Jack,

Thank you for the post. Your explanation of why the RPO was taken apart makes sense for the CRRM and its equipment collection. C&S 1113 needed some expensive parts, mail car 6 was an avaialable donor, merging the two was an expediant solution,especially given #6's condition and the long list of intact cars that need work. I have never thought or said that the CRRM's decision to part with the car was a bad one

That said, I don't like the implication that the car was destroyed because I did not act. When I talked with you about the car in December,(after we established that I was interested in the car and that I could have it) I explained that the only place I had to put the car was in Kansas and that the weather made moving the car in the winter an iffy proposition at best and that april would be the earliest that I could confidently plan on moving it. You replied that you had kept the car from being destroyed so far and that you could keep it around till April but you would let me know if anything changed. Admittedly, I left it at that and figured that I would start stabilizing the car in mid March for the April move. As I had not heard anything to the contrary, I assumed nothing had changed. Perhaps I should have checked in sooner, but nothing changed on my end, the only change was the CRRM's sudden need for parts for C&S 1113.

Again, I do not fault the CRRM for its decision, C&S 1113 is a one of a kind car that needed more work than was expected, using #6's sills solved the problem and kept the restoration on track. As the CRRM had already decided to deaccession the mail car, this was an excellent piece of creative problem solving that was in the best interest of the CRRM and its wquipment collection as a whole. Had someone called me and said "hey, I know we said you could have this car, but we need its center sills for C&S 1113" I would not have had a problem with that. ( perhaps it would have even been possible to save the rest of the car, steel beams would work just as well to rebuild the car as the Vance Junction section house and the car probably would hve been cheaper and easier to move in pieces any way. I would have taken the rest of the car had anyone let me know what was going on)

I am not mad at you or the museum in any way, just sorry to see the car go. On the plus side, it will be nice to see the C&S reefer looking less decrepit than it ever has in my life time!

Jason Midyette



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/26/2012 04:31PM by Jason Midyette.