i hope this is'nt too long . in the middle of 1998 , i rented a small space in a large warehouse out of front royal va where i lived . i had a small manufacturing business with 3 employees . around sept or oct the owner came in one day and asked if we would mind signing some papers . then he told us that a restoration co.had rented the rest of the space and were bring in 3 huge pieces of the titanic hull to restore . basically they did'nt want us spreading the word around because they did'nt want the public to know , otherwise people would be coming by constantly to try to see everything . very few people knew . about a week later a construction crew came out and even though the main doors were large , they were'nt big enough to get the pieces inside .after that took place about a week later the first semi and a crane arrived . before this , they had set up a big portable pool inside . the restoration owner said the pieces would be soaked in some solution for days before the process began . in the meantime..a welding co was building 3 big racks that the pieces would rest in during the whole restoring work. we were only 20 to 30 feet from all this everyday trying to get our work done while watching all this ! once the crane ( pieces weighed a few tons ) put the first piece in the stand the restoration people began the process . they started scraping away all the built up rust and scales , etc. that were caked inside all the steel girders .while others were washing sides , they had set up some sifting tables . the rust and particles , etc were collected in buckets the everything carefully sifted . i guess since the ship had turned over , lots of stuff had fallen to the walls of these pieces . they found lots of things but of course did'nt show us everthing . ( we were busy ) but one day i was standing there and the foreman came over . in his hand he had a part of a dinner plate and a rusty fork . this whole thing went on for over a year . by then we were friends with the workers and told them how exciting and educational this had been . i believe before the last piece left , they invited the mayor and a few others to a viewing . on the last day of moving out , thr restoration owner gave myself and my workers large baggie size bags of rusticals . in mine he had put a large rivet head . on jan 13 2000 , the headlines of the no. va . daily paper read '' A TITANIC TASK '' area co. worked to preserve of shipwreck . first paragraph says :for the past year 18 tons of sections of the ill fated steamer titanic has been stored in a quiet warehouse in front royal while a co. has worked to preserve the artifact . so i now have the rivet head and rusticals , the newspaper i bought that day , 16 pictures of moving in , the crane etc, and over a dozen of me next to the pieces , one of me looking thru a porthole , workers etc. i also have a certificate of authenticity that has diagrams of the ship . a side diagram shows were the 3 pieces were located . the co. was called ''preservation solutions inc. ' they are on the web , so i guess their still in business . i was 53 back then . so there's the story . i'm not as into the titanic as so many are , just have wondered if there is any value to someone who would appreciate it more . my wife said people are probably going to think this is a scam . i assure you it's not .. i'm not that kind of person . if it's of no value to anyone , maybe i'll donate it to the titanic historical society in maine . i've enjoyed sharing this and ''reliving ' it again . thamks , john
