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Re: (rshsdepot) Dunsmuir, CA Engine House
someone should pass a law.....who gave this land to UP? What rigt do they have to tear down our heritage?
- -----Original Message-----
>From: I95BERNIEW_@_aol.com
>Sent: Feb 22, 2007 4:13 PM
>To: rshsdepot_@_lists.railfan.net
>Subject: (rshsdepot) Dunsmuir, CA Engine House
>
>From the Mt. Shasta News.
>Link to photo:
>_http://www.mtshastanews.com/content/articles/2007/02/21/news/02enginehouse.jpg_
>(http://www.mtshastanews.com/content/articles/2007/02/21/news/02enginehouse.jpg)
>
>Bernie Wagenblast
>
>+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>
>Dunsmuir engine house may be demolished
>
>
>By Earl Bolender
>The engine house in Dunsmuir`s railroad yard may soon join the roundhouse and
> machine shop and old wooden rail station as only a memory of the days of the
> steam locomotive.
>That was the news given to the Dunsmuir City Council Friday by Bruce Petty of
> the Dunsmuir Steam Engine Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to
>preservation of historic equipment from the steam locomotive era.
>âUnion Pacific has stated if the building is given back to them, it will be
>torn down,â Petty said.
>Petty said the reason for returning the structure to the railroad is a lack
>of both manpower and funding for needed major repairs. The engine house was
>originally leased to the city of Dunsmuir in 1990 by then Southern Pacific for
>$1 a year. The city turned it over to the steam engine institute for possible
> future use as a museum.
>âWe started out with the idea of preserving the round house, which was built
>in 1939 and is one of the last engine houses still standing,â he said. âWe
>just don`t have the resources available so let`s give it to UP and let them
>tear it down. We gave it a try. That`s it.â
>Petty said railroad artifacts in the building would be properly disposed of
>including giving them to museums.
>Rita Green, president of the Dunsmuir Railroad Depot Historical Society,
>asked if some of the artifacts could be donated to the society for placement at
>the Dunsmuir Amtrak Depot.
>âI don`t see a problem,â Petty said.
>In response to Petty`s comment that the building is one of the last engine
>houses left in the United States, a question was raised as to why UP wanted to
>tear the structure down rather than attempt to make repairs.
>âI think it has a lot to do with the hazardous condition it poses,â Dunsmuir
> finance director Keith Anderson said.
>He said there is also the issue of liability if it was to be opened to the
>public in the future because of its location in the midst of the rail yard.
>Council member Tim Padula said there is also the issue of asbestos in the
>building.
>âI think the reason the railroad gave you the building in the first place is
>because they didn`t want the liability involved in asbestos removal,â Padula
>told Petty.
>Petty said because of the presence of asbestos in the building it is going to
> cost UP a lot more to tear it down than to renovate it.
>âThey`re probably looking at millions of dollars to tear it down and haul the
> asbestos off,â he said. âIt would probably cost about $100,000 to fix it up.
>â
>Before making any decision on giving the engine house to UP, Anderson
>requested the issue be placed on the council`s next agenda for formal action since
>the building lease is with the city.
>The engine house, a two-track building, was constructed to work on the mallet
> steam locomotives, which were essentially two steam engines mounted under
>the same boiler. These engines were too long for the roundhouse.
>As the diesel locomotive, which required less maintenance than the steam
>engine, became prominent, the roundhouse was reduced to about six stalls in the
>1950s and used to store city equipment. The stalls were destroyed in a
>snowstorm in 1964. The engine machine shop was torn down in 1969, along with the old
> Dunsmuir train station.
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End of RSHSDepot Digest V1 #1504
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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org