I wanted to ask for the opinion of the RyPN viewers on a subject concerning fundraising and restoration. This is NOT something that the museum I work at is planning to do, nor do I intend to try and put it into practice; however, it does seem like an intriguing idea.

I have a copy of an NRHS chapter bulletin called "Flags, Diamonds and Statues" from a few years ago, when this chapter had just acquired a BAR F-3 and were debating what livery to paint it in. The magazine presented several options: CNJ, Dl&W, Erie, LV, PRR were among them, I think. The NRHS members were then encouraged to "buy" votes for the paintscheme they would like to see the F-3 painted in. All of the money - for all of the votes - would go towards restoration, including whatever livery was chosen. That decision would be based on which livery raised the most money for the restoration.

They ended up painting the unit in CNJ "tangerine" colors. While many serious museums would not engage in this sort of semi-restoring, the overall concept of buying votes is an intriguing one. Many preserved diesels, for example, have belonged to more than one railroad. If their modifications have been slight, and there isn't an overwhelming movement to paint them in one particular livery they wore, would it be out of line to present a vote-buying contest like the NRHS one? Obviously the choices would be restrained to ones that the unit actually did wear in service; this would usually reduce it to 2 or 3 choices.

The question of "vote buying" is a touchy one. The person with the most money gets the most influence, and that concept can be distasteful in a democracy such as ours. However, in situations where it would be hard or impossible to raise sufficient funds to repaint a unit, an unconventional take might get peoples' attention. What do YOU think?

> I wanted to ask for the opinion of the RyPN
> viewers on a subject concerning fundraising
> and restoration. This is NOT something that
> the museum I work at is planning to do, nor
> do I intend to try and put it into practice;
> however, it does seem like an intriguing
> idea.

> I have a copy of an NRHS chapter bulletin
> called "Flags, Diamonds and
> Statues" from a few years ago, when
> this chapter had just acquired a BAR F-3 and
> were debating what livery to paint it in.
> The magazine presented several options: CNJ,
> Dl&W, Erie, LV, PRR were among them, I
> think. The NRHS members were then encouraged
> to "buy" votes for the paintscheme
> they would like to see the F-3 painted in.
> All of the money - for all of the votes -
> would go towards restoration, including
> whatever livery was chosen. That decision
> would be based on which livery raised the
> most money for the restoration.

> They ended up painting the unit in CNJ
> "tangerine" colors. While many
> serious museums would not engage in this
> sort of semi-restoring, the overall concept
> of buying votes is an intriguing one. Many
> preserved diesels, for example, have
> belonged to more than one railroad. If their
> modifications have been slight, and there
> isn't an overwhelming movement to paint them
> in one particular livery they wore, would it
> be out of line to present a vote-buying
> contest like the NRHS one? Obviously the
> choices would be restrained to ones that the
> unit actually did wear in service; this
> would usually reduce it to 2 or 3 choices.

> The question of "vote buying" is a
> touchy one. The person with the most money
> gets the most influence, and that concept
> can be distasteful in a democracy such as
> ours. However, in situations where it would
> be hard or impossible to raise sufficient
> funds to repaint a unit, an unconventional
> take might get peoples' attention. What do
> YOU think?

Frank:

I don't like the idea of "buying votes" per se because of exactly what you state; the people with the bucks get their way. We have had a somewhat similar problem at our museum. After many attempts, Conrail finally donated an ex-Erie caboose to our museum. The question came up what to paint it; Erie or Erie-Lackawanna (both paint schemes that the C345 once wore.) Although there was no "buying" of votes in our case, it was decided that the EL's maroon and gray with yellow stripe paint scheme was "more striking" and the caboose was so painted. I argued that the "plain red" of the old Erie would be better, stating that the maroon would probably fade and be hard to keep looking good. The museum then had an ALCO S-1 diesel switcher donated which also turned out to be ex-Erie and ex-Erie Lackawanna. In this case, it was decided to paint the engine in the original Erie black with yellow stripes/lettering rather than the gray with maroon stripe of the EL.
What would the decisions have been if "buying votes" would have been used? Of course I can't be sure but my GUESS is that both would have ended up in Erie Lackawanna maroon and gray simply because the paint scheme is "jazzier." Here is a suggestion. IF you go the vote buying rule, put all the votes in a hat and then pick one out. The odds are still that the unit would end up painted for the CNJ because that's where the majority of the votes are, but at least the POSSIBILITY exists that it could end up being painted for the LV or the Erie or the PRR or the Lackawanna. Everyone would at least then have a chance, even the one and only guy who might have voted for the B&O.

midlandblb@cs.com

One way to avoid the non-democracy aspect of vote buying would be to have a fixed price per vote, and only allow one vote per person. Sure it could diminish the fund-raising aspect (though maybe not too much if the votes are priced right), but it would be a good way to get folks to reach into their pockets to support the project and feel like their vote counts for something. Perhaps the money from the folks who voted for the losing paint scheme(s) should go towards a general restoration fund rather than the paint fund, so they're not paying for a paint scheme that they voted against.

> I wanted to ask for the opinion of the RyPN
> viewers on a subject concerning fundraising
> and restoration. This is NOT something that
> the museum I work at is planning to do, nor
> do I intend to try and put it into practice;
> however, it does seem like an intriguing
> idea.

> I have a copy of an NRHS chapter bulletin
> called "Flags, Diamonds and
> Statues" from a few years ago, when
> this chapter had just acquired a BAR F-3 and
> were debating what livery to paint it in.
> The magazine presented several options: CNJ,
> Dl&W, Erie, LV, PRR were among them, I
> think. The NRHS members were then encouraged
> to "buy" votes for the paintscheme
> they would like to see the F-3 painted in.
> All of the money - for all of the votes -
> would go towards restoration, including
> whatever livery was chosen. That decision
> would be based on which livery raised the
> most money for the restoration.

> They ended up painting the unit in CNJ
> "tangerine" colors. While many
> serious museums would not engage in this
> sort of semi-restoring, the overall concept
> of buying votes is an intriguing one. Many
> preserved diesels, for example, have
> belonged to more than one railroad. If their
> modifications have been slight, and there
> isn't an overwhelming movement to paint them
> in one particular livery they wore, would it
> be out of line to present a vote-buying
> contest like the NRHS one? Obviously the
> choices would be restrained to ones that the
> unit actually did wear in service; this
> would usually reduce it to 2 or 3 choices.

> The question of "vote buying" is a
> touchy one. The person with the most money
> gets the most influence, and that concept
> can be distasteful in a democracy such as
> ours. However, in situations where it would
> be hard or impossible to raise sufficient
> funds to repaint a unit, an unconventional
> take might get peoples' attention. What do
> YOU think?


Surviving Steam Photo Archive
rjenkins@railfan.net

At a point in time when every dollar to restore these old locomotives is becoming a precious quantity to aquire, I'm not sure democracy rule over a paint scheme is all that important. If you can somehow pry the money out of people to preserve a locomotive that at one time ran in a paint scheme of a particular railroad, more power to you. The world is run by money, sad but true. We can keep on bickering about the petty fine points of paint and let these precious pieces of history fall to ruin. And we can bicker about ownership (private, tourist railroad, museum, etc.) while all the while the scrappers rub their hands together, drooling, while they light their torches. Or, in all sanity, we can start putting our support behind people who are ready to fork out the money.


Ladypardus@cs.com