Steamtown has the same problem, government run and rusting steam locomotives and equipment. Money is the issue. Government spends money on what will provide the most benefit. Apparently restoring rusting trains is not very high on the fed’s list. Or the NPS’s list. Or Trump’s list. In the case of RRMoPA, Wolf’s list. Steamtown and RRMoPA needs to get more of their stuff indoors but it takes money to build additions on to the display hall. They already did the train shed addition a while back. It would be a crying shame if Steamtown or RRMoPA had to scrap any steam locomotives due to deterioration because the money wasn’t there. When you think of it, the RRMoPA is like a retirement home. It’s where most of the surviving PRR steam locomotives and equipment that were retired over 50 years ago live but essentially everything is mummified, so to speak, nothing operates or moves unless a piece of equipment has to be relocated on the property. At least the Strasburg is across the street with operating steam all the time. Are there no preserved PRR MP-54’s now? I thought Wilmington and Western has one converted into an open sided coach. I’m surprised at all the Reading steel open window coaches that survived, as well as the Blueliners after SEPTA retired them in 1990. There are even some at Knoxville, TN on a steam tourist railroad. NCTM has ex-Reading coaches, too. West Chester and LGSRY have some Blueliners in service. WK&S and New Hope have ex-Reading steel coaches, and RCT&HS has several Blueliners. There are also some in Danbury, CT several of them the lightweight cars that were a part of the FP9 push pull set. And there are a bunch of preserved CNJ coaches, and Lackawanna Boontons as well.
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