I have been watching this board for several months now and I have made one consistant observation: you are all better gossipers than the ladies aid at a church.
As usual you have whipped yourselfs into a frenzy that the world will come to an end and the fires of hell will consume the NG equipment at stuhr.
Why don't you stop speculating and ask?
ANd I mean ask me and not somebody who was hear 20 years ago?
The BS and what not that are spead by railfans has done more damage to museums than any one is willing to admit.
So cut it out!!!
Here are some of the facts that may vary from speculated:
Stuhr got the narrow gauge because they were approached to buy the Nebraska Midlands RR in North Platte from the private owners. It was simply an operating train that was available.
There are not 35 pieces of NG equipment on tyhe grounds. The purchace records show no more cars than are on the grounds or 14 cars. There is no hard evidence of cars other than the two FCC cars passing on or off the grounds.
That brings up the the FCC cars. The opinion of the remaining staff that was involved with those cars is that the museum never should have acquired them as the entire structure was rotten. And yes I do agree that this is a point where restoration is out of the question.
The baggage car... Any inspection that showed the car being shortend must have been a very short one itself. The car has actually lengthend by adding platforms and roof overhangs. The original body is intact but showing is age.
I will not go into detail about the condition of 69 but I will say that is was one of the locomotive horror stories waiting to happen. The locomotive has junked on the BHC like so many other engines and scabbed together to keep it in operation. It was not taken out of service soon enough. Politics aside the train should not have been running in the condition that is was and the director that pulled the plug had to before the railroad sucked the life out fo the rest of the museum.
Oh by the way 5669 was never a double deck car, that was done by the museum and Stone's book confirms it.
Now, narrow gauge that we are getting rid of consists of four flat/gondolas that are now depressed cars, will be dismantled for parts. That's it. We will concentrate on using narrow gauge equipment in town since the construction style of the car is pre 1900. Most of the equipment that we are getting rig of is standard gauge post 1910.
There will be no NG auction get you sticky little tenticles off our railroad.
How many of you have been gossiping about the TEA21 grant that we have the restore the FCC car?
Before you shoot your mouth off ask, becauce we all know what assume means.
Paul Dalleska
Stuhr Museum
308-385-5316
PS. It does take 11 months to survey a collection, develop plans to develop displays and interpretive plans, and get it approved. Now there's a novel concept real interpretation of railroad equipment.
