I think the way that this mentality is summed up is, "What's in it for me?"

In far too many social and political circles these days, such a mentality is cast simply as "greed," regardless of how much such "self interest" is linked to basic survival of the individual.

I, for one, have no Walter-Mitty-like ambitions of running rail equipment. The few times I have done so, I've been as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. I'm perfectly happy behind the scenes wrangling for replacement parts, needle-gunning off rust, helping to transport the oddball stack of books or parts being traded, raising or sending money, scanning photos and helping to ID unidentified photos, and compiling history to share with others.

And there are lots of others out there in rail preservation that feel the same way. I know a couple that have wearied of having to run stuff.

If all you have to offer your volunteers is the chance to ring the bell, toot the whistle, and/or tug the throttle/regulator now and then, you might be doing something wrong. And if the only reason you belong to a group is to eventually get the chance to run the train/car, you might well be suffering from a serious degree of "tunnel vision."

It isn't unreasonable to make sure that anybody who worked hard sweating through heavy repair work, raising funds for a project, researching and developing specifications, or building political, economic and other stretegic relationships CAN take a turn if they want to; whether that is their motivation or not isn't the problem. Anybody can gracefully refuse their turn if they are so inclined. It is in our best interest to create rational opportunities for personal gratification rather than refuse them.

I'm more concerned about divisions between the shops and ops that prevent the mechanical brains from taking her out for a trip to diagnose problems, which are not all obvious during static inspections. The responsible mechanical manager probably NEEDS to take her out once a week on a daily operation, or one or twice during a season for the monthly operation, with one being very close to the season's end so off-season work can be planned.

dave

I think a major contribution for any historical site, but focusing here on Steamtown, would be along the lines of what's being done with 3713. Here is a locomotive that fits well into the museum's mission. By raising funds to benefit the NHS, they are helping to preserve and protect a piece of machinery, projecting an educational goal, and bringing back a much beloved piece of motive power.

We often hear from a group wanting to restore 2124, a larger locomotive, beautiful, but unlikely to fit into Steamtown's operations, at least at this time. Likewise, I would love to see the NKP 759 back under power, but she is too expensive to run on "short hops".

However, by arrangement with the NPS, a group could start writing grants, running fan trips, doing all those good things to resurrect a specific locomotive which falls into the Steamtown mission. "Adopting" CNR 47, MEC 519, or one of the smaller tank locomotives, to put them in line for operational rebuild is a model that appears to work. "Adopting" a specific piece of rolling stock, for example the LIRR steam rotary as a cosmetic rebuild, using outside funds, would be a major contribution.

Steamtown shops, as stated, are not guilty of anything other than being under-funded. I'm betting those guys would love to bring any number of locomotives in and get them completed. Who would love to see a rotational fleet, ala' Strasburg?

Jus today a nice photo of 759 came through on railpicures.net

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.p ... 37&nseq=10

Absolutely. Not to ignore the formalities and qualifications, but yes - that type of gratification is not only essential to donor and volunteer relations - it's also a great way to increase your range of operators. Nobody should have a problem with that.


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