As Frank has mentioned, the push is on to start work on the next carbarn. And we can't emphasize enough how important this is to the preservation of our collection. There's a lot of valuable equipment still sitting outside. Although Barn 14 won't be able to hold everything, it will be a giant step forward. But the Museum cannot commit to beginning construction until sufficient funds are on hand. And that's where you come in, of course.
There's another point that we probably haven't repeated often enough. The Trolleyville collection was acquired nearly three years ago, and it was worth every penny, yet all the debts incurred have not been paid off. The Trolleyville fund is still deep in the red. We had to pay for actually buying the cars and equipment, then loading and transporting them, and now we still need to pay for track and barn space.
This is not cheap, but you can still make a big difference. Think in terms of feet. Barn track space currently costs $215 per foot. The cost of putting a single 50' car inside may be way out of reach for most of us, but a foot or two certainly isn't. We urge you to dig deep into your pockets and put your best foot forward. Your contributions are, of course, tax-deductible.
Donations can be made on-line through the IRM home page, or of course by check or money order to fund RISWEC. Those of use who are actually doing the restoration work are contributing to this fund, and we'd appreciate any help you can give. Thanks!
2 comments:
This is an excellent post by Randy. It cannot be said often enough. The only long term salvation for some of these cars is to get them out of the weather and under roof. I have seen (and worked on) many stunning restorations at IRM involving thousands of dollars, and thousands of hours of volunteer work. It is very disheartening for them to have to live outdoors and us look forward to repeating the process in ten years. Sort of like the nightmare Bill Murray lived through in GROUNDHOG DAY where history repeats over and over. Let's break the cycle and get a new building to save the equipment. The equipment is the CORE of IRM and without it there would be no IRM that we know today and all enjoy.
Bob Kutella
Thanks, Bob.
Furthermore, I should warn you that we will continue to post these collection agency-style messages until we get the money we need. Let's not make this any harder than it has to be!
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