1953 -- #576 was moved into Centennial Park.
Will you be in the picture when she's moved out?
Are you just sitting back and waiting for the City of Nashville
to hand over the engine? Did it ever occur to you that your involvement
right now might make the difference in the City's decision? We do
have the ability, working together, to bring forth a more positive
outcome than seeing the engine scrapped. If you are seriously interested
in seeing 576 restored to full running power, there are several
things each of you can do to help:
1. Join NCPS.
There's strength in numbers. Annual Membership is $20/single and
$25/family. Obviously the restoration will cost hundreds of thousands
of dollars, and every dollar we can collect from membership fees
is that much less we have to fundraise.
Print out the brochure
in pdf format, or a membership
application in text format, and mail a check.
Or use your credit card online via PayPal.
If $20 is too steep for your wallet, contributions of any size are
always welcome.
Do what you can, but do something.
2. Offer to help.
Whether you join NCPS or not, send an email stating your intent
to provide elbow grease to assist in the restoration for however
many hours each month you feel you can contribute. It may be as
little as 2-3 hours per month, or 10 hours, or more. Include some
details if you have experience restoring other engines in other
parts of the county. All work will be supervised by qualified personnel,
so even if you know nothing about trains, we can still use your
help.
For those who live out of town, offer to spend a week of your vacation
in Nashville. If all you can do is support NCPS with membership
fees, state it in a letter. Even if all you want to do is ride the
train after restoration, put it in writing. All of these are levels
of support.
These "letters of intent" will be used to show that NCPS
has sufficient public interest in the project and qualified, able-bodied
volunteers ready to pick up wrenches and get to work on 576.
3. Look for sponsors.
We are actively seeking corporate sponsors to commit
in writing
for some
kind
of contribution to 576's restoration, exhibition and operation.
We need more Nashville private individuals contributors as well.
No contributor is being
asked to put up any real money until we have possession of the
engine. Nobody,
nor any company, will actually be on the hook to fulfill their
proposed donation or contribution until if and when the city
enters into
a lease with NCPS for the engine.
But it is important that we have these committment letters to be
able to include in our business plan.
4. Pass out brochures
Print out the membership
brochure, have some copies made, and pass them out to people
you know who may be interested. Or send them a link to this web
site.
You may not be able to do much to help just now, but that's okay.
You may live, like many of us, hundreds of miles away from Nashville,
but there are still things you can do to help. Just be willing to
do something now and let us know that you really care enough about
576 to make a commitment. Because without these things, no one will
be getting grease on themselves. Without proof that we can pull
all of this off, that engine will continue to die in that park.
Together, we can accomplish this dream, and make the picture complete.
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