champions of a cause

[NW Mailing List]

Hard words to read, but you've expressed them well, Ken.

If you look at any cause or movement of any size, you'll find one or
more "champions" who are willing to make a continued, sustained effort
to make it happen.  Labor of love, consuming passion, call it what you
will, but that's what it takes. I'm thankful for the ones we have
today, and for the ones who have come before.

- Marty


> In a message dated 8/15/2010 6:36:12 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org writes:

>

> While it is a real shame to lose another piece of history, this is and

> will be the fate of many municipal cabs, locomotives, etc. over the

> coming years. I feel certain that regardless of markings, it would

> have been cut up.

>

> Having not seen the cab in question, I cannot speak to its condition,

> However, I can say without a doubt that every single one of the St.

> Louis built VGN cabs (300-324) that I have examined, has varying

> degrees of side sheet rot at the sills. It is caused by the collection

> of coal dust and moisture, rotting from the inside out.

>

> A large number of cabs were donated from mid 1988-1990 or so, now 20

> or more years ago. At the time, every town, church group, or whatever

> thought it would be neat to have one, and had someone to champion the

> cause. Truly, some thought that a caboose was small enough and light

> enough to haul down the road on the back of a pick up truck or at

> least behind it.

>

> Now, 20 years later, the person that championed the idea, might have

> been 40-60 years old, today, they could be dead, retired or moved on.

> Maintaining a piece of equipment that is the size of a small house or

> bigger becomes a lot of work. Most rail equipment was old when the

> railroad disposed of them, therefore, perhaps not in the best of shape

> to start with.

>

> With no one locally to champion the cause, maintenance tends to stop

> or the person who did it is no longer able to continue. This problem

> is not limited to equipment, but the rail hobby in general, face it

> folks, none of us are getting any younger, and how many younger people

> are showing interest, certainly not as many as there are older folks

> involved. As I said, it is not just equipment, but archives, museums,

> rail groups in general.

>

> Ken Miller