John Susheck with railroad equipment brokerage firm Ozark Mountain Railcar says there have been no bids placed for the 17 pieces of equipment currently under auction in Noblesville, Ind. The equipment is the remaining pieces of the collection formerly held by the Indiana Transpiration Museum, which was evicted from its former home in Noblesville last summer. According to the listing for the auction, whatever is not sold in the auction will be scrapped. The equipment included in the auction sits on property owned by the city of Noblesville. According to a court action last year, the equipment was deemed “abandoned to the city” since it was not removed from the property in July 2018. Any equipment sold in the auction will have to be trucked from its current location.
Susheck says several items listed in the auction are receiving significant traffic on Ozark Mountain’s website. Among those gaining particular interest is former Milwaukee Road EMD F7A No. 96C. Susheck says all of the equipment in the auction is receiving an average of more than three views per hour, but the MLW 96C, which currently wears Monon Railroad livery, is receiving even more attention. Another popular item is the former Pennsylvania Railroad Pullman sleeper No. 8007, Philadelphia County, which Susheck calls a “really rare car.” “There are some really historic pieces here,” he says.
Susheck added, however, that it is normal for there to be no bids placed at this point in an auction. The auction got underway Monday morning and will conclude at 7 p.m. CST Wednesday, Sept. 11. Susheck says it’s common for bidders to wait until near the end. “Every auction we’ve ever done has gone this way,” Susheck says. “Everyone is afraid if they place a bid now, someone would outbid them. It’s always at the last minute that everyone places bids. It’s kind of annoying, but that’s the way it works.”
Trains reached out to officials with the Indiana Transportation Museum for comment regarding the auction, but Les McConnell, acting chair of the museum, said the organization has no comment. Susheck says he hopes the equipment will be sold and will not be scrapped. “I hate to see anything get cut up, but that place there has been mismanaged for a very long time and it was bound to happen,” he says. “It’s sad, but it is what is.”
For more information and a full listing of the equipment available, visit ozarkmountainrailcar.com. Those wishing to bid on equipment will be required to register and meet several requirements.
