I want to publicly thank both Jack and Laureen for coming on here and explaining the issue from the Museum's perspective. It was a standup thing to do, and I applaud it.
While I hate to lose any narrow gauge car, wooden railway cars are not cats and they don't have nine lives. No.6 lived on as a shed, when it could have been scrapped by the RGS, it survived many harsh winters as a shed, outlived the railroad, stayed around long enough for the Shanks to grab it, and lived at the Museum all these years. The fact that parts of it live on to save an equally one-of-a-kind car make it much easier to swallow.
To Dan's comment, why in the world would the Museum subject themselves to public second-guessing on every decision? The Cumbres guys hear about it every time they paint a boxcar, and we all recall the endless teeth-nashing about the Loop. Notice we don't hear anything about the C&S/RGS No. 74, D&RGW No. 278 or much from the Sumpter guys or even many details out of the shop on 463. Because when people do post, they hear opinions from every Tom, Dick and Leroy that can run a keyboard. No money to help with the restoration, or physical assistance of course, but plenty of opinions.
Let's not lose sight of the big picture. The Museum has done one helluva job saving and restoring equipment and that has only accelerated under Phil and now Jack in the shop, and with the Trustees for that last 10 years. I have no dog in this fight, I'm just a guy who has enjoyed the Museum and its equipment since the early 1970's. I've been to museums all over the country and there are very few places that do a better job than the local boys in Golden, and I am quite sure there is no one that could keep as much wooden equipment as they have, exposed to the elements, in as good a shape as they do.
Chris Lane
