Amarillo and Santa Fe 5000

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

SPer

Now Amarillo Texas hated steam locomotives and doesn't fit Amarillo's image.

 

And just where do you come up with that notion of "hatred of steam locomotives" which you have stated on several threads.

[SPer]

Now Amarillo Texas hated steam locomotives and doesn't fit Amarillo's image.

[Overmod]

SPer

Why Amarillo Texas wanted to get rid of Santa Fe steam locomotive 5000. Was it because the city hated steam locomotives or for whatever reason.

We had quite a bit of discussion on this back when the first RFP came out.  (in 2016... when you made this same post, almost if not exactly word-for-word, not once, but twice about 6 hours apart...

I don't think 'getting rid' of the engine, along the lines of the scam Port Arthur initially tried to run, was ever a real concern.  Read this for step-by-step background

https://www.amarillorailmuseum.com/madam-queen-atsf-5000

(it helps to write the timeline down and add notes for some of the more 'contentious' details that vary depending on who's doing the telling). 

I think the original intent was clearly to get the City of Amarillo out of any potential liability for the locomotive while keeping it in preservation (see the line item stating this in the original RFP) -- compare this with the original shenanigans in Topeka that sold the last ATSF Ripley Hudson for Project 130.

Then at some point -- just as at Port Arthur after the weaselly scam was exposed, somebody got the idea that big bucks might be gotten for the engine as well as demanding Nashville-level insurance and bonding coverage to ensure 'proper' preservation of the locomotive.  I do not know if an actual price amount was ever given for that item 8; in any case this was not a brinksmanship deal like Glen Campbell's 643 with JJJ's Age of Steam.

Somehow, morons worked up the idea that Amarillo would sell to the lowest bidder whether that was for scrap or not -- I can find not a 'scrap' of evidence that this was ever seriously entertained.

I continue to think that the volunteer organization is the logical entity to work on this locomotive, comparable to 2926 in New Mexico, and that waiving the severe financial conditions for them is justifiable as they have demonstrated the necessary competence, longevity, and resolve to take care of both the 'artifact' and its ultimate mechanical (not just cosmetic) restoration.

(Not to be a spoilsport, but I would much rather see the time and effort put into restoring a 5011 class, which is a dramatically better locomotive than either 5000 or 643 if you want to actually run a monster 2-10-4 in the real world...)

[SPer]

Why Amarillo Texas wanted to get rid of Santa Fe steam locomotive 5000. Was it because the city hated steam locomotives or for whatever reason.