the car in happier days fifteen years ago, though it is uncaptioned,
unidentified, unhonored and unnamed...it's just a part of a photo featuring a tower that
has been saved at the museum:

http://www.railroadmichigan.com/sgvym02.jpg



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/23/14 21:32 by GenePoon.

I guess the only way to really save them is to see them restored. Sad indeed. I have a bad feeling that more unrestored equipment sitting in museums around the country will meet this fate as the funds and resources just aren't available.

BNSF6400 Wrote:
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> I guess the only way to really save them is to see
> them restored. Sad indeed. I have a bad feeling
> that more unrestored equipment sitting in museums
> around the country will meet this fate as the
> funds and resources just aren't available.


You're absolutely correct on that, BNSF 6400, and as sad as this is to see, not much can be done about it. I know of one car at Mid-Continent Rwy whose owner passed away which creates another dilemma since the car, "Celestial Gardens" appeared to be in pretty rough shape. I mean who would want to inherit that, much less try to restore it. Simply put, these cars weren't in the best of shape when they were acquired in the 60's, and now--some 50 years later--they need some serious work to return to even a shadow of their former glory.

It wouldn't surprise me if half of the no-longer-operational, non-restored cars in the open at museums and on private sidings are scrapped over the next 20 years.

Over my years of dealing with passenger equipment I have watched too many nice cars be neglected and slowly depart this world. So many are already gone and they just don't know it yet. I have brought back cars for owners that were too far gone, I have maintained cars trying to stay ahead of it. If I have learned anything it is to buy Budd. Even that isn't foolproof. Too many nice Budd built cars rotting out from inside. Interiors looking more like science experiments than proud examples of the car builders art. The reality is these scenes will be repeated with alarming reqularity. Truly time marches on and rust never sleeps.

Since I was alive and even going to school when that car was built, I wonder just how many other cars of that age are still running in some kind of service?

Bob K.

stone23 Wrote:
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> Since I was alive and even going to school when
> that car was built, I wonder just how many other
> cars of that age are still running in some kind of
> service?
>
> Bob K.

How old are the cars in the Virginia & Truckee service, or the Silverton train? Or the Alamosa train?

You can't save everything. Nor should you try. "Resource management" should be the watch words.

The various "railroad museums" about the nation about have collections well beyond their current or future capabilities to restore, let alone cover or properly display. In most cases, carry overs from the "get everything while we can" philosophy.

Some progress has been made. Organizations such as ARM created standards and accepted practices that maturing groups have adopted which focus efforts. Recognize that places such as IRM have had policies in place for some time that guided acquisitions with funding for track space, building space, insurance, preservation and conservation/restorations. You can't fault them for thinking ahead. Wish more groups had done or would do likewise.

I know of more "junk" being disguised as "future projects". But you have to call it what it is. Worn out garbage, disposed of because it's usefulness had passed. Costs of repairs exceeded valuation.

A prime example recently has been in the news. Military vehicle collector Jacques Littlefield had amassed the single best group of vehicles ever seen as the Military Vehicle Foundation. It has been openly acknowledged that he spent over $550 million dollars to gather and preserve these items. Yet, even he was willing to admit that this amount would never complete the process of putting every item under cover or even restoration of a large percentage of the collection. After he passed away, his family donated the collection to the Collings Foundation, which kept a core of the collection and auctioned off the remainder. It raised over $10 million dollars towards construction of a new facility to store that core.

Museums of all kinds need to make connections with visitors on some levels. Rusting railroad junk will never do that. Proper practices which fund all of the costs of an acquisition from start through display and interpretation for those visitors are the right way to start making such a connection.

Sorry, but that's the reality of it all. Nostalgia just doesn't pay the bills. Ask anyone who owns a private railcar or locomotive.

Betcha the trucks are sold to make a tidy profit. Most often, the trucks are worth more than the entire car. === === = === JLH

Yes - the trucks have some resale value. So do the interior hardware and parts, berths ( upper and lower) air brake valves, end doors, etc. I am keeping one of the upper berths that has a beautiful inlay veneer to install in TIOGA PASS.

Norm

Norman Orfall
Helendale, CA
TIOGA PASS, a private railcar



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/24/14 11:09 by aronco.

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This car was purchased about 25 years ago by an owner who bought it and then proceeded to do...nothing. The car was in pretty good shape when he bought it. It was stored in the Bluewater Michigan NRHS's yard in Saginaw for many years, until Bluewater got tired of neglected/deteriorating cars that owners were doing nothing to fix up or preserve. So it then moved across town to the other museum. The car has long (10+ years) had roof leaks that let water run right through it, and has had homeless people break into it. I don't understand why owners buy cars like this and then let them fall apart with no attempt to keep them up. The sister to it was restored, and has operated as PV out of the Kansas City area for several years.

Did the previous owner of the car pass away? Why did the decision get made to scrap it? I highly doubt the previous owner would let that happen, despite how deteriorated the car was.

Chris Jacks.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/26/14 16:06 by ctjacks.

Previous owner advertised the car for sale on the internet and it was purchased by another party for parts and scrap. There are or were serious rust and deterioration problems in the roof and floor. The sister car, CN 1041, "Metis", was operated out of St. Louis and Kansas City until about 5 years ago, then sold and finally ended up in Nova Scotia on Cape Breton and Nova Scotia Ry.

Norm

Norman Orfall
Helendale, CA
TIOGA PASS, a private railcar



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 07/27/14 11:33 by aronco.