(erielack) Re: Erie preserved steam

[Hhaines_@_aol.com]

In a message dated 10/2/2004 9:52:42 AM Mountain Daylight Time, 
curtis.brookshire_@_verizon.net writes:


 And how did the Erie end up preserving no steam locomotives?
  >>

There are a few theories as to the lack of preservation of locomotives as 
revealed in a couple of different books.  Steam left the rails of NYSW and Erie 
early on, and there was little in the corporate mind set to preserve some 
things. 
In general, Erie appeared to be scrapping or selling as much of the old steam 
locomotives as possible to pay for improvements including new locomotives. 
The company was at a high point when their "centennial" celebration hit in 1951. 
For that, they borrowed the historic cars and locomotive and showed off their 
new equipment.  By 1952, diesel was top dog on the system. And in 1953, a 
recession that hurt until the hurricane in 1955.  
There may have been fond thoughts of preservation on the West end in some 
communities, but there were a number of battles going on in the East end.  
Communities were trying to tax the living daylights out of railroads, including 
passenger service facilities.  If the thought of preserving or donating a 
locomotive to a community had occurred, the taxes on it would have been prohibitive 
(Erie had passenger stations that were hardly used that were taxed, so why not a 
locomotive?) 

Then there were the communities that were trying to remove the rails from 
their town's streets because the trains caused traffic jams--why would they ever 
want a train, unless it was gone? A hundred years earlier they had been 
fighting to get the rails through town, and now they wanted them out.  

Erie did donate a K-1 Pacific to the US for the Korean government in 1954 or 
so. This was 11 or 12 years before there was any type of national preservation 
law that was put into effect after the demise of the Pennsylvania station in 
Manhattan in 1965.  

This may not be correct as I am working from memory, and right now, that may 
not be the best. This is the second thing I will look up when I get back home.

Howard Haines

H Haines

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