If you're in New England, it's definitely worth a visit to the Rhode Island Computer Museum in Warwick, RI. They have a staggering amount of DEC stuff, including rare stuff like one of the nine remaining PDP-9 systems, a PDP-12, most models of the PDP-11 series, and a PDP "Straight" 8, the best looking computer ever made. And a bunch of later VAX machines, DECSystems, etc.
The Retro-Computing Society of RI, a few miles away in Providence, also has a bunch of DEC stuff, also including a PDP-12. These might be the closest working PDP-12s in existence.
The warehouse (Fraiser archives?) is fun, but off site from the museum. My partner noted that driving over there seemed like a start to a bad movie....
I remember the guy giving the tour telling us that he started by collecting cars, but computers seemed more manageable...
That's unfortunate. Movie people are notorious for destroying rented props. I know several (not just 1 or 2) people who rented rare to unique computers and computer parts (because who doesn't want to see your computer in a film), had them returned destroyed (painted, parts stripped off/glued on, burned or water damaged or obviously dropped from a good height), and were told 'collect the insurance...that's what it's for'. Not a single fuck given whether or not they even could be replaced.
I think is a big part of their budget and a lot of the old machines in their warehouse aren't currently running. Mainframe type stuff and comodore 64s were mentioned.
But it must suck to have something valuable destroyed, especially if it's still functioning. I will heed this warning.
It was a while ago but I seemed to remember ber them saying the machines came back cleaner than before.
As someone who was gifted and old MicroVax (a replaced by PCs, old cad/cam machine), many of those old machines are fun to have around but aren't super useful for day to day computing. Thank goodness for emulation.
Yeah, you're probably right; someone running it all as a business has likely figured out how to manage risk. So to be fair, my experience here is with individuals who rented out their toys. I don't think any of the (too) many classic computer forums I'm part of don't have horror stories about the film industry. And if there's say, one Sage console or one 360/195 front panel (soooo many blinkenlights) in the world, it doesn't matter if it's working or not if it's jacked up.
P.S.: The use of per production LLCs shut down asap to avoid all sorts of annoying 'rules' and 'regulations' is another fun topic.
https://www.ricomputermuseum.org/collections-gallery/equipme...
The Retro-Computing Society of RI, a few miles away in Providence, also has a bunch of DEC stuff, also including a PDP-12. These might be the closest working PDP-12s in existence.
https://www.rcsri.org/collection/