All of the discussion on the Interchange recently about the Kentucky Railway Museum, operating in a vacuum, and the Pemberton Trust being evicted made me think that a lot the lessons we often speak of with regard to museums are not really that "new."

To support my argument, I give you the article that appeared in the September 1968 edition of Trains magazine, "The Pleasures and Pitfalls of a Railroad Museum." The article is about the Kentucky Railway Museum, then in Louisville, with its small but well maintained and regionally significant collection of equipment. Issues such as securing funding, being able to take care of what you collect, theme, mission and volunteer development are all touched upon.

Worth a read, and it shows that many of the practices we speak of today are as old as railroad museums themselves.

Two more things relevant to current RYPN topics. The article mentions the Sea Breeze being used by the Museum at the time. I also remember that an enlarged version of this article used to hang in the museum building at KRM down in New Haven, KY. I believe Kalmbach donated it at one point. Perhaps KRM's current members and leaders should read the wisdom of those who came before them.