Regarding the 2921 in Modesto. For those who want to read the eight page article by Hank Graham on the W.A.R.M. website here is the link. Suggest you read it in order to understand what took place and the fine efforts put forth on behalf of Santa Fe 2921.

[www.barstowrailmuseum.org]

An important component of that article, and to this thread, is the following:

LATEST DISPOSITION

The City of Modesto sent out the revised RFP in October, 1997 with the proposals due at 11:00 am on December 16th. W.A.R.M. was just one of 4 respondents that filed proposals. The other 3 were from:

1. Friends of Steam, a Lancaster, CA based group headed by Mr. Larry Wines.

2. Contra Costa Projects, A Richmond, CA based group headed by the Mitchell Bros..

3. Tom Niemeyer, a local chicken farmer from Turlock, CA.

The bids were opened and the city notified all of the respondents that the city would convene a review panel to go over the proposals and make recommendations to the city for action. The panel met on June 4th., 1998 and ultimately decided in favor of W.A.R.M.. They recommended that the city open up negotiations with W.A.R.M. for the transfer of ownership of the locomotive and we were notified of that fact in July.

This is about as close as we ever got to owning the 2921. In September, 1998, we were notified that the city council had put a 6 month hold on the RFP process. This was in response a request by Mr. George Gaeckle, VP of Train Riders of California, retired CAO of Stanislaus county and also one of the panel members, to drum up local interest in keeping the engine in Modesto. His plan is the remove the engine from the park , spruce her up and place 2921 on display next to the new Amtrak station at Briggsmore ave. on the BNSF mainline east of town. In February of 1999, in response to my letter of concern and inquiry, we were notified that the city intended to keep 2921 in Modesto! Since that time, articles in the Modesto Bee have stated that the organization has received grants totaling $222,000 from the city, county and transportation sources. Isn't it great what political clout can accomplish!

Will she be left to rust in place? Who knows? As of this writing, the city has authorized $40,000 to do an engineering study on removing the locomotive from the park.
================================================================================================

From the above you can read between the lines that despite Hank Graham and his friends' considerable efforts, and personal expense, when other persons, namely the questionable "Friends of Steam" decided they too wanted the 2921, it gave the City of Modesto's possessive people pause to believe that 2921, as "their" locomotive, it should stay in Modesto. Therefore that is exactly what happened. Local hysterians, political hacks and others all came together to make a lot of noise, raise some money then do nothing, except to allocate money for a "study" and prevent "outsiders" from re-habilitating the 2921. Therefore the locomotive continues to deteriorate in the park, and has not been moved to the new Modesto station. Calls, letters and emails on the subject tend to get ignored, another indication that "the process" is stalled.

Did the questionable "Friends of Steam" or other respondents who decided to stick their noses into this actually do any actual work on the locomotive, such as was accomplished by the article by Hank Graham? The answer is NO they did not. It certainly got discussed and studied some more though. Larry Wines and "Friends of Steam"
did attempt to gather clothing, collect aluminum cans, and attempt a fund raising effort on behalf of Northern California flood victims. But what has that to do with actually restoring a steam locomotive, or getting it removed from a park? Hank Graham and friends mounted a real effort, complete with the cooperation of the BNSF, and Santa Fe retirees, and accomplished actual work, with the aid of the City of Modesto. Did anyone take notice of the direct participation of Mr. Lawrence Dale who had recently retired as top mechanical supervisor for the Santa Fe's Western Region? Mr. Dale recently finished serving two terms at Mayor of Barstow and is still the President of W.A.R.M. Make all the jokes you want about Barstow, but Mr. Dale was/is someone highly respected on the Santa Fe and BNSF. Doubt if any of the previous posters, or ones like those to come, gave even a dollar towards W.A.R.M.'s efforts. Did anyone else take notice of the names George Maier, Bill Palmer and others with considerable real experience with Santa Fe 4-8-4's? But don't let the facts confuse anyone with other ill-equipped, glassy-eyed, persons who had to stick their noses in, and curtail a fine effort. Did anyone else note the lack of a website or anything other than passing mentions of the questionable "Friends of Steam?" Google it for yourself. One can also google "George Gaeckle" and find nothing regarding the 2921.

As most of us have come to expect, the attacks will begin shortly, along with further insipid comments not germane to this thread. Just remember a good group of people, as outlined in Hank Graham's article, tried to rescue 2921. Those with the snide remarks, childish humor, and flaming posts are entitled to their opinions, even if they are wrong.

E.M.Duffy
Santa Fe Ry Retired