I looked it up, in issue 38 of the society's magazine The Headlight. A traction motor "bird nested" when it was on it's way to Rio Vista after the original donation by UP. To allow it to complete its trip, the pinion gear was cut to allow the wheels to rotate. This was all before the FRRS ever had anything to do with it.

The article alludes to an idler axle being installed in place of the damaged traction motor. Regardless, it is either missing a traction motor, or the one in it is bird nested and has a cut pinion gear and needs to be replaced.

As with all museum projects, all it takes is time and money. The museum has little of both so even though the 712 is an essential piece in the collection, its need for a significant repair like this (significant relative to museum budgets and available man-hours) keeps it from being high on the priority list. That could be changed, with in-kind donations or money, of course. But hey, it's easier to just come on a public forum and vent.

To just take passive-aggressive stabs at the FRRS about a problem they inherited is cowardly. If you aren't part of the solution, you're part of the problem.