I posted the following comment to the Scranton Times article. Interesting to see what is really causing the business failure of so many newspapers.


Mr. Singleton:

It was some days ago that I learned of your article on Steamtown through an announcement of its impending publication posted on a website devoted to the railroad preservation community interests, Rypn.org by Ross Rowland, one of the “critics” airing their views in the article. I expected that if Mr. Rowland was “hyping” the article in advance, its tenor or conclusions would match his well known negative attitude toward Steamtown.

Whatever the conclusions, I would have expected that you would have vetted your sources better. Unfortunately, you did not. Unlike those critics, I have been an active volunteer at Steamtown since 1995 in various capacities, but primarily in train and engine service. From that lasting affiliation, I know Steamtown very well, and both its positive and negative attributes. Because of that, I think we should examine a few positive aspects of Steamtown and the motivations and qualifications of its critics.

First, let consider three positive aspects of Steamtown.

First, Steamtown is still operating long distance excursions when others, most notably the Grand Canyon Railroad (who just shut down their steam operations this month) and the Ohio Central have given up on regularly scheduled steam excursions. The only exception to this rule has been the new excursions on the nearby Reading and Northern Railroad, who returned their No. 425 to service this year. In a testament to the difficulties of operating Steam, the 425 was inactive for over a decade and they have announced no plans to restore their other and larger locomotive- the Reading 2102 (a sister to Steamtown’s 2124) to service.

Secondly, Steamtown is currently and successfully operating excursions on the Canadian Pacific Railroad, no small accomplishment. Most large, publicly owned railroads want nothing to do with public excursions (especially steam), as they perceive enormous operational and legal risks in order to be associated with passengers and older equipment. These concerns have sidelined numerous locomotives in recent years and caused the end of the Norfolk Southern’s steam program in 1994.

Third, Steamtown has managed to attract and retain one of the most active, vigorous and dedicated volunteer groups in the country. Some volunteers now have over twenty years of service and one provided over 10,000 hours of volunteer service.

Finally let’s examine the qualifications of two of your “critics”, Mr. Donald L. Pevsner and Ross Rowland.

Mr. Pevsner is indeed a “transportation lawyer” but his legal background appears to be confined to commercial aviation. There is no suggestion that he has any special knowledge of railroading in general, or heritage operations in particular other than as an author of opinion pieces. It’s quite a different matter to fly an aircraft in the public airspace than it is to operate a train over privately owned rights-of-way.

Secondly, while Ross Rowland has operated showcase operations such as the American Freedom train, inside the preservation community and in the railroad industry in general, he is something of a pariah. I have personally spoken to a retired railroad manager who was a trainmaster on a railroad Ross operated on in the 1960’s who expressed concerns over Ross’ ability to subordinate his showmanship to the “prime directive” of railroading-safety.

With the possible exception of some limited success in the late 1960’s, (now a lifetime ago) Ross has never been able to operate steam on a sustained basis. Typical of his operations were trips run in the late 1990’s on New Jersey Transit from Port Jervis to Hoboken. The trips were run until the locomotive; former C&O No. 614 needed the heavy mechanical work all steam engines require. Unable to fund that rehabilitation, he had the locomotive taken to the Reading & Northern’s Port Clinton headquarters where it remains today parked and cold in an inoperative condition.

I suspect part of his campaign against Steamtown is in part due to his inability to reach an agreement to move that locomotive to Steamtown. It’s also clear that he regards Steamtown more as an amusement park than a government operated historic site and doesn’t seem to understand that there are mission-driven constraints on the nature and extent of the operation.

Here's the article, and as noted above it's unsuprisingly negative.

http://www.scrantontimes.com/articles/2008/09/14/news/sc_times_trib.20080914.a.pg1.tt14steamtown_s2.1897608_top2.txt

Well said, Supe.

With all due respect Superheater, as much as I and others appreciate your educated commentary and your necessity to remain anonymous perhaps because of your intimacy with these operations and others, sources like Ross are easy to find whereas gentlemen who camouflage their analysis and intelligence behind forum pen-names are much harder to come by, much less quote or use as credible sources in journalism.

I may be ignorant though; perhaps you were right under the author's nose, but now that he's aware of these exceptional positives regarding Steamtown, he probably wishes he'd known what he likely would have called an "embedded volunteer who wishes to remain anonymous" beforehand. Even without a name, words from someone who is neither a third party nor a direct employee but instead an active grunt in steel-toed boots would certainly hit home.

Regarding the article, I found this passage to be the most remarkable:



So how does one define the "authentic steam experience?" Were aspects of the facility constructed to rehabilitate locomotives and rolling stock only to then not use them in exhibition?

How does one actively tell the story? The exhibits inside the rebuilt roundhouse are stellar, but they are so much a stepping stone in actively telling the story of authentic steam railroading. It is difficult to tell the story of America's wheels without having them roll.

KL

Visiting Steamtown for the first time this year, you can do a search and find what I wrote, I said to myself, what can I do? I suggest everyone write an e-mail to your congress person and tell them to help Steamtown. Remember they are the check writers and we have to convince them to send more money to finish what they started back in 1995. I'm going to help where I can but talking to someone at Steamtown, I will not mention names but they are still working on the same budget from 95. That's bad you guys know that the price of steel probably has tripled since then. Also they have lost folks and the Park Service will not hire replacements why? The budget. I'm in the military and we are seeing the same thing cuts, cuts, cuts, and more cuts. I'm an aircraft mechanic and we have been cut in manpower by almost half. In 1999 we had over 550 people in our squadron to maintain 32 KC-10s. Now in 2008 we are cut to 320 and still maintaining 32 aircraft. We are flying much more due to the war and we have been told we have to cut more costs. So trust me when I say I know what they are going thru. Most of your squadron budget is for oil, paper, stuff we need to work safely. But there is no money for fixing up what they call "cosmetic stuff", what I mean is painting the aircraft inside and out, plastic parts that are not a "SAFETY" item. So we just write it up and it waits until we can get some money to fix it. Which lately doesn't happen. So Steamtown is feeling the same way. They are just surviving with their budget just like us in the Air Force. Mr Ross can say what he wants but he is a corporate man with a corporate budget and can get money for any source he wants, loans, grants, pay-offs, etc. Us government folks are at the mercy of the congress. So please write your congress person about Steamtown and let them know what is going on and to help save our history.

Based on the figures in the article, the average daily visitor count at Steamtown could be seated comfortably in three transit buses. That isn't much of a customer base to support running excursions.

PC

With all due respect Superheater, as much as I and others appreciate your educated commentary and your necessity to remain anonymous perhaps because of your intimacy with these operations and others, sources like Ross are easy to find whereas gentlemen who camouflage their analysis and intelligence behind forum pen-names are much harder to come by, much less quote or use as credible sources in journalism.

Fair enough. Anonymity has a price, but trust me, my real name isn't on any railroad's or museum's rolodex, so a "real name" wouldn't necessarily have meant I'd been contacted.

That having been said, there's 40 plus volunteers in train and engine service. If any were interviewed, none were quoted. Bill Withuhn is a volunteer, knows a little about museums and engines, don't see him being quoted.

Were the Levins' opinions solicited? They worked with the park to bring the E-8's in 2007. Smart guys who manage to run vintage equipment and keep it somewhere between mint and pristine. Not quoted.

Don't see anything from Mr. Jacobsen, Mr. Muller or anybody else who's actually run mainline steam in the last ten years quoted either.

Nor are the complaints objective or measured. Yes visitation is down, but what should it be? Scranton used to have a baseball team called the Red Barons that was once had among among the highest paid attendence in AAA ball. It dried after a while too and the Red Barons were sent to become "Iron Pigs", because somebody a few levels above me understood there's more votes in the Lehigh Valley than the Lackawanna Valley and Pennsylvania built a new stadium to cannabalize an existing team. I know at least 5 people that left the area in the last 10 years. Scranton was just named the "fastest dying" city in the US by Forbes. Think that might bear on visitation when the price of gas is 3.50? How about measuring the decline in visitation against other heritage and tourist railroads?

There's fewer excursion, true but you simply can't keep using flue time when there's 75-100 people on the other end of the drawbar. I did the count on several Moscow excursions the last couple years before the schedule was cut back, I was thrilled to get 200 on a sunny summer Saturday. We used to count on overflow at least one weekend a year from the Avoca airshow, but there is no more Avoca airshow. (perhaps Mr. P can investigate that issue and pen another internet missive)

Journalists routinely cite anonymous sources, so surely, had the reporter cared to look, he could have found somebody, with "wheel credibility". Instead, he chose two guys who lob stones from a distance. Why not fully and accurately disclose the fact that DLP is an aviation attorney. Instead he called him a "transportation" lawyer and a "consumer advocate". I'm a CPA, so call me a consumer advocate too.

Here's a telling phrase "In 1994, he proposed a Concorde charter to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport for Steamtown’s grand opening the following year, but the flight never came about" I guess that does lend expertise on "failed missions". But our intrepid reporter couldn't find anybody closer than Vilas, NC?

Steamtown isn't perfect, and I'm as much of a free market advocate as anybody. However, if you think a private operator is a guarantee of a roundhouse full of locomotives under steam, perhaps you better reread the post on the Grand Canyon again.

In any case I know yellow journalism when I see it. I'm Superheater and I approve of this tempest in a teapot.

We are on thin ice, but an appropriate conversation...

Please CONTINUE... Standard warnings about using names etc. apply.... Quoting is good (with reference. Using a name within a quote is not name calling if we can confirm the statement.)

Editorial content...

Steamtown is controversial. The government has spent large sums of money there. The result is not our common museum or National Park. Some expectations may not have been met. Some seem to harbor feelings for not having been included, or not having what they expect included.

For this discussion, IF possible, please include a statement of your point of view in your posts. It helps us all understand, and may help us moderators identify the rants from the discussion...

I'm a big fan of Steamtown, though in the same way that I am a fan and supporting member of the NRHS, both national and local. I want to support those who believe they can keep the history alive and interesting, yet think of it as a long - long - term possibility. And my investment is not in the neighborhood of 176 million dollars.

I'm in agreement with KL (if that is his real name ; ) and stated so in response to that article. It is the desire to see and relive the history that is the draw to the museum much more so then a few static displays and posters on the wall.

As for the article, keep in mind that the title is "Critics Slam Steamtown" so I do not think it set out to be an interpretation of both sides. Another point is that both the author and newspaper are from Scranton - the city that likely expected to reap the benefits of such a park and the infusion of funds. Obviously the article was slanted and good reporting would go into greater depth as to give commentary from both perspectives.

On the otherhand, the article simply states a truth that after 176 million dollars and 10 plus years not much has changed VISIBLY to the visiting tourist. Sure, it's difficult to run the park with funds available and costs involved. Sure, there are many, many hard working active volunteers. The fact that private operations such as OC and Grand Canyon backed away from steam (though Jerry perhaps has not) has little relevance considering they are private and not government parks. The fact that Durango and Silverton, New Hope and Ivyland and such continue to do well supports the thought to privatise that part of the operation. But the point remains - when a tourist, a family, or (worse) a railfan visits, it appears the bang for the buck is just abscent unless and until you have a viable steam program with varying destinations, access to the shops to see for more then 5 minutes a restoration or even routine maintanence being performed, and a descent stable of impressive restored rolling stock, steam engines, and artifacts.

/Mitch

And I'm just thowing this out:

If a railfan jillionaire wanted to buy Steamtown, would it be feasible?

I suppose if such a jillionaire existed on the East Coast, he or she would have already purchased the EBT.

I do think it is important to have some places where folks can see steam restoration as well as operation, so that there is more than just take a ride.

Scott

Speak carefully, fellas, lest Ross threaten to sue you for slander. Ask me how I know.

How do you think Ross gets the funds to restore 614, lol.

Len.

I'd wild-guess that the article was done lazy-style, by surfing the Internet. When someone's name and CV are searchable, you can quote them without even talking to them. Obviously this is another bias toward non-anonymous sources, and another way that the strength of anonymous posters' voices are undermined.

I'm not against anonymous posting. I do it myself in certain contexts. There's just one problem with it: (warning: strong language) http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/3/19/

The headline accurately reflects the content of the article. We don't know how the writer got his information. Question: are there other critics out there who could be the basis of another article called "Critics Praise Steamtown?" Would somebody in the local paper write it?

It seems Scranton is somewhat disappointed in the low visitation and concurrent economic benefits not accruing from Steamtown, and this article is probably one way of the paper trying to determine what isn't working. I didn't read an editorial stance recommending privatization - and I wonder if any entity, private or public, could make a go of any attraction in Scranton in any case.

I did find it ironic that two links below the story recommended Scrantonians go to New Jersey and California for their leisure activities. The local paper's commitment to building Scranton as a tourism destination doesn't include refusing paid advertising from the competition.

I think most people could agree that there's some collection of weaknesses inherent in the operating model for Steamtown that isn't providing the benefits it was supposed to provide. Maybe it was impossible, and nothing will bring 200,000 visitors to Scranton no matter what they do. Maybe it is too little capitalization to build the set of attractions and events that will attract 200,00 visitors per year. Maybe their operating system contains conditions that discourage entrepreneurial growth. Maybe their vision is too small, and the steam railroad story can't be told without the coal industry story as context. Is the mission too big and costly to be viable, or would a larger more expensive mission of operation reach critical mass and actually generate the visitation that would make cost irrelevant?

This article doesn't actually explore any of this - but it doesn't purport to. Maybe somebody with the information available should do a deeper study of actual conditions and realities. Unfortunately the only organization capable of doing so right now is NPS, and it isn't likely it will be objective regarding its own performance, or willing to question its own structure and style.

Anyhow, my guess is this article isn't on anybody's reading list when planning thier vacations apart from railfans, who will visit Steamtown anyhow if they are in the vicinity. It really doesn't matter in the larger picture.

dave

Repeating once again, the attendance figures published for Steamtown average out to only three busloads of people a day.

That is probably fewer customers than many Cracker Barrel restaurants get in an hour.

I don't think you can afford to do much with excursions in that situation.

PC

Supey, the Red Barrons moved BUT they were replaced by the Yankees AAA club. Not exactly a loss, in some eyes it might even be an upgrade.

Rob