Some of the topics that have been recently posted have got me thinking... how does Illinois Railway Museum do it and why aren't more organizations copying them?

I just returned from a visit at the Illinois Railway Museum over their Museum Showcase Weekend. For starters... you pay $15 and you get admission to the museum and unlimited rides on anything that is operating that day. Since it was "museum showcase weekend" that meant I could ride -
#1630 steam powered coach train (with a combine, and 2 coaches).
Shay #5 pulling a caboose train (no extra charge for cupolas, first come first serve)
Nebraska Zephyr Streamline Train (no extra charge for observation lounge, first come).
a 3-car wooden interurban set that had a lead motor that was built by Pullman in 1898.
a 2 car interurban set from the 1920's.

On the trolley loop they had a CTA traditional streetcar, a PCC streetcar, and an open air excursion trolley operating.

They also had a trolley bus operating on the bus loop.

In addition to all of this.. they were operating a mail car on the Zephyr train (a Burlington RPO car of course...) and each trip you could watch the mail be dropped and hooked as the train passed.

The entire property is clean and well maintained. Signs around the property light up at night (they were dedicating a new Union Pacific sign and lighting it for the first time on Saturday night).

All of this is done by volunteers! And yes there were many young volunteers. Also ladies were working too in train and engine service.

The place just seems to be the perfect example of what a railway / transportation museum should be.

So how do they do it? What's the magic formula?

(Naturally I don't think IRM is perfect in every way... I'm sure they have internal issues just like everyone else does... but they are restoring and operating a wide variety of equipment, maintaining signaled track good for 40mph, keeping admission prices reasonable and not nickel and diming guests with upcharges, and they are attracting volunteers of all ages and walks of life.)

You answered your own question.

Location, location, location. Unless you've been living under a rock must realize that Chicago is a nation's railroad hub there for a lot of people have connection to the railroad and there are a lot of railroad resources. I also think they have some weird setup were there a lot of separate organizations all running under the umbrella of IRM.

Have you been to Union? I would think the location is a negative. I had to drive about 30 minutes just to get to a hotel!

That's completely wrong. There are no separate organizations. There are departments, of course, to provide a reasonable amount of focus and control. But the various departments help each other out when needed, and volunteers are free to work in whichever departments they wish.

A 30 mile drive, that could be a detractor I guess? But seriously I think the location is a positive not a negative. You have several million people who do not think the drive is too much. You have lots of entertainment to compete with in the Chicago area true but millions of people who might potentially come. Obviously not all of them but even a fractional amount of them came could support a museum.

Have never personally been involved at IRM and I do know like all volunteer organizations they have had ups and downs. I would think with all the different factions operating together it at times must be like herding cats or backing up a rope. In the big picture they have done very well that is for sure. Their investment in buildings to house the collections is one of them. At times I am sure there was opposition for so much expenditure to go for buildings. But the collection they have is not deteriorating like other collections whose equipment lives outside. Lots of good things to take note of.

I think that one of the most neglected aspects of museums and tourist RR is in marketing. Worked as a contractor for a "for profit" steam RR that had 4 full time people working in "The Marketing Dept". What a concept to have a dept who's job it is to do marketing. "All it takes is money" is said at a lot of places to this thought. But aggressive marketing to an area that responds is worth it in my book. I see a different museum failing at its mission that refuses to think out of the box unless forced into it. Very sad to watch. Competition is tough these days and people have lots of choices how and where to spend there money and time. So if a dinner train, pumpkin special and wine tasting works, so be it. But marketing to bring people too your museum or to volunteer is a no brainer that needs to be addressed with an open mind. I would bet that IRM has a marketing dept of sorts either paid of volunteer? Also agree with CZ it is a good idea to see what is working for others and see if you can't improve your own operation.

By the way the event CZ talks about at Union sounded awesome. Would of liked to be there for that. Regards, John.

Long time IRM member here, quickly closing in on fifty years; first made the trip out to Union and joined in February 1970, while still in high school.

First off, I was out there with my grandsons last Saturday also. The three car train was Chicago "L" cars, Northwestern Elevated Railroad 24 (Pullman, 1898) and Chicago Rapid Transit 1797 and trailer 1268, (both AC&F 1907). The open platform 24 is nice and breezy at 40 MPH. The two car train was Chicago Aurora & Elgin wood cars from the first decade of the twentieth century.

The Illinois Railway Museum has always had a culture of being run by the ACTIVE members. Old timers are honored for their past contributions, but when they start with the "... the way we USED to do it..." people tend to nod, politely smile, and then follow the guy who has a track record of CURRENTLY getting things done. There is a long time tradition of bringing policy questions to vote at membership meetings, even though under Illinois law those questions only require BOD action.

The membership jealously guards this tradition. One of the requirements for regular membership is active participation on the property, or other functions such as fund raising or bookkeeping. Back in my younger days, when it became apparent that we had a dynasty in the making, the membership amended the bylaws to impose term limits on the BOD; two three year terms. When we started to have "proxy wars", with people soliciting proxies from inactive members, the membership voted a change to the proxy policy; you can now only proxy if you attended the previous membership meeting. The intent is to keep those members now in nursing homes from still trying to run the organization.

Is it perfect governance? Not hardly, but it has certainly stood the test of time, and the organization is reasonably successful.

Thanks so much for the information Dennis! It was a bit overwhelming keeping track of the equipment running!

That answers a lot of questions regarding the voting, term limits, etc. That is indeeed VERY different from how it works at the museum I have been apart of. The same people have been on the BOD for decades now I think.

A corollary might be "So how does the WW&F in Maine do it?" I have been following their progress from afar for several years and I am AMAZED at what this all-volunteer organization has done. They are rebuilding a ROW that has been abandoned for over 80 years, repurposed an historic bridge, restored a rare Portland basket-case engine, built a turntable, etc. etc. etc. In a few weeks they plan to extend their ROW around 2000 feet. They obviously are doing something right--and they're pretty much out in the middle of nowhere.

So true! I haven’t been up to see WW&F yet but I agree. I’m also impressed with my visits to Nevada State in Carson City. Again... so much is operating on event weekends and they have volunteers young and old. While not as big of an operations as IRM...they still manage to fill that property with operating trains!

Location absolutely is the main reason why railroad museums would be successful. Unless you create a unique operation that’s marketed very well (prime example being the Nevada Northern in Ely), chances are the museum won’t be as successful as one in a much more convenient area: take other examples like in Baltimore, Scranton, Sacramento, St. Louis, and Strasburg which are either within an urban center or are not too far from an urban center.

I would actually argue that the WW&F's location has been a big part of its success. Yes it's in a rural community (Alna, ME), but far from being in "the middle of nowhere" it's a mere 3-hour drive from Boston and in the popular Mid-Coast Maine tourism belt. This helps to drive not just visitor numbers but also access to human capital in the form of members and volunteers. Other railroad museums in the state, such as the SR&RL in Phillips for example, are not so fortunately situated and suffer as a result.

-Philip Marshall

Those past members built a solid foundation. A new generation comes in to build on top of that. I fully expect some younger generation to wheel me off into the sunset when the time comes. Healthy organizations evolve and grow. There's many things we could learn from IRM.

-otto-

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I think IRM does a brilliant job. I’ve wondered though why they haven’t bought up some cheap passenger cars or cabooseses that the shells are in good shape and turn the insides into overnight guest cabins to raise more money for the museum. They could easily charge $150 to $200 a night per car as I’ve seen this online before on sites like Airbnb. There was one place, I believe in Georgia that even had rehabbed some boxcars. Maybe the ROI isn’t there, but I think the idea itself is neat. Or a small locally owned and ran small 24 room or so motel. If it was kept up and cleaning standards were the same as big chains, again $75 to $100 a night wouldn’t be out of the question. I know I would much rather spend my money locally around or at museums when I visit. Plus the last time we stayed in Crystal Lake at the Comfort Inn the housekeeping staff stole our new iPad and the management called us liars and told us it probably fell out of our car when we told them exactly where it was setting had the serial numbers receipts etc.