LIRR P54D Cars Up For Sale

[workextra]

If this car is in operational condition then it should go to an outfit that has the means to properly preserve it from further destruction. I personally want to see it on home rails, but that is not going to happen, It can however if the right outfit with the means to upkeep this historic piece either in PRR or LIRR colors does their half in saving the car. therefor one day the car can be brought to home rails again. Too many LIRR historical pieces have been lost for good we must act in absolutely anyway we can to safe it for a future return to home rails.
And if Fred and his outfit in Indiana can help save this piece then every attempt to get it done should be looked into.
I must say a P54 would look real sweet behind 467 and a Pullman trailing in the rear.

[greenwichlirr]

Auctions over.

Bought by scrapper operations. From what I read on another group: Other passenger cars (ex-Long Island "ping pong's") were sold for scrap for $4-5000.

THAT is sad.

[Nova55]

No, it isn't. If it was so important and wanted somebody would have bought it, museums to.

[greenwichlirr]

In my opinion, uh....YEAH, it IS.

I'm not making any monetary arguments on who or what if anyone should or could or would have bought them. What I am calling sad is that the cars will end up being razor blades.

I'll say it again. THAT is sad.

[Dump The Air]

If anyone had the dough for them, they would have stepped forward. Would you rather see them sit on someones property ignored until they become a hazard and need to be scraped 10 years from now?

[Frank]

Are there any other surviving P54s?

[Otto Vondrak]

If anyone had the dough for them, they would have stepped forward. Would you rather see them sit on someones property ignored until they become a hazard and need to be scraped 10 years from now?

Can't save everything... and the cost of restoration is astronomical these days... not to mention getting them back to Long Island to start with. Sad, yes. A lesson to band together and work hard to save what you already have, perhaps!

[jayrmli]

Again, as I've mentioned in previous threads, if you look at what good, responsible museums and preservation groups have adopted as a policy (both railroad and non-railroad), they will not accept just anything that they want into the collection. Many times, the piece is refused, and not just accepted because someone believes it's a piece of history.

You may have a complete set of dining china from the Pennsylvania Railroad. Try to donate it to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, and they will probably tell you they don't want it. They will probably politely hand you a list of items that they would look for.

Many museums have members that enjoy "the chase." They find a locomotive or piece of rolling stock such as this, and will do anything to get it back. Once it arrives, the chase begins for something else and the piece sits, as there is always something else now to look for.

A recent article in TRAINS magazine detailed this very subject a couple of issues back. The title of the article was "Have We Saved Too Much?", and details museums efforts to shed themselves of rolling stock preserved, but unable to be maintained.

Today, railroad museums should each adopt a strict policy of acceptance, and then stick to it. Similar to what was described above regarding RRM of PA, they should set a policy of:

1) What items they want
2) How they are going to pay (fundraise) for it
3) How (and who) is going to maintain it once it arrives. Many organizations will not even accept a piece as a donation unless the donor is willing to provide starter funds to maintain it. This helps to prevent people from unloading their "junk" and also provides a way to maintain it.

Any other policy leads to what we see now - a railroad museum with an equipment collection that resembles a "rust festival."

Jay

[Crabman1130]

The RRM of PA has many things going for it the RRM on LI will never have. That part of PA is a tourist destination in it's own. Plus the Strasburg Railroad draws railfans. Just the overflow from these attractions has got to be more then the combined attendance to the museums on LI. Until there is an operating steam tourist RR in Riverhead and Oyster Bay there will never be enough money for the proper restoration and preservation of railroad equipment on LI.

[jayrmli]

The RRM of PA has many things going for it the RRM on LI will never have. That part of PA is a tourist destination in it's own. Plus the Strasburg Railroad draws railfans. Just the overflow from these attractions has got to be more then the combined attendance to the museums on LI. Until there is an operating steam tourist RR in Riverhead and Oyster Bay there will never be enough money for the proper restoration and preservation of railroad equipment on LI.

I beg to differ. First, eastern Long Island is also a tourist area. Oyster Bay is situated smack in the middle of Long Island's Gold Coast, with millionaires living next to billionaires. Long Island is in close proximity to one of the largest metropolitan areas in the country, including large corporations with dollars they will gladly spend for "naming rights" and other such items. What they won't do, however, is fund an organization with no clear vision, and no clear plan on how to attain that vision.

The idea that the only way to raise funds is to have an operating steam locomotive is an outdated idea. This is what Ross Rowland running the 614 to Port Jervis for those few years was supposed to do - and still no NJ Transportation Museum. Fact is the cost of operating such an endeavor eats up any profits, with nothing left over for a museum.

Jay

[Otto Vondrak]

Guys, the topic is the LIRR P54's... let's not go hunting all over the island trying to figure out the world's problems.

[R36 Combine Coach]

Are there any other surviving P54s?

Boonton, NJ: about six or seven sitting untouched for a aborted commerical project since 1976.

[jayrmli]

If I'm not mistaken, the LIRR cars in Boonton were scrapped. Not much was left to them anyway.

Jay

[reinhardtjh]

This may be old news but just as an FYI, at least one of the lot did NOT go to a scrapper. The Arcade & Attica Railroad in Arcade, NY bought coach # 7002 and is intending to use it as part of it's tourist consist starting next (May 2009) season. The railroad is currently using 6 former Boonton coaches/combines purchased in the early 1960's.

There is thread here on Railroad.net in the A & A forum. You can follow/remark on it here http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopi ... &sk=t&sd=a

[UN Block]

And, of course, 7433 was sold to the Oyster Bay RR Museum. Hooray!