I was contacted by reporter Amy Calder, of the Waterville Morning Sentinal. Mayor LePage not only contacted her, but gave her copies of the original proposal document and the cover letter I sent her. He told her that city hall has received a large number of support letters from the region and around the country. SHe told me that her impression is that the Mayor is encouraging and excited about this move to preserve part of Maine's railroad heritage. I will know far more on Tuesday night. In the meantime, if you haven't sent a letter of support for steam locomotive preservation, I would continue to encourage you to do so. If any of you hit the Powerball this weekend, please contact me! David Ingles, I need to know about assessment of park locomotives. Please contact me (glueck@maine.edu).

You men and women who have voiced support for preservation of Maine Central #470 are the backbone of good will in this project. My sincere thanks and gratitude to all of you. If this works in Maine, I am further assured we can all make it work in other communities.

Wish us luck on Tuesday night.

Dick

Dear Richard and interchange readers,

Beware of newspaper reporters as many are quite familiar with the infamous human interest angle of "local citizen is fascinated with trains." This angle only serves to marginalize railroad preservation (and historic preservation in general) to the domain of eccentrics - overlooking its value to economic development, tourism and academic study.

When talking with reporters, be sure to emphasize the facts that you have researched - especially those that show how money invested in historic preservation will help bring $ to the town. Keep your facts about the history of the locomotive (or whatever) simple, straight forward and relevant. Most people won’t know the significance of a wheel arrangement, builder, or even a railroad – and reporters frequently botch this information. However, most people can grasp statements of significance – it was state of the art in (year) hauling trains between (blank) hundreds of workers worked on repairing it and others at (location of shop/roundhouse).

Remember, It is easy to ignore an eccentric rail-buff but much harder to ignore a potential heritage tourism asset that can bring dollars to the local economy in these hard times.

Duly noted. I thank you for helping me keep my eye on the ball. I can only promise to do my best.