Brian,
I know. Life is short and I have given it a lot of thought. The one things I do not want to happen is to have Eureka get stuck in museum of some sort and never used. She was made to run and she does it well even now 137 years after leaving Baldwin. The Nevada State Railroad Museum fits the catagory as one of those rare institutions that keep the engines going as opposed to stuffing and mounting the locomotive.
The only thing that worries me about any museum is that even the people and policies change, so there would have to be some conditions as to its future. Museums like the Smithsonian are wonderful, but unfortunately Eureka's sister engine "Jupiter" is as dead as a beaver hat. It just sits there with literally dummies surrounding it in a poor attempt to make it look like it is in a "live" enviorment. For me, there is nothing that compares to a living breathing wood burning engine. No picure, display surrounded by manequins can come close to the actual thing doing what it was built to do. Future generations should have the chance to see why such locomotives became icons of power in the 19th century. A huge part of their mystique is to see them run.
So, I think and ponder. I will have plans worked out to preseve her for future generations so they too can see why I have devoted so much of my life to keeping Eureka going strong.
Dan