Highliners scrapped

Thanks to Les Beckman for notifying me that the two Metra (ex-Illinois Central) "Highliner" MU cars at the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum, 1502 and 1529, have been scrapped. These were two of the four "Highliners" acquired by HVRM in 2008 but they never really fit in at the museum and I believe they turned out to be less well-suited to display use than anticipated. The other pair, 1521 and 1617, were scrapped back in 2010. The remaining pair were offered to other museums earlier this year but found no takers. This is not a big historic loss; there are four "Highliners" preserved at IRM, six at the Boone & Scenic Valley, and 10 of the cars at the Museum of the American Railroad in Texas. As for HVRM, their traction collection is now down to a single Lackawanna MU car and a pair of privately-owned South Shore cars stored on their property.