I thought I'd move this quote to start a new thread.





At National Capital Trolley Museum we move operating cars from display in Street Car Hall on a seasonal basis. While not all museums enjoy this flexibility I think it keeps things interesting for our repeat customers and also keeps our interpretive efforts fresh.

Wesley

Remaining totally static is a good way to kill a museum off. Most museums that have the resources available establish permanent exhibits and temporary exhibits. Temporary exhibits can be used to capitalize on current subjects of interest or simply to rotate display of other items in the museum's collection that otherwise would not be available to the public.

The equipment does benefit from being moved around from time to time. Perhaps even if you don't necessarily rearrange equipment, simple moving it about will help keep bearing from pitting, deforming etc, as was mentioned in the other thread, as well as exercise the suspension.

The first (and so far, only) time I made it to Sacramento's CSRM, they were doing some equipment moves on a weekday. The J. W. Bowker was being moved to the restoration hall, still with it's, "Wild Wild West" movie paint. A very small critter was doing the honors, and they also moved a UP hack somewhere (I got good shots of that movement, the V&T move caught me unprepared with my camera and location).
A family who happened to be there to watch the moves alongside me were excited to see the movement. None of them were train fans by our definition, that I could tell. The parents said it best when the mother said, "This is great, we got to see some of their trains moving around!" The rest of the family agreed, as did I (and yes, they looked over at me to see what an obvious train fan thought of the comment). I never forgot their reaction to that unscheduled movement of equipment around the grounds of the museum.

Well fine arts museums are always pulling things out of storage for display, or putting up borrowed pieces. I think every good museum is a dynamic place and keeps things moving and changing.

Small town history museums generally don't change their displays, so the same old and dusty displays stay up for decades. These halls of boredom often have no visitors inside.

At Branford, some of the Powers That Be state that the purpose of a Museum is to Educate, not to Entertain.

The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania seems to move stuff around a fair amount, especially their outdoor equipment.

When you succeed in separating the two you get neither done. Not to say there are not many experts on doing just that.

At those museums that have dedicated barns for storage only, it would be nice if they could pull a few pieces out and put them on display from time to time.

Years ago I read a piece in the AAM's Museum News that spoke of having rotating or themed displays in museums. Now the author was writing about museums that had smaller artifacts; such as household items, childrens' toys, business artifacts, etc. He suggested using these items to make up themed temporary displays about home life in "smalltown" or child's life, or business, school life, summer recreation, winter time, etc. Many of the artifacts could be used in several different temporary displays.

The point was to create changing displays to generate interest in getting the local community to return to the museum. You advertise the new exhibit. And get back people who otherwise say, "Why go. It's all the same old stuff."

Also surveys have reported that people go to museums more for the entertainment and not for the education. So our goal is get people to come for an enjoyable time and impart some information/education on them while they are at the museum.

But, the whole idea if a Museum, by some experts, is to preserve
the same old thing. You should go to a theater if you want to see
a new performance every time.

It's not about the stuff.....it's about what the stuff tells us. The stories can be both entertaining and educational, and if they are not you need a better story teller to make the best use of the stuff. Changing simply allows us to tell more stories than just one, and is a reason for people to come back more than once.

dave

I would hope that our repeat visitors leave saying "I learned something that I hadn't known before." Rotating exhibits is one way of facilitating this process.

As a trained Museum Curator, I find some of this thread very interesting.
1) If a museum isn't entertaining, it will soon find itself devoid of visitors. My philosophy was that museum displays are "Subversive Teaching" in that one is invited into the museum to be entertained, and if we are successful, knowledge will be imparted without the visitor realizing it. Good museum interpretation uses the objects to tell stories of the past in a manner which engages the visitor.
2) As for people expecting the same stuff to always be there, that is only partly true--they also expect to see "new" stuff (actually different old stuff--BTW, "stuff" is museum jargon for artifacts :) )
3) As for "playing with trains" IF the objects are being moved with consideration for the artifacts' mechanical condition (bearing lubricated, etc. so one does no damage) and to assist in telling a new story. If, however, they are just being moved to move them; well, that might be "Playing with trains."

While changing displays is a nice plan, many (most?) small museums do not have the staff nor the funds to do it very often. One way around that is to have "permanent displays" and a smaller "changing display" area where every few months the display is changed. Sometimes the new display is begun with a guest speaker speaking on the subject or collection on display.
Art museums, and house museums frequently change displays so the artifacts on display spend most of their time in storage to reduce the slow destruction that happens while on display (light fades finishes, clothing displayed as worn stretches where it is under stress (gravity is always there!). Railroad equipment is a bit different in this regard; even when in storage, it's sitting on its trucks, etc.
End of Museum 101A lecture!!
:)

At PTM we've found that "static=boring." Trolleys get moved around often, usually in the interest of maintenance, restoration, or repairs. Or sometimes just because things need a little shaking up. We have also found that any such activity is a source of fascination to many visitors. They'll get to see other cars than those in public operation and even our 25 ton GE diesel utility loco is the subject of a lot of questions--such as "why doesn't it have a trolley pole?" Our operating crew will also change cars during the day so that ticket holders (ours are good all day) can see and ride something new. Yep, variety is indeed the spice of life.