Attend a Locomotive Auction! (Update Aug 4th)

Now is your chance to "own a piece of history!"

Central Maine and Quebec, formerly known as Montreal, Maine & Atlantic, is dumping Ed  Burkhardt's collection of ramshackle power packs in auction.

The auction, to be conducted by Adam’s Auction & Real Estate Services, will be held on Tuesday August 5th, includes: 

•  MMA 23, EMD GP-7u
•  MMA 79, EMD GP-9
•  MMA 2000, GE B-23-7
•  MMA 3614, GE C-30-7
•  MMA 5016, GE C-30-7
•  MMA 5018, GE C-30-7
•  MMA 5023, GE C-30-7
•  MMA 5026, GE C-30-7
•  MMA 5078M GEC-30-7
•  MMA 8525, GE B-39-8
•  MMA 8541, GE B-39-8
•  MMA 8569, GE B-39-8
•  MMA 8202, GE C-39-8
•  MMA 3609, GE C-30-7
•  MMA 5021, GE C-30-7
•  MMA 100, EMD GP-7
•  MMA 21, EMD GP-7u
•  MMA 5017, GE C-30-7  Up-Dated Court Info
•  MMA 3613, GE C-30-7
•  MMA 8583, GE B-39-8
•  MMA 8592, GE B-39-8
•  MMA 3000, GE C-30-7
•  MMA 3603, GE C-30-7
•  MMA 8546, GE B-39-9
•  MMA 8553, GE B-39-8
•  MMA 8578, GE B-39-8
•  MMA 8202, GE C-39-8
•  MMA 8207, GE C-39-8
•  MMA 8208, GE C-39-8

Details on each locomotive.

The auction also includes units from San Luis Central. The railroad is 13 miles (21 km) long, located between Sugar Junction (east of Monte Vista, Colorado) and Center, Colorado. The company is owned by Rail World, Inc., which is controlled by Ed Burkhardt. Burkhardt is listed as president of SLC.

Apparently, Central Maine & Quebec is leasing nine SD40-2s and seven GP-20s. I have contacted the railroad twice to learn more about the units, with no response.

The Infamous MM&A 5017

"Many of the other MM&A locomotives advertised by the auction house come with problems, from graffiti to missing parts. Some units are likely worth little more than scrap value," says the online ad.

"Quebec provincial police are attempting to prevent the auction of the former Montreal, Maine & Atlantic GE C30-7 locomotive that played a key role in the July 2013 Lac-Mégantic rail disaster," wrote Andy Blatchford of The Canadian Press on July 23, 2014.

 “A spokeswoman for the Sûreté du Québec said Wednesday (July 23rd) that investigators initiated measures to block a U.S. auction house from selling the locomotive until the end of legal proceedings. News of the police move surfaced after a report by The Canadian Press on Wednesday revealed that locomotive MMA 5017, the lead engine on the train that smashed into the Quebec town last summer, was due to go to auction in Maine on Aug. 5.

‘The only thing I can confirm to you in this file is that Sûreté investigators have taken steps to block the sale of the locomotive for the duration of the judicial process.’"   (From Railway Age. Click for complete article.)

Three employees of the now-insolvent Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway have each been charged with 47 counts of criminal negligence causing death, one for each victim of the crash. The MM&A itself is also facing the same charges.

MM&A 5017. General Electric (GE) C30-7, 3,000 hp. Built 10/79, as BN 5017, sn 42581. Later BNSF 5017.  Retired from BNSF 03/99. Thence to MM&A as 5017. This was the unit that suffered the machine room fire, setting off an explosive chain of events a year ago this month.

Click on MMA or Montreal Maine and Atlantic in the index below, for all previous articles posted on this disaster.