763

There was a good deal of discussion when it was announced that we were going to sell the Nickel Plate locomotive, No. 763 to the Ohio Central Railroad Historical Society (no direct link available). We received positive and negative feedback, but the reasoning behind the decision seems to have been lost amid nostalgia and passion. We'd like to explain why we chose to sell this piece of the collection, and how it will benefit you, our patrons.

To start, we need to clear up that we, the museum, cannot actually sell this particular locomotive. It doesn't belong to us. Rather, it belongs to the City of Roanoke, having been gifted to the city by Norfolk & Western in the 1960s when this museum was the Roanoke Transportation Museum. At no point has the Virginia Museum of Transportation ever owned this locomotive, and as such, its sale must ultimately be made by the city, not us.

On down the rabbit hole, this locomotive in no way furthers the mission of VMT. What is our mission, you ask? It is:

To preserve and interpret the transportation heritage of the Commonwealth by collecting, restoring and exhibiting significant artifacts in order to serve and educate the citizens of Virginia.

That's it. So why doesn't #763 add to this? #763 never ran one foot within the borders of the Commonwealth of Virginia. It came here purely by chance when Norfolk & Western acquired the Nickel Plate line. As diesels were replacing steam engines, there was no need for this piece, but it would be bad politics to simply scrap it. So, it went to the City of Roanoke, home of Norfolk & Western's headquarters at the time. The city stuck it in our back yard, where it's been quite literally through hell and high water.

Ok, now for the ugly part -- money. The American Association of Museums (AAM) contends that it is in bad form to sell any piece of a museum's collection unless the money from the sale directly benefits the collection through restoration or the purchase of another piece. Well, we can't really argue that fact. As mentioned above, the City of Roanoke would receive the money, and it would be at their discretion to allocate it to VMT or not. Assuming they would, the money would at least partially go toward the collection. There's more to it, though.

It has not been made clear quite how dire things have been for VMT financially. In a year that saw the roof torn off the building like wrapping paper on Christmas morning, the state cut our funding by nearly 60%, and the City of Roanoke which owns more than 40% of our collection, gave us a mere $52,000 (representing about a 5% cut from the previous year). The sale of #763 for $125,000, to be blunt, keeps our doors open.

If we want to adhere strictly to the AAM's guideline about the application of money from the sale, then no, it isn't all going where it should. To that, we can only say this:

If we are closed, the pieces in our collection will deteriorate more than they would when we are open.

Period. Do we have a full-time restoration team? No. Could we afford one if we did? Probably not. Would the sale of #763 allow for that? You better believe it would. It would also pay for us to offer educational programs to schools and community organizations, it would go toward restoring and preserving the pieces of our collection, and it would enable us to exhibit better the artifacts we already have. All of these things are 100% in line with our mission statement.

It is undeniable that #763 has a special place in the heart for a lot of Roanokers and Virginia rail fans alike. The decision to sell the locomotive is not meant in any way to belittle or demean this sentiment. Rather, the opposite is true. The Ohio Central Railroad Historical Society has both the money and the ability to restore #763 to operating condition. Upon doing so, it will run excursions in Ohio, providing an unforgettable and meaningful experience to the citizens of Ohio, the engine's true home.

We hope that you'll come to see #763 one last time before it leaves Roanoke. It had a long history here, and will leave amid tears and celebration. But its sale helps us do our jobs, and our jobs make your experiences here better.