Jeff,

Just read your article on 60000 in the latest issue of Railfan & Railroad. Enjoyed it. It's been years since I saw 60000 but your recent photo brought me up to date. Thanks for the mention at the end of the article. Glad to have helped out.

Dave Stephenson

What I recall most about my visits to the 60000 is, when acting as the "engineer", the direction I was given to stop the train. The audio voice said move the brake lever (which is the S-6 Independent Brake Valve and not the H-6 Automatic Brake Valve) to the LEFT. Since this would release the brakes instead of apply them, I pointed this out to the museum guide as we promptly crashed into the wall at the end of the building. Well, just kidding about the crashing part. I don't know if the audio has been changed, they probably thought I was a nut case.

"We're ALL mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."

-Cheshire Cat, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"

Jeff, I enjoyed the article very much. I am having trouble, despite your detailed description, picturing the construction of the water tube firebox. Are there any prints or diagrams out on the net that show the construction? BTW the lack of knowledge in tour guides is not confined to the railroad world.

Fitz,
Explore around on this site I recall it had Baldwin factory photos of the boiler and other parts
Mike

http://www.cwrr.com/Lounge/Reference/ba ... ldwin.html

boiler photo
http://www.cwrr.com/Lounge/Reference/baldwin/fig3.jpg

As a volunteer I am the curator of the Society for the Preservation of Carter Railroad Resources (SPCRR) Museum.

Professionally, (in this case meaning paid, not meaning skilled) I run a historic house museum (a 1857/1889/1915 Victorian Farmhouse).

With the docents, at the house, we have monthly meetings, with presentations on historic themes, but also discussing recent research. On occasion we hold a group tour for docents, called the “Mother of all tours” where as a group we walk the house and question each others assumptions of the history of the site. This seems to control what we call “truth shift”. Truth shift comes from both an oral tradition adapting as we each hear others interpretation , but also includes new research, which is ongoing…. During the Mother of all tours docents are encouraged to question facts…. We have on hand primary source material, and our collection records to answer the questions…. Sometimes the questions are put off until the next tour, when having been researched, accurate answers are available.

But, with all of the dedication to accuracy, we also discuss how to give a good tour, based in fact, but fun, and informative, rather than just mired in detail…

Mike, thanks for the links. All efforts to connect to cwrr have failed for me tonight. Maybe their server has problems. I'll try again later.
Edit: On 6/26, links work fine. Fascinating details.. Thanks again.