I'm on several email lists offered by preservation organizations. I just got one today from the Washington DC Chapter of the NRHS. I also receive emails from the Reading and Northern, Train Festival, and a few others. They all do an excellent job of sending out a regular email with news and offers for their events.

In my own opinion if your organization does not have an email list and is not sending out something on a regular basis they are missing a great opportunity. More and more people are keeping a calendar on the computer. As en example, when something comes to me I read it, see if it's something I want to do, check my calendar, and make an online purchase. This type of transaction is going to happen more and more as time marches on. So as much as we like to maintain our "time machines" with vintage rail equipment we need to remain in the present day when it comes to marketing.

How to set up, maintain, and maximize use of this technology would be a fantastic subject for an online article.