Superbowl clash MRSR vs WW&F

linkthebutler · **Joined:** Mon Jul 13, 2020 12:29 am **Posts:** 267

Let's see...

https://railfan.com/railroad-museums-ma ... -bowl-bet/

...who win

elecuyer · **Posted:** Fri Feb 06, 2026 10:10 pm

We are ready.

Bobharbison · **Joined:** Fri Dec 03, 2004 9:42 pm **Posts:** 3011

Mt Rainier Scenic has been doing amazing stuff with social media marketing. We have two shop cats that are often talked about, and people love them. Yes, they're not the only railroad and nobody can equal "Dirt" but they get a lot of views. There's also the tradition of 2-8-2 Polson #70 wanting a can of corn to keep her happy. It's a running theme, they even got a case of corn from one of the corn companies I forgot which one.
In 2024 somebody was transporting Zebras and 4 of them escaped. That totally went viral and I was posting a bunch of memes about them. Bethan put together a "poorly Photoshopped photo" (her words) and made a joking post about "This is the only time we've ever been able to honestly say you might see a Zebra from the train", while being clear it was all in fun. The result? Per the annual report, it reached 373,430 people and boosted sales by $50K that week.
Now we have this "feud" going on, with jokes, trash talk, challenges, bets, corny videos and "a poorly Photoshopped photo" (I was in a hurry) of WW&F loco 11 wearing Seahawks flags. A quick look on FB shows multiple posts on the subject, each with 10K or more views. All of which were done "Organically" and are generating new fans for both operations. Don't underestimate the power of a good social media account.

elecuyer · **Posted:** Sun Feb 08, 2026 3:18 pm

Well said Bob.

This has nothing to do with football. It's all about awareness for the MRSR and WW&F. The MRSR has over 3x the followers on Facebook as the WW&F, but comparatively speaking, the WW&F has more followers than any similar (all volunteer, 1 day/week) operation.

And when asked "how did you hear about us?" 1/4 of our visitors site Facebook.

Social media is important.

Bobharbison · **Joined:** Fri Dec 03, 2004 9:42 pm **Posts:** 3011

elecuyer wrote:

Well said Bob.

This has nothing to do with football. It's all about awareness for the MRSR and WW&F...

And when asked "how did you hear about us?" 1/4 of our visitors site Facebook.

Social media is important.

Exactly, and one of the main keys is to be consistent. Post often so your followers come back. Trying to second guess FB optimization and what's going to be hot is tricky and best and usually worthless. Basically you just keep throwing stuff out there and see what sticks. It's sort of like fishing.

Bethan told me about how she's made carefully crafted posts with lots of research and effort, only to have them call flat. Then she's posted something on a whim "Hey, cat photo!" and had it totally go viral.

A lot of it has to do with who's eye you catch and who shares your posts. For the most part you can't control that. So just keep plugging away at it.

elecuyer · **Posted:** Tue Feb 10, 2026 1:57 pm

Meanwhile, it turns out the best possible outcome was a Patriots loss!

For those not following this on Facebook...
The morning of the Super Bowl, the WW&F put out a semi-distasteful "roast" of MRSR/Seahawks referencing their tragic trestle fire. Now Bethan and I had already agreed that this was "fair game" so there was no malintent. That post got a fair bit of attention, especially after the WW&F pledged to donate proceeds of MRSR/Seahawks train day to the bride recovery efforts.

Then. We. Lost.

Over the next 48 hours (and it's still going strong) folks from all over with no connection to MRSR or the WW&F are roasting us on our Facebook page over our failed prediction. This is generating unprecedented interest in both railroads. As Bob said, you never know what will catch fire. The larger point is that regular social media posts can do amazing things for publicizing your cause.

We look forward to hosting a MRSR/Seahawks day at the WW&F. You'll read all about it... on Facebook.

Bobharbison · **Joined:** Fri Dec 03, 2004 9:42 pm **Posts:** 3011

elecuyer wrote:

Then. We. Lost.

Over the next 48 hours (and it's still going strong) folks from all over with no connection to MRSR or the WW&F are roasting us on our Facebook page over our failed prediction. This is generating unprecedented interest in both railroads. As Bob said, you never know what will catch fire. The larger point is that regular social media posts can do amazing things for publicizing your cause.

We look forward to hosting a MRSR/Seahawks day at the WW&F. You'll read all about it... on Facebook.

You've inadvertently proved what all the click bait / rage bait people know.

If you post something right on Facebook, you'll get a few clicks.
If you post something WRONG, or controversial, you'll get hundreds.

Ever wonder why you see blatantly wrong crap posted? People love to correct you and they get hundreds of replies and thousands of posts. Content creators laugh all the way to the bank.

Now, I'm not suggesting you intentionally create rage bait. But, creating posts that will generate responses, no matter how you choose to do that, will increase exposure.

Chris Webster · **Joined:** Sat Aug 25, 2007 12:45 am **Posts:** 1089

From an August 24, 2026 article on Railfan.com:

Quote:

After losing a Super Bowl bet, Maine’s Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway Museum raised more than $3,500 for Washington’s Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad and Indiana’s Whitewater Valley Railroad.....On August 22 and 23, the WW&F made good on the bet and operated 0-4-4T locomotive 9 with Seahawks flags. In addition, the money raised over the weekend was donated to Mt Rainier, which is rebuilding a trestle burned in a fire, and to the Whitewater Valley, which was recently impacted by a massive flood.

Link to the full story: WW&F Raises Money For Mt. Rainier, Whitewater