Grassroots Railroad Sports?

In reply to NickD :

I swear if they fail to raise funds for this one, they only have themselves to blame for this. I've already pledged to donate at least 50 dollars and hopefully more in the future.

The official announcement trailer, which lays out the plan. The "You can't just restore it and run it on the mainline, as the kids say" line had me wheezing.

FWRHS has done a great job of answering some of the concerns that people have had with the announcement of this restoration.

One of the big ones was "Why get NYC #3001 when you already have Wabash 0-6-0 #534 and NKP 2-8-2 #624?"

The Wabash 0-6-0, which was neglected for 30 or more years before FWRHS saved it, would require at least $1.4 million dollars to restore to operation, while still being of marginal size for their current operations. While it would be nice to have a Wabash engine running again (there's only two preserved) aand back on Wabash rails (part of the Indiana Northeastern is the old Wabash Fourth District) it's too small and even if used on the shorter trips out of Pleasant Lake, the local water quality in Pleasant Lake and the appetite of the #534 would have when running their normal shorter runs means they'd also need to solve not just the water problem but the water quality issue in town. According to Kelly Lynch, had the riverfront plans in Fort Wayne, known as Headwaters Junction, evolved, then the #534 would have been the daily driver and perfectly suited for it, but Headwaters Junction appears to be canceled or at the very least on a very long hiatus, which is part of why FWRHS acquired the Pleasant Lake depot and freight house. He did say that while the #534 isn't being restored to operation, the younger volunteers have taken a shine to it and have been giving it more attention in the past 5 years than it ever received in the preceding 30 years and it's certainly not rotting away, and they also wouldn't be opposed to re-homing it, if a group came forward with pressing interest and a solid plan for it.

As for NKP #624, it would be neat to be able to see a restored (and maybe operational) NKP Mikado alongside an NKP Berkshire and SD9 for the most diehard NKP fans but it was remarked by the FWRHS that visually the #624 is very similar to the #765, just a little bit smaller with a slightly different wheel arrangement, and the average person likely wouldn't notice the difference. The #624 was also badly vandalized (literally immediately after donation to Hammond, IN) and spent 60+ years outside with no roof over it's head, and 30+ of those years it still had the boiler jacket on with asbestos lagging beneath it, and there's rumors of a cracked boiler as well. It would likely cost the same amount to operationally restore as the #3001, but finding folks willing to pony up to see an NYC Mohawk run again is a lot easier than people who have a burning desire to see an NKP Mikado. As Kelly Lynch put it, regarding a cosmetic restoration at this time "Once you raise a quarter million to cosmetically restore a non-functioning display piece, that opens up a dozen other costly questions and challenges. What do you do with it? Where does it go? How does it contribute to your program? Before you even start down that road, is there a donor pool capable of supporting a cosmetic restoration without a compelling narrative or plan around it?" FWRHS isn't a museum, and they are on the Indiana Northeastern Railroad, so there really isn't a place to display it at this time. When it was acquired, it was largely because the group taking care of it had dissolved, Hammond, IN wanted the derelict engine gone, and there were genuine concerns about it being scrapped, so FWRHS stepped up to save it. At that point, Headwaters Junction was still the big future plan and they had hoped to cosmetically restore it and display it in the proposed roundhouse with the #534, SD9 #358, and the #765.

As for why Elkhart was willing to get rid of the #3001, there's a couple reasons for that. The museum at Elkhart wants to trim down their museum's collection to a more manageable level, with the museum volunteers admitting that the scope of the museum has exceeded their workforce's capacity and was reaching that dangerous "display junkyard" level that has caused issues with many other organizations. The city wants the museum to be a cornerstone for the neighborhood across the street and is planning a bit of redevelopment and wants to deaccession some of the less crucial pieces. So, why the #3001. Well, the city of Elkhart doesn't actually own it.

When it was moved from Frisco, TX to Elkhart, IN as part of the trade for PRR GG1 #4903 the GG1, and then the #3001, were owned by the Lakeshore Railroad Historical Foundation. The LRHF then leased the #3001 to the city of Elkhart for display at the National New York Central Railroad Museum. The Lakeshore Railroad Historical Foundation dissolved several years ago, and at that time the rights to the engine actually reverted to the Museum of the American Railroad in Frisco, TX. So, the #3001 was never owned by Elkhart, and Elkhart really didn't have a claim to the engine, and the Museum of the American Railroad did not contest FWRHS taking full possession.

As for concerns about them being stretched too thin between keeping #765 running, restoring the Empire State Express cars and working on the #3001, Kelly Lynch's reply was "We had two large steam locomotives in our stable at one time, and while keeping the #765 running we've restored one diesel locomotive and six passenger cars." The other steam locomotive they mentioned was C&O #2716 which they repaired and briefly operated while also doing a 13 year overhaul of the #765. The only reason they didn't continue with the #2716 was that, despite having flues with less than 60 days of run time, they were going to need to do a 1472 (the flues had been put in 15 years prior by Southern Railway, who then cracked the firebox and parked it) on it when the FRA got rid of flue extensions and they didn't want to have two engines out of service and undergoing overhaul. There's also the fact that there's often downtime while waiting on parts and materials, so having multiple projects keeps you from having the shop idled while waiting on components for one project. Just move that outside or go over to the neighboring track/stall and work on the other project. Not sure if FWRHS operates the same way, but there is also frequently separate car shop and locomotive mechanical crews.

Also, although it hasn't been officially announced it yet, they have a partnership with another organization that is sponsoring a half-million-dollar ship expansion and/or new shop construction, FWRHS just has to determine where it will go. I imagine the original plan was to have it in Fort Wayne, as part of the original Headwaters Junction plan, but it seems like now the new plan is to set up a major base of operations at Pleasant Lake.