Hello, I am an architect and a member of a growing railway preservation outfit. We are trying to put together a long range plan to develop an interpretive museum. In my experience, it is best to build upon the work that others have done before you, so I am interested in collecting metrics from some established railroad museums around the country.

Has anyone one done similar research, or have access to appropriate planning studies? I am particularly interested at this point in corrolating attendance with facility size, space allocation, and operating budget. Relevant bits of information could also include market area, visitor demographics, and such. Other traits, such as type of facilities, and interpretive strategies should be easy enough to categorize without inside information.

I imagine that such studies created for government run museums would be a matter of public record. I understand why private organizations may wish to hold this info close, but no harm in asking.

Thanks

Randy.

I would encourage you to take BART to the TRAIN / ARM joint convention in Sacramento next month and meet with people who have done so face to face. No doubt they can provide you with a lot of good information and advice.

dave

That is probably an excellent idea. I am inclined to point out that BART does not serve Sacramento, but I am afraid you might think I was being critical. Perhaps the Sacramento Northern?

R.

Forgive Dave, he's prone to confusing Oakland with Sacramento. :-)

That said, the suggestion is terrific--you need to go to ARM while its in your backyard. BART then transfer to Amtrak at Jack London!

http://www.railwaymuseums.org/ARM-TRAIN%20Tease%20Brochure2006.pdf

Northern California has a number of rail preservation museums.

Wouldn't it be better to work with one of the existing organizations rather than start a new museum? Another rail museum will only reduce the number of visitors and support for the other museums. The number of potential visitors is not infinite. Sorry. In fact, some museums have been seeing declining attendance this year.

If there were no other rail museums within hundreds of miles and the area has a railroad heritage, then it would be a different story.

BTW (for another reply), BART does contract to manage the Capital Corridor trains between San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento.

Well, Randolph, care to tell us more about your museum, location?

As I recall, BARTD was the lead agency of the Capital Corridor Joint Powers Authority.

Currently:

http://www.capitolcorridor.org/

Hmmm, I am sorry to see that my request has stirred up controversy.

My efforts are on behalf of one of the established organizations in the Bay Area. I chose to be coy about which one, because as a volunteer working on what is currently the faintest glimmer of a project, I am not in a position to broadcast our potential plans on a public forum. It is very hypothetical at this stage. We are hoping to create a realistic plan for our organization to provide a professionally designed interpretive museum to the public. The information I am seeking will be important to creating a feasible design and business plan.

I have a tremendous respect for this forum, and have been a regular reader for several years now. I am pursuing a couple of avenues to collect this information, but I was hoping that posting here was worth a shot.


As for the BART thing, I had just wanted to point out that direct electric interurban service between San Francisco and Sacramento had been possible in the past. If Mr. Norden wants to declare a technical victory, I suppose he is welcome to it, but it is kinda like saying that in the past, you could take the S.P. to the Subway Terminal Building in Los Angeles. :-)

Randy.

Welcome to the industry, Randy. The oddest things can generate the most mail sometimes......

BART seemed probable to me (as an outsider from the wrong coast, sitting in Savannah at this writing) due to having seen a BART schedule which showed trains to Sacramento. I don't really care who carries me there so long as I can get there from San Francisco.

I hope to meet you there, and best wishes.

Oakland......maybe I can stop there and see the Pennoyer Brothers? their book had a lot about steam running to Oakland Mole, which seems like a lot of fuss for a burrowing mammal, but when in Rome.....

dave