Maine Central 470

[Jock Ellis]

501 (c)3?

[Ed Lecuyer]

Yes, New England Steam Corp is a 501c3.

[Steve Smith]

Jock, and anyone else interested, here is New England Steam's website: http://www.newenglandsteam.org/

[Ed Lecuyer]

Internet Fundraiser link for the 470:
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/rebuild-maine-central-470

Wouldn't it be nice to see the 470 meet No. 9 (or 11) on the Wiscasset waterfront? Maybe something my grandchildren can look forward to!

[Richard "Steam" Symmes]

How many "WW&F'ers" have invested money in the 470 restoration project?  How many "plan" to in the future?  How many are, "waiting to see what happens?" Count me in on the last two categories.

As a token of good faith, I did a pencil drawing for the New England Steam Corp. to use as prints and note cards which could be sold to raise money.  They printed a limited run of 50 copies, which I personally numbered and signed. They may also auction off the original drawing.

On their last Indiegogo campaign, only one print sold.  Not a very encouraging sign.  Many other perks offered didn't sell at all.  I understand they are beginning a new campaign and selling perks at "fire sale" rates.  Again, not very encouraging.  $1.3 million is going to be a long haul at this rate.  I wish them luck, because they are going to need it.

[Ira Schreiber]

I did make a contribution and I have received my "reward" T-shirt, "Keep Calm and Steam On".

I wish them success.

[Ed Lecuyer]

I was an early contributor/supporter of New England Steam Corp and retain an active membership.

Given the alternatives (and if you have been following the 470 saga, the alternatives presented to the City of Waterville were very poor) I agree that NESCo offers the best long-term hope for the 470.

1.3 Million will not be raised overnight. Frankly, I'm pleased how well they've done in less then a year. Once the purchase is complete and the locomotive moved, they will need big donors and grants to make an operational restoration a reality. Tee shirts, prints sales, and indiegogo campaigns aren't going to cut it.

With the 611 and 4014 coming online, I agree with Jim Wrinn as he presented at the Mass Bay RRE banquet recently, that a new wave of steam enthusiasts are about to discover our hobby. The 611 and 4014 restorations are likely going to be the "American Freedom Train" of this era, giving birth to a new group of enthusiasts.

This is a long term project and NESCo makes no bones about that. I heard it (half-seriously) joked that B&M 3713 will in fact be done before the 470.

On behalf of the members of NESCo, thank you for your support to date. Your prints are great and would be a treasured addition to any room.

Keep calm and steam on.

[Mike Fox]

I also was an early donor. I mean early. As soon as they had a paypal account and announced that, I donated. I will continue to contribute over time.

[Richard "Steam" Symmes]

I'm not sure that I agree with the prediction that a new wave of steam enthusiasts is about to come on the scene due to ongoing steam restorations.  The current railfan generation is infatuated with diesels only. I know several young (20's) guys who we tried to indoctrinate into steam by taking them to see it run, and they pretty much dismissed steam as "old" and irrelevant. 

Yes, I know there are some young people "into" steam. You have some at the WW&F and elsewhere, but the big numbers are into diesels.  Even the so-called "Live Steam" hobby is becoming mostly gas and battery powered diesels. Check all the Live Steam club websites for proof of that.

Model railroading is almost completely diesel themed. A few steam locomotives may rest in the background but never are run.

Mainline steam has been gone from the scene for well over 50 years. You'd have to be in your early 70s now to even remember it back in the day. People younger than that grew up with diesels. That's all they can relate to. Plus, railroading itself has become less and less interesting generally to today's generation. Go to any train station when a train pulls in. Who even looks up? Almost no one. They're busy pecking away at their little gizmos. That's where today's action is.

If it were a race between seeing which is completed first -- the 470 or B&M 3713 -- I'd go with the 470, as great as the obstacles are. At least the 470 group has the "will" to do it.  The 3713 is stuck in a government controlled limbo. They can't even keep their own locomotives operational. Most of us who donated to that project will long be in the ground before it runs (if ever). That is why so many are gun shy about investing in yet another seemingly impossible task. Steam on, indeed!

Richard

[John McNamara]

I recommend a search for "Fort Wayne Railroad Director on Council Call In" on YouTube. Enjoy! (Kelly Lynch and 765)

-John

[Ira Schreiber]

As a counter reply to Richard "steam", I note that the steam crew at the Colorado Railroad Museum backshop is composed of young people. A complete personnel change occured several years ago and I would wager the average age of the steam shop employees is in the 20's. This is a far cry frorm the previous crew who were long of tooth, like me.

Their leader is the Rocky Mountain version of our Jason and there has been nothing but positives since the change.

Youth and enthusiasim are replacing the old and cunning.

Ira Schreiber

[Ed Lecuyer]

Some thoughts:

Ever hear of "Steampunk"? It's a costume/fantasy movement among the mostly under-30 crowd to dress and act in a combination of Victorian era costume, but with a Sci-Fi twist. While admittedly bizarre, it does show that some of the younger generation do have some appreciation of an earlier era. For example, one Steampunk group recently recorded a song "They Don't Make Airships Like They Used To Anymore" lamenting the loss of Zeppelin travel and similar technologies.

As to the diesel crowd, how many of them have actually seen (or ridden) mainline steam? I mean true, mainline steam - which rules out all of New England since Steamtown went south (and even the Bellows Falls-Chester run could be debated as "mainline".)

I tend to agree with Jim Wrinn, the time is ripe for a renascence in our hobby. This new wave of restorations is certainly an encouraging sign.

[John McNamara]

I think there are two reasons why there aren't many model steam locomotives in use. One is indeed lack of interest, as "modeling" implies replication of places and things one has seen, and most younger people haven't seen a running steam locomotive, certainly not one switching sidings or doing other things modellers like to do. The other reason is that most model steam locomotives are expensive and don't run very well.

[John McNamara]

I'd like to go a step further on this topic and mention that in May 2006, TRAINS Magazine published an article titled, "The Young Guns of Steam." This elicited several pages of comments on RyPN the next month - well worth reading.

I posit that the interest in steam comes from two sources. To the elders, it represents the "good old days," (1950s) when schools taught us to "duck and cover" in anticipation of Soviet nuclear attack, polio could imprison us in an iron lung, and blacks and homosexuals knew their places (back of the bus and under the bus respectively). For people of all ages, the second source applies: Steam engines are exciting to watch. They are big, noisy, smelly, and the ground shakes as they pass. There are all sorts of rotating, sliding, and thrashing motions going on. They are living beings, and watching / hearing / smelling / feeling their passage is a mufti-sensual experience.  Best of all (or worst of all), they require lots of care and attention, thus providing excellent volunteer opportunities at all skill levels.

-John

[Mike the Choochoo Nix]

I posit that the interest in steam comes from two sources.

-John

And then there are those of us that have an interest in what we missed. Not the bad parts of the old days but the way things were built and transported. Yes I know the mill towns were dirty and the work hard but you wonder what it was like when steam ruled. As for myself I enjoy the the history of short lines and industrial plants with small locos. Big steam is impressive but small steam is more interesting. I wonder how many young people have that feeling, it seems that all you hear is more power, more power bigger, bigger. I would rather ride behind a small steamer at 5 miles an hour than a super power locomotive at 80 miles an hour.
Mike Nix