But is the purpose of Mid-Continent to be a railroad museum, or to be an exercise in democracy? Obviously, consultation of its bylaws would be needed before analyzing the process be which the vote you reference was "ignored," which is lacking in this discussion and just underscores the practical worthlessness of your pronouncement that it was "illegal." Imagine the Smithsonian rising or falling over a question of Roberts' Rules.

Nor is it very clear what you're talking about when it comes to the valuation of locomotives, although I suspect this could have been for accounting purposes in connection with depreciation, an area in which I'm no expert. I suspect, however, that much like establishing the value of a donation by a donor for purposes of a tax writeof, the source of the opinion of value is not of particular importance in the grand scheme of things. The IRS doesn't know who D.F. Barnhardt is, and you don't need to consult Christies to determine the value of an old spike.

My reference was to the establishment of long-term operation and overhaul costs and the need to sustain them with sufficient revenue streams, a subject on which the former General Manager often wrote. The fact that a faction of the membership seems to have ousted him, despite his fundraising expertise that evidently continues on a contract basis within the discretion of the Board, suggests to me that the problems being discussed on this thread amount to a museum striving and succeeding in reaching a higher level of professionalism, while the "railfan" or "club" contingent kicks and screams and pines for the old days.

It's no secret that Mid Continent needs help, so instead of blogging on the internet I take days off from my full time railroad job and drive the 470 miles one way to lend a hand and attend the two member's meetings each year. I enjoy volunteering there and I don't plan on giving up during the lean times when the help is needed most.

I'd wager that Chris's answer above is probably the best way to make any positive headway.

It would appear that real problems exist in North Freedom, at least in as far as the steam program is concerned. Of course, that's not unique to Mid Continent by any stretch of the imagination.

This begs the question: are these internet postings accomplishing anything besides providing for the occasional interesting read? Are they just a catharsis for the original poster?

Chris, you may wish to compare your youtube video with a video of Snow Train recorded in 1978.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FQ16unzxlA

Please listen to what Conductor Ron Jones (now deceased) and Ken Breher have to say about steam in winter and why Mid-Continent started running Snow Train. Back then MCRM also ran the Jordan Spreader and Oregon Short Line rotary under steam to clear the lines and double-headed steam trains.

Mr. George Jackson Churchward,

Perhaps this will shed some light. It is not the desire to maintain the club mentality driving these postings, rather the opposite. The museum/institution needs to have decisions being made in the interest of the institution rather than the personal agenda of a select few.
The smithsonian is not an organization that is, by it's bylaws, that is to be guided by the will of the membership. Mid continent is and as such when items on a ballot are voted in by popular vote they are to be put into policy in accordance with the bylaws.
When depreciating the value of equipment it decreases, not increases. When one assigns the value for a donated item it is on the individual to asses the value. For donations in excess of a certain dollar amount it is highly regarded as proper practice to have the value either assigned by an outside third party or via something easily tangible and referencable such as ebay. the locomotives in their operating fleet are at best worth about $175k-$200k as can be observed by the open market sale prices through any number of railroad equipment resalers.
Don did do decent fundraising though many mistakes were made as well. Over 1mil was spent on the fish car. It does not have operable brakes, rebuilt trucks or properly functioning draft gear. At best 450k worth of work was done. The work performed is far out of proportion to the work performed. There was NO competent project oversight to keep the contractor in line. A part time employee with no mechanical background "oversaw" the project. She now works for avalon rail and was a witness for them against the museum in mediation proceedings. A person such as Rob mangles or Steve Z. should have been utilized as a project manager. Incidently, the fundraising for the fish car project was done by an outside contractor, not Don. He did however, select the contractor.
In regards to revenue streams, perhaps if they actually advertised they would bring in more people? They have several million people in "the dells" every year, only 20 minutes away....What percentage of those people are exposed to any advertising? 0. There is a local business owner that was willing to put in a platform part way down the line to service his bar/grill restaurant both for regular daily passengers as well as to create a unique experience for special events. This was denied because they didn't want to offend the owner of the local cafe which contributes $0 to the yearly revenue of the museum. Would a business of passed on the chance to a "destination" added to their train ride when it would come at no expense to them? Absolutely not.

The museum needs to be operated like a business, by business minded people with the help of individuals experienced (professionally) in railroad mechanical, museum curatorial, museum visitor experience development and museum business development. They have none of these and the museum is dying at a fairly rapid rate.

John

Could people please post what sources they are getting their information from?
The business (the La Rue Station) that John (or "Roger")mentions as is no longer an establishment, closed due to other circumstances that do not involve Mid Continent. When I was there on April 2nd, there was no signage on that building.

Mid Continent does advertise. Brochures are placed in stands and I imagine the quarter page advertisement on page R-17 of the Ride This Train insert in the May 2011 issue of Trains Magazine (which touts "Just 30 minutes from the Dells") counts as publicity.

I can't imagine a museum that is reconstructing the platform and narrow gauge shed is dying.

Chris,

The La Rue Station is in fact the establishment, the offer was made to the museum circa 2008.
Brochures are only placed in the card racks of a couple of a couple hotels and in the visitors center at the dells. The dells chamber of commerce regulates how much a given attraction is promoted by A) the potential for tourism dollars IN the dells and B) how much they pay into the chamber each year. There are many proven practices (outside of the tourist railroad/museum world) by which people could be drawn in from the dells, the museum has no interest in utilizing them because of ill-conceived half assed attempts in the past. Advertising in a railfan magazine does not bring in substantial income. Tracking of visitor demographics proves out that the general public represents 85%-90% of a rail operations potential income.
People in todays america want either entertainment or edutainment. There is virtually no attraction in the idea of viewing static equipment which is interpreted in an overly detailed/dry manner.
"The Henry Ford" can't be used for comparison for such VERY obvious reasons, just in case you were thinking of going there. Primarily because it is a destination attraction, among others.

John

I will address two of the replies. It is my opinion that when C&NW No. 1385 returned to North Freedom from its thousands of mile traveling on C&NW tracks, it was a tired engine. This mainline excursion also brought with it new members who were more interested in playing trains rather than preservation, restoration, and education. These have populated the organization of late and one of these is the current president.

Regarding the quote from George Jackson Churchward, I was not removed from the board, my three year term expired and the board members appointed by the president did not like my views of saving the collections. Rather, they (in my opinion) shared the views of the president to use and abuse this fabulous collection. As it turns out, I was expelled from the organization because I exercised my right under Wisconsin statutes to seek a court order for the member contact information. I took this drastic action when my request for a membership roster in order to ask the members if they felt MCRHS ran a museum or a tourist railroad was turned down. Another reason given to expel me was that I dared to question the finances (please see this weeks submission). So much for transparency. I specifically asked the president and manager to describe what state statutes, MCRHS bylaws, or MCRHS policies were violated and what actions on my part represented violations so that I could prepare my defense and I received no reply. My expulsion was nothing short of a coverup. I am not being vindictive. My agenda is preservation of the fabulous collection at North Freedom.