Ah Structures,
As Don and John have rightly pointed out, for those structures to be used, and that's the easiest way to keep them, through use, certain modifications need to be made.
Wiring has to be brought up to code. Would you still want to rely on cloth covered knob and tube wiring that was installed on ceramic insulators? This stuff had a capacity (If you were lucky) of about 10 amps. Not a good thing in today's electricity-intensive age.
Also, certain changes to the law, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act have made significant changes to many buildings to make them more handicapped accessable. Fortunately, many of these buildings were built within the first two decades of the end of the Civil War, when the horrible loss of limbs caused by that war had to be taken into account with wide doors, flat floors, lack of grandiose steps (except for self glorifying government structures), and other design elements that would allow Veterans, the aged, the maimed, the infirm and women with young children access to the services that the Railroad provided.
Now if you are talking about structures that the Railroads built for their own use, sheds, servicing facilities, etc., and not for the general public, you are talking about a completely different mindset and structres built for a completely different purpose.
Yes, these buildings can be preserved, but with what we have learned over the years about safer methods of construction and amenities, to overlook these improvements is condemning these buildings to the same threats of fire and collapse that their contemporaries succombed too.
Knowing what we know now, would you advocate the use of Asbestos fabric to rewrap the steam pipes? After all, it's what they used to use then, and is part of the "Historic Fabric" of the building. Of course you wouldn't.
Preservation of the past is a noble and necessary cause, but do it with a bit of common sense.
Rick
