engines buried in richmond va. - Trains Magazine

Thanks for the information Bill.  I found the May and June issues of R&R at a hobby shop, and will see if I can order March and April from Carstens.  I see that the May issue contains an extensive write-up about the Church Hill engine.  I agree that what I mentioned about creating a display in context would be costly, and the funding may not be available.  But my suggestion only represents my preference in contrast to recovering the engine.  And I should say that I do not know the details of what objective is intended after the recovery. 

From what I understand, the objective would be to cosmetically restore the engine and put it on static display.  If the cosmetic restoration were perfect for the engine's era during the tunnel disaster, and if the display were also perfect- protected, well lit, well interpreted, etc., I think that would be a worthy objective.  But that would be a large, costly project that would pose a strong temptation to compromise.  Such compromise might result in a failure to communicate the significance of the historical role the engine played.  Or that failure could also result if the restoration simply upstages it by trumpeting the significance of the only surviving C&O 4-4-0.  I guess the last thing I would want to see is a recovery where the main objective was the challenge of the recovery, where the engine was taken out of the tunnel as a kind of trophy of conquest with no deeply thought out objective or passion for display.  I have seen that happen.

I would suggest that the cost of a well conceived recovery/display objective might be as high or higher than displaying the engine as I prefer, that is within the context of the historic disaster tale of which the engine is an inextricable part.  With this objective, I would not restore the engine.  Instead, I would merely stabilize it in its deteriorated condition to reflect the ambience of its long-standing entombment.  What I would seek to convey in the display would be the experience of finding the lost engine still standing there after all these years, silently playing out its role in the historic tunnel disaster tale. 

That particular experience will be had by the workers recovering the engine if it is recovered.  I would submit that they might not be prepared for its power.  It might be similar to the emotional experience had by Robert Ballard when they finally found and saw the titanic.  In the case of the Titanic and the Richmond engine, that experience, I think, is the most valuable experience to share with the public.  In the case of the Titanic, this kind of public interpretation is practically impossible.  In the case of the Richmond engine, it would be practical and doable.