Steven,
My idea was not to put any negativity on Uhlich Locomotive, just to illustrate the fact that the disassembled locomotive will not be running in the near future. If reporteres see the disassembled locomotive with no tender on site, they would understand the dire situation of the lack of equipment better. So maybe the press conference could be held at a different location and photos of #9 passed out instead so that Uhlich does not receive any unneccessary wrong press exposure.
The main though of some local members holding a press conference still is an open topic. There are memers with media experience who might be able to help organize it.
Andy