In my attempt to expose more of our operation to the outside world, I created a video showing some of the work required to wash out J&L 58's boiler. I have found that such content on Youtube is very popular, as many people seem to enjoy watching others work on things.

https://youtu.be/GlaFso9wc7M

You will note that it isn't a full washout as I didn't pull all the plugs that I could have. Some of the plugs are originals and won't be removed until I have the new replacements on hand. The intent of the video is to show the boiler scale that we keep getting out of the firebox as the repeated thermal cycling of the boiler and water treatment does its thing.

Our Youtube channel now has 6,200 subscribers and this video has obtained over 1,800 views in three days. Many of these people are not railfans per se, so videos like this are reaching an entirely new audience that we are not reaching via Facebook or other means.

Our channel has been lucrative as well. We have made $2,482 in ad revenue over the lifetime of the channel.

How well is your organization's Youtube channel doing? What, you don't have one? Why not?

Thanks Rick. Informative. Glad to see things coming along even in the pandemic.

Sounds like a pretty sick locomotive! Need to get the valves square.

Nasty crack in that slag tipper wagon!

Thanks for making and putting up the video.

Which will be the subject of an upcoming video as well!

Rick I do enjoy your channel and I am eager for a visit. Might be passing through that way later in the year if you are still open. I do have a You Tube channel and I have found it very rewarding. It is a wonderful place to share information, ideas, and news. Often I meet other You Tubers during train events and that is like meeting a pen pal. You will eventually make contacts with other railroaders who like your work, and will offer you things like cab rides, shop tours, and access to special events. I even had one guy ask me if I wanted to film him cutting up SD40-2's which I gladly accepted.

As you said it is also a nice way to make some money on the side. I average around $1,000 a month and that is with skip able ads. People are very eager for teaching videos, how things work, behind the scenes, etc, especially with steam locomotives. You will eventually get a video which I like to call "being in the sweet spot". Over a thousand daily views for one video. Once it gets in there it usually stays in there growing by leaps and bounds. Keep uploading videos every day it will happen sooner or later. Get some good stuff for December. That will be your highest paying month with typically triple what you normally get.

During the shutdown, we did a weekly series of Facebook Live videos for a 'Behind the Scenes' approach to Grand Canyon Railway. Each week was something different. The most popular seemed to be the tours of the train cars, and of course the one of the steam engines. We re-shot several of them afterwards and posted them to YouTube. Here is one we did on the 4960:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjPON48439Y

Eric