First off the SN 712 was fully consistent with the mission statement of Trolley Treasureland (aka the You Are Not Welcome Ranch) because it was part of the SN. Giving it away was a case of plain old spite.

>Hold up there Tex. For starters, when the 712 came to Portola it was NOT running, IE we got a broken locomotive...the 917A was also a Broken Locomotive...we had that one running within days of it's arrival in Portola.

No Tubs, you hold up. The 712 had a small problem with the governor, which had been removed for repairs when it was given away by the Tram Nazis (all the ball bearing races on the layshafts need replacing too, but that didn't prevent it from being operational either). The rest of the diesel engine had no problems (there is one bad traction motor, which it had when it arrived at RVJ). The 917 needs new lash adjusters (provided you know what those are) and blower seals. If the blower seals aren't fixed, it will suffer the same fate as the 921. Of course all you experts at Poortoilet know about leaving the turbo lube oil pump running for 20 minutes after shutting down the diesel engine and about how lube oil leaking into the air box can cause an EMD engine to run away and become unstoppable (and you've have had first hand experience bending frames in locomotive bumper pool).

If your going to boast about how well you take care of your toys, at least you could learn how to do a railroad grade paint job. Also let me know when you (personally) re-install the governor and replace the traction motor. Clue: righty-tighty, lefty-loosey.