Just received the July issue of Railfan and Railroad magazine. One of our teen RailCampers has an article in the magazine. His first sentence is, "How does one become a railfain?" The article is very well written, everyone should read it.

Not because the article is a nice plug for the Nevada Northern, but rather it shows what can be accomplished, teenagers building track, switching, welding and learning.

This program is portable to your operation and IMHO it is critical for our future well being.

I took Mark's advice and read the well written article by Anton Lazzaro. This should be required reading for adminstrators of museums and tourist operations who have the capacity to host railcamps. It is clear this group of teens enjoyed themselves greatly and were not afraid of a little work and dirt. We definately need to find these young folks and encourage them to get on board if preservation is going to have a future.

I hope folks will take the time and read this important view from the younger generation.

John Bohon

I hope I am not 'hi-jacking' this thread. Sometimes that next generation is closer than we think. I was just wondering how many father-son combinations are out there among us?



The picture above is RR GraphixGuy at the age of 5 as we (he and I) attended the grand opening of the California State Railroad Museum in 1981.

Technically, I am in a bit of a quandry--did I find the next generation or did he find the previous? He has one week seniority on me in volunteering here at Heber. He saw a flyer in the local hobby store--went up one Wednesday night and returned home to inform me that I had to give it a try the next week.

Here at Heber Valley I am aware of the following father-son combos involved past and present:

Craig and Robert Lacey, Ralph and Chris Hawkins, 'doc' and Mike Lewis, and the triple threat of Bill (Sr.), Bill (Jr.) and Craig Schulz--a father-son-grandson combo.

What others are out there? Are there any father-daughter, mother-son, mother-daughter combinations? I venture that even private family-owned operations qualify for this inquiry if members are in some fashion active in the preservation and operation.

sc 'doc' lewis

Doc
For the Adult Railcamp we do have a father son combination coming.

One Father-Daughter. Emily (age 11) often joins her Dad at the WW&F for track work (laying out spikes, marking tie locations), cleaning of parts, sweeping out cars, clearing cut brush, piling small stones around culverts, and other tasks suited for small hands.

Not a great picture, but I'm on the right side in the blue/white flannel shirt (it is Maine, flannel is required :-) with my daughter standing right in front of me.
http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?photo=2006100820243511932.jpg

We always have a great time and look forward to our next visit.

-Ed Lecuyer

Seems like being a railfan today is a little harder to take photo's with all the homeland security. I dont know about you all and your friends but most of my friends are more into diesels than steam. I'm a hard core steam nut. Diesels are ok but you see one you've seen them all. But you got to think 5 to 10 years down the road. Will us railfans still be aloud to take pictures of todays Class 1 railroads? I guess time will tell



Scott

I know and have worked with two father-mother-son combos here in California; conductor-conductor-engineer and hostler-gift shop-mechanic.

At the Travel Town museum, we've had a lot of success the last few years using High School students who have to earn their community service hours. Several of the local school districts require their students perform a certain amount of hours each semester to graduate.

While a lot of the students just come out and do their minimum number of hours and disappear, and are only good to general cleanup, we've been able to do a lot of track work with the students performing the heaving lifting under the more experienced volunteers. While a lot of those also disappear after earning their minimum hours, there are always a few who discover they like it and stick around. (at least until they discover girls/boys :-)) The best are the ones who come out to work and bring their Dad's who then decide to stick around too.

We've also had a lot of luck with Boy Scouts performing their Eagle Scout Leadership Projects.

Greg

I've just returned from a visit to Wales where I visited the Talyllyn Railway (plus a few others). The Talyllyn was well represented by kids, teens, and 20-somethings (at least to my inexperienced eye) - we were given a tour of the Pendre shops by a couple of 14-year olds, and it seemed like all of the steam crews (5 engines in steam) seemed to all be in their 20s.

I saw several work crews out alongside the line during my trip up and back, and many seemed to be families. This was on a Tuesday, the day after a bank holiday, so maybe they all took the week off.

Maybe the secret is get the entire family involved. I'd assume that the British have the problem of too much to do and not enough time in the day to do it like we Americans seem to, but maybe the Brits have a different frame of mind.

Of course the Talyllyn and Ffestiniog both have 50 years of experience under their belts, so they must have tried-and-true methods of getting the volunteers out.

I sometimes wonder if the next generation of rail preservation workers won’t come from the class-1s themselves?

Today, it is pretty easy to get a job on a class-1 if someone so desires it. (I even managed to get a job with one!) A whole group of young people chose to get paid the perceived big bucks (yeah right) to work with trains in lieu of volunteering their time with the local tourist road.

Unfortunately many may and will grow tired of the hours and the bosses. They might even find themselves a new job with actual scheduled free time. And these people will have real railroad experience to boot! I know I am thinking and rethinking my current career choice. I did do a small bit of preservation work while in school, and imagined myself continuing it once I found a job – little did I know that I’d end up on the railroad. If I ever do leave my job, I would love to be able to use my skills to aid some organization.

So, perhaps it is time for scenic railroads and museums to think about reaching out to these disillusioned rails? Most of the railroaders I know love the job but hate the company. On the other hand, we are also used to big engines hauling tonnage at good speeds the way their builders envisioned; not stuffed and mounted in a museum, never seeing the light of day.

I work in the Class 1 and Commuter Rail environment every day, and unfortunately from what I see it will take a major change in attitudes on this website, in the NRHS, and in preservation in general, to get many from the current generation of railroaders interested. Same goes for trying to get their employers involved. They do in fact have a lot of pride in their work, and can see that many people in the preservation community are steam oriented, inclined toward bashing diesels, and critical of the present day railroad industry. Even more unfortunately, these biases are sometimes presented loudly and confrontationally. Present day railroaders often interpret this as being an insult to their industry and disrespectful of what they are doing.

And yes, they read what is on this website.

MX (Obviously Not My Real Name)

While some organizations (and websites) do seem to have a bias against railroaders, I think the ones that try to reach out to them may find success. If it weren't for people like this, many shortlines would be hurting to find people to work for them for the pay that exists.

Besides, just because I'm of a younger generation, even I know a Gevo has nothing on a fine Baldwin coal-burning product! I spent enough time in the cab of a dismal.

The next generation is here. Today’s young people have a different work ethic, and money is a big part of it. In my younger days satisfaction came from helping, and looking back and saying I did that. Todays youth get satasfaction form completing a video game in air conditioning. Another problem is a LARGE lack of respect from the elders. I have been in historic Railroading for 16 years (not bad for a 31 year old kid). I often get talked down too because I am much younger. I see this in the teens who volunteer. There is a teen right out of high school volunteering in Ely at the NNRy who was “chased out” from NSRM in Carson City. Charlie was raised in the same area as myself and has a lot of the same interest. The elders at the Nevada State Railroad Museum only wanted him to polish the bell and wash windows. That’s all fine but here he is captivated and rite in the middle of train service. I worked at NSRM for 11 years. On my first day I was hooked. Back then there was a lot of trust. By the time I had left there for Ely, nobody showed interest in teaching and helping the next generation. I was told the other day that the town of Ely Nevada is 20 years behind the times. I think that is true.

Most of what I read on this thread is valid. Much about attracting the next generation has to do with the local organization's attitudes and efforts. If your organization is full of "old farts" that don't want nothin' but steam and have the attitude that the museum is their personal property you've got a problem. That will really keep current railroaders away!

Most of the younger folks today that I see at our museum are just attracted by trains period! They don't care if its steam, diesel, or electric. Its the mistique of the train!

As stated by others you can have success with Scouts, high school kids, etc. You have to make it enjoyable for them. Work can be fun, but not with sour attitudes around!

As others have said, don't underestimate the real young ones. We have a young fella that has been an "Honorary member" since he was eight. Comes from single parent home. Mom loves to bring him because it costs nothing to hang around and watch! Here's there almost every weekend.

Where I am a member you can work on the train crew as a car host under adult supervision at age 16. We have a mother-son-daughter team that are part of our regular crews as car hosts.

Make it family friendly and have a good attitude!

Sorry to ramble.

There are young people out there looking for the right opportunties. The hurdles at some museums and short line operations tend to discourage many teenagers. If gven the proper training and circumstances, I have seen some of these young people really flourish. No one is going to hang around for years unless given the chance to advance. I know of one operation that is often looking for qualified people to go into train service. Do not let a couple of bad experiences turn you off completely.