Re: Looting the local stuff

Well Mister West, you say that you oppose us looking at El Salvador and Guatemala as a supermarket of cheap rail stuff and that's a rather mindless "boys toys" approach to preservation.
Rather pejorative words and somewhat demeaning to those desirig to preserve and operate these AMERICAN made engines that are the sisters and brothers of what’s operating on US reconstructed and preserved NG-RRs.
The # 8 at Sonsonate, that you mentioned as being “stuffed and mounted,” is just a shell of an engine. It is not painted nor protected. It is open to the elements, and if it was in a US park then the local government would be seeking someone to haul it away. I consider that 4-6-0 as a candidate to be shipped to the US along with the two nearby 2-8-0s. (I hope all three are still there.) I doubt any Salvadoran would care, especially if they made some money as work is scarce there.
If you seek enlightened and carrying Central American rail preservation then you’ll have to focus on Costa Rica. In San Jose there are several preserved, restored, and protected steamers. There’s a 4-6-0 at the Atlantic station and three engines near the Pacific Station. The Ticos care for them. They won’t be sold nor scrapped. That can’t be said for what is going to happen in Sonsanate and San Salvador.