Frankly, I don't think this is about money as much as it is about priorities. The CRRM has enough money right now to, among other things, build a large concrete floored people shelter for special events, purchase and move standard gauge passenger cars in order to host dinners and wine tastings, construct new rider cars for special events, convert historic freight cars from its collection into rider cars for special events and purchase a steel White Pass & Yukon passenger car so that winter special events can happen. The idea that there is not enough money available to stabilize a one of kind car that was selected by the museum's founder for its historic relevance is hard to swallow. Making the new people shelter 10' less in any one dimension would have provided more than enough money to keep 1423 and the other two "storage platforms" alive and well as railroad cars.
What is the CRRM right now? A railroad museum or a special even venue that happens to have a bunch of railroad equipment that they get to use to enhance the events?
A museum, when face with the choice of buying a modern passenger car that is completely out of the scope of is mission statement and purpose for existing ( from the CRRM website - Robert W. Richardson and Cornelius W. Hauck opened the Colorado Railroad Museum in 1959. Then, and now, our mission is dedicated to preserving for future generations a tangible record of Colorado’s dynamic railroad era and particularly its pioneering, narrow gauge mountain railroads.)would fix 1423 and pass on WP&Y 286. A tourist railroad, whose reason for existence is to carry people and make $$ doing it would repurpose the non revenue car and buy the coach.
By its actions right now, the CRRM is behaving as a for profit special even venue whose goal is to get as many people as possible to as many wine tastings as it can hold. The only existing standard gauge Rio Grande steam locomotive and the only intact Colorado Midland passenger car, both once proud center pieces of the museum's collection have been removed from their prominate display location and replaced (at significant cost)by two standard gauge passenger cars that are only open to those who pony up for high dollar special events.
Where are the only surviving examples of boxcars from the Colorado & Northwestern and Florence & Cripple Creek, the unique Alamosa trash gon or the (until recently) only known existing C&S narrow gauge caboose? These important, tangible artifacts of Colorado Railroad History are not on prominant display, but hidden away on tracks outside the loop of track that the Museum operates on. In the past this would not be an issue, however now this area, which contains a signifigant percentage of the museum's narrow gauge collection, is seemingly permanentley roped of from public access (every time I have been at the museum for the past two years, none of which have been on operating days, the area outside the loop of track has been roped off and visitors not allowed to access the equipment located there)
As to giving more money to the CRRM, I don't think that would help for the reasons outlined above. The priority right now is special events, not historic preservation. Further, over the past 20+ years I have given a large amount of money, time, effort and even the occasional piece of equipment (Alamosa trash gon)to the museum. Given what the current leadership of the museum has done and is doing with the artifacts under its control, I can't see that much good will come of sending them more money.
Looking back at the seemingly endless hours I spent out at the Sundown & Southern dragging D&RGW 1217 (another of the gondolas made into a storage platform)around with my truck so that the CRRM crew could load it up, I have to honestly say it really pisses me off to now see the car destroyed by the CRRM. I bet that the individual who personally put up the money to buy the car for the museum in 2002 is none too happy right now either.
Further, I believe that the CRRM has a duty to try to seek a home for cars in its collection before destroying them to serve a purpose that could easily be served another way. (Really, how hard is it to build a material storage platform out of something besides a one of a kind railroad car?!?) Had the CRRM made the effort, I am sure they would have found someone willing to a nice, new and good looking storage platform for the three gondolas now serving that purpose. Too late now. I wonder what historicaly significant narrow gauge car will be next to go?
Jason Midyette
