>Fred Krock's description of the track situation fits with my understanding.

Which is completely understandable given that your sources of information are premeditatedly one-sided (there are those who have used the term "cabal"), not all that much different than the was public perceptions of the Gulf of Tonkin incident were manipulated.

>The Museum does not preserve and interpret all railroads, but preserves and interprets electric railroads of the west as is befitting an electric railroad association.

From 1961 through 1997 it did preserve "railroad things", and WRM was one of the three great all-service museums, IRM and OERM being the other two.

The original versions of WRM's mission statement included the phrase "and parent companies" in order to grandfather the WP 917, a Harre Demoro memorial, and the SN 712, the last and largest of the line of SN diesels. Neither the steam nor diesel departments pursued the aggressive acquisition agendas of OERM, and particularly IRM. In fact, the steam department declined an offer of free movement of the SP pacific (2467 ?) from the park in Oakland, and the diesel department decided not to try to acquire and SP GP or SD-9 because these wouldn't fit the parameters of "WP and subsidiaries" (although about 20 years earlier inquiries were made with the SP about acquiring an F-M trainmaster).

The phrase was abruptly left out during a meeting in a smoke-filled back room, and questions and complaints about when and why it happened in secret were met with stone-faced silence.

>Our collection does include two Western Pacific steam locomotives and several heavyweight cars. Our rationale for collecting these items was the inextricable link between the Western Pacific and the Sacramento Northern.

with the exception of the WP 917 and SN 712, which both fit the rationale you describe just as well as the WP 94 and WP 334 do.

An BTW, the rationales for acquiring this equipment vary from "it would be neat to get for use in fan-trip service" (WP lounge car 653) to "preventing others from getting it" (WP 94 and the State's museum in Sacramento), among many others. Since when is the Pullman Company was part of the "WP/SN linkage"?

>Perhaps we should not have collected them, but we did.

Getting rid of the two diesels, but not the rest of the main line passenger stuff AND the two WP steam engines, is the height of inconsistency by the powers who like to thing they are. Think about it: doing so would probably free up enough space that it would become unnecessary to build another carbarn.

Also keep in mind that the closer a museum becomes to becoming "legitimate", as in accreditation from the AAM, the less the opportunities are for volunteer members like you and me to participate. WRM has been working on AAM accreditation for about 30-35 years. Has it happened yet? If no, toss the program into the dustbin because it's proven to be a waste of time, effort, and money. Devote those three assets to taking care of the rolling stock and physical plant (track, trestles, etc.); the place will be better off.

For Curious Troll: zero. The reason PLA finished the restoration so quickly (with a lot of unauthentic changes, BTW), is because the steam department at WRM was actively hindered in it's efforts.

For RVJ Refugee: I read Animal Farm because of the shenanigans at WRM. What I read in school was 1984, which is also apropos, particularly the parts about rewriting history to suit the whims of Fearless Leader.