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| RailCamp and Volunteers https://www.rypn.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=22812 |
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| Author: | Mark S Bassett [ Sat Apr 14, 2007 8:15 pm ] |
| Post subject: | RailCamp and Volunteers |
Volunteers, we all need them but where do we find them? The answer is pretty simple, start a Railcamp at your museum. Last year the Nevada Northern Railway hosted two RailCamps one for teens and one for adults. In regards to steam and attracting teens, this is from our 2007 fund raising letter: Because engaging the youth is so important to the future of steam railroading, the Nevada Northern, in conjunction with the National Railway Historical Society, hosted the first teen RailCamp west of the Mississippi last year. [It begs the question why we were the first, but I’ll save that for another day.] This was an eye-opening experience for all of us. One of the activities on the first full day was learning how to fire a steam locomotive. Jason was their instructor. Afterwards, I asked him how it went. (Now Jason isn’t a grizzled veteran, I thought that as a young man, who grew up at railroad museum, he would naturally bond with the teenage campers.) “Not so well,” he replied. “Only a few of the teens were interested in learning about steam and how to fire.” “What?!” I thought, “not interested in steam, the Holy Grail of our railroad heritage. How could this be?” Well of course… …they had no connection to steam. But we built that connection during their week at RailCamp. Throughout RailCamp, the teenagers learned about our railroad heritage and railroading in general. They learned about our rulebook and operations. They worked in the shops and in train service. They also learned about track. In fact they constructed over 300 feet of track for us. [You know you are doing something correct when teenagers fall asleep at the dinner table.] On Friday, we ran a special double-header with steam locomotives 40 & 93 and the RailCampers had their own special photo shoot. These kids had changed, they different from the group that we had started with the week before. They were dirty, had blisters and appreciated what it took to keep a railroad going. And as for the Holy Grail – STEAM – well we got some new converts. You should have seen them bouncing up and down, taking pictures during their special photo shoot and all talking at once, the energy was palpable. They were converts. And on the adult side, it was an even bigger success. We got volunteers, we got members, we got donations, but more importantly, we got validation the Adult RailCamp concept is viable!!!! [Again it begs the question why it took so long to establish an adult RailCamp. We were the first.] We did one week last year, building on that success, we have two scheduled for this year. And as of this morning, both Adult RailCamps are 50% sold and teen camp is at 75%. So what was Adult RailCamp like? What follows are the experiences of one of the adult RailCampers, Joe Virgona. After almost a half century, I returned to camp this summer. Along with ten other ‘campers’, I spent six days in June at the Nevada Northern Railway in Ely, Nevada getting a thorough introduction to railroad history preservation and operations. The Adult RailCamp was devised, sponsored, and managed by the National Railway Historical Society in cooperation with the Nevada Northern Railway and other organizations. At Camp, we learned about train dispatching, diesel and steam locomotive operations, maintenance and restoration, railroad history, museum operations, and most importantly-SAFETY. We heard about it; read about it; and, best yet, did it! It was fun getting my hands dirty for a few days; but I have to admit: it would not be as much fun doing it every day. It was a tiring, but informative week including lots of hands-on experience (creating plenty of sparks in the welding shop and fortunately not creating any sparks when operating the diesel locomotive). We “assisted” the crew and other employees. They were definitely extremely patient people!!! We switched, coupled and uncoupled cars; repaired and inspected track in a Hi Rail; “worked” in the shops; lubricated the steam locomotive in preparation for the days trips; shadowed crew members in the cab of the diesel and steam locomotives and in the caboose during the tourist train trips; and even took a test to see how much we learned from the 136-page NNRy Train Service Handbook. The Nevada Northern Railway Museum with the NRHS will have three camps in 2007. There will be two Adult RailCamps, the first from June 11-17 and the second will run September 10-16. There will be a Teen RailCamp July 23-29. All sessions are limited to twelve participants. For more information contact the museum at (775) 289-2085 or visit the RailCamp website http://www.railcamp.com. What are you waiting for, pack your bags, and head to camp. So how did we start a RailCamp at the Nevada Northern? Was there a secret code? Was there a huge bureaucracy at the NRHS that need to be navigated? Was there a bunch of work? The answers are No, No, and No. I called the NRHS and asked, "Could we host a RailCamp here?" Their answer was quick and simple, Yes! We have an agreement that delineates what each party needs to do. Each party splits the costs and splits any losses or income. I’m happy to report that both camps here made money that was split between the NRHS and the museum. (Our share of the the money will be invested in the RailCamp program.) The NRHS did the heavy lifting in promoting, accepting applications and handling the finances and most details. We put OUR program together which differed from the Steamtown program. Was our program better than Steamtown? No, just different. So here’s the challenge. You too can have a RailCamp program. How? Pick up the ball and run with it. It is as easy as 1, 2, 3. The first step is to designate an individual in your organization to be the RailCamp coordinator. Two, contact the NRHS and send your coordinator to a RailCamp, either here or at Steamtown to observe the program. At the same time, contact me and I will go over what we do. Then three, step up to the plate, and make a commitment to work with the NRHS to do a RailCamp at your facility. Let’s stop talking about- “Oh where are the volunteers going to come from and how are we going to interest the youth.” Frankly, it is getting very old; all of the waling and gnashing of teeth. Instead, do something positive! Start a RailCamp at your facility. Just about every operation in the country could host a RailCamp. So what are you waiting for? The train is getting ready to depart, jump on! |
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