A few PLA members have summed up PLA's decision to help the GGRM by saying, in effect, "We did what we hoped they would have done for us if we were in the same situation."
To Stevo,
Point of fact, not all of the GGRM's equipment was sold or auctioned off legitimately, exactly.
A lot of stuff including big items like forklifts and railcars was sold/scrapped by the new management prior to the eviction notice, and a bunch more after. Call it cleaning house. To his credit, the stuff that was disposed of under the first VP-ops was generally legitimate. Some of the stuff that was scrapped (in particular the old ATSF Alco S-2, which was in serviceable condition and had a serious buyer lined up) probably shouldn't have been, but they got in a rush. After he left, the usual favoritism, etc., took over. Place became a real free-for-all. Know a boardmember? Here, have some stuff. Hell, I could almost excuse a lot of it b/c there was soooo much cr@p that really did need to just go away!!!
The big auction was for railcars and locomotives. Generally legitimate with a few exceptions, just a little bit of bid fixing, nothing big. At the end of the day pretty poor behavior but IMHO nobody got burned too bad.
The yard sale/rummage sale continued after the auction.
There was quite a theft problem, too. Mostly it was blamed on disgruntled members though frankly everybody was guilty of taking something. Nobody (and I mean NOBODY) was completely innocent. Much of the problem though had nothing to do with the Museum; anybody who's ever spent any time at HP at night knows that the place was less than totally secure; lots of "things that go bump in the night". Considerable effort was expended, mostly lock changes. Like 3 in as many months during one period, it was incredible. Apparently the holes in the fences and the buildings themselves meant nothing. I think some of the managers assumed that some of the stuff being taken was heavy or even esoteric enough that total strangers wouldn't break in and steal it; obviously these people had never met a copperminer. I ran into a bunch of these guys over the years on and off the property, and it is amazing just what they'll take with them. EVERYTHING has some value to a copperminer.
In a few cases, various managers and board members literally tried to frame members for stealing, but framing someone takes a certain level of organization these guys just lacked. Like taking pictures of the stuff that was supposedly stolen AFTER it was supposedly stolen and then accidentally leaving those dated photos in the lunch room.
Man, that place was a trip. Can't help but laugh sometimes, actually.