Re: RGS 0401 COULD HAVE BEEN REBUILT!

At least some of the components live on. I will look upon the 0579 with even more admiration.
Yes, it was a different environment then. Preservation was alive and well but restoration was nearly unheard of. For many groups, operation was never a consideration. I remember asking Bob Richardson why they never fired up the 346 or the 20 down at the Alamosa Motel/Museum. He said the idea never occurred to him! How things have changed.....
Rebuilding has taken on a life of its own what with some of the D&S cars and several locomotives literally coming back from the dead: 315, Eureka, 20, 346, 9, just to name a few. If we only realized what could be done back then we might have the 0401 to ride today.