NNG, SS United States Plank Owner Program

Just spreading the word. All of us here know how important it is to preserve our history. We save locomotives from scrap, we restore boxcars, coaches, locomotives. We rebuild old abandoned ROW's, replace ties on existing ones, rebuild portions of some for display purposes. We all support efforts like that in Como, where the railroad has been gone for longer then most of us have been alive, but the buildings and structures live on.

I posted a few months ago about the story of the SS Rotterdam. This 1950's ocean liner was saved from scrap by her country, and was lovingly restored to her original interiors and now serves as a floating attraction in her home port of Rotterdam.

America has ship that serves as a national Icon as well. At least, it did. The Story of the SS United States has been almost forgotten by time. The ship that still holds both Trans-Atlantic records (nearly 60 years and counting), carried several of our Presidents including Harry Truman, and a young William J. Clinton. The ship was so safe, it transported the Mona Lisa.

She is in such great danger of being lost to time. She is the largest passenger ship ever built in America, for America. She is one of only a select few Ocean Liners left in the world, with more and more being lost every month. Yes, its a long shot to preserve this maritime wonder, but let the word impossible never leave your mouth.

If Russ can get 489 painted Green for a year, then there is no reason to believe that this one of a kind national treasure cannot be saved. Its all a matter of attracting attention, which is exactly what I am trying to do.

Save our flagship, buy a plank! (It worked for the USS Constitution)

[www.ssusplankowner.org]