There are many of us on this board who work for tourist railroads excursions operators and some of us are just riders. what I would like to know is what do you think makes a tourist railroad successful? No politics or flames of other operations,but just some honest opinions. I look forward to the results!

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Location (scenic - as in C&TS, or geographic as in Strasburg) and a quailty product (clean equipment, public facilities, etc.).

So far as operations can be controlled, I'd say the other guys have it down pat. Insofar as an educational site is concerned, you need a well directed, staffed, museum with lots of hands on and participatory exhibits with which kids get involved. A series of bells and whistles on ropes, signal masts that change with the flip of a lever or push of a button are important. A locomotive simulator, even MSTS, hard wired is a good draw. A coach with tables for people to open their bag lunch is a good idea. Even in you have no operational equipment, a steam loco and a Diesel for comparison are a good idea. A wooden or metal vales gear display that can be turned by hand in not a bad idea.

Look, a local Challenger Center charges schools $650/30 kids, or part thereof. It's a space simulation. I think local railroad museums need to gear to the participatory experience, rather than expecting that looking at isolated displays is going to be worthy of a fourth graders attention.

Couldn't have been better said!