Recently, I had related to me a story that caused me to need a new keyboard from pounding my forehead on it. I have changed specific details of it to protect both the innocent and guilty.

A rail museum operates a passenger car privately owned by an individual--or wanted to. During a movement off-line, the car and others on the train derailed. The car body itself was undamaged, but the derailment did damage to the bottoms of the truck equalizers on the car--just barely enough damage to force their condemnation.

The car's owners had other reasons to do a truck rebuild, including rim-stamped wheels and bearing changes, so they set about to find matching trucks or equalizers elsewhere for acquisition or trade. The trucks turned out to be quite proprietary or custom-built--only a few of them still existed, all on other cars by that railroad. They checked into custom fabrication--and were quoted prices in the mid-five-figures.

Unusually, it was discovered that another rail museum had two of the trucks in question, under two different display cars--evidently they had done a truck swap to "rescue" a different car in the past, leaving two cars with mismatched trucks. The car's owners made an offer to said rail museum: We'll bring the damaged trucks down, swap out all the trucks so they match what they're supposed to have, get the equalizers we need, pay for all the crane or jack work, and leave a $10,000 donation for the trouble.

They never received a reply.

Ultimately, a set was found much further away under a car that was being scrapped, at a total cost far higher once delivery and buying from the (extortionate?) scrapper were factored in. The rebuild is in progress.

A day or three after this story was related to me when I visited the work in progress, I spoke to a private car owner/operator who had professional connections to the second museum, and related the story.

He replied, "[specific kind of truck] equalizers?!?!? We sent them a boxcar loaded with them when we cleaned out [private RR shop]!!!"

Thankfully I had a spare keyboard. But if you see key-shaped indentations on my forehead...... that's why.

One of the car's owners said to me in conversation "Museums in [this geographical region] would rather fight than get things accomplished. Look around here, and you'll see the results."

(And before you ask, no, said second museum is not, to my knowledge, currently running such equipment, and thus in need of spares, at least at present.)

Several keyboards into the process myself. The idea that we compete with each other in general is bogus. We may have some instances where we do compete for a specific acquisition, for example, or apply for the same grant for different purposes, but that's not really what I consider competition. Both can be eliminated as reasons for contention by working out mutually exclusive missions, leaving each doing a better job of it's narrower focus rather than a poor job of trying to interpret everything.

People who visit railroad museums tend to judge all railroad museums based on just what they have experienced - by supporting each other we raise the bar for us all, so visitors to any of us are more likely to have a positive experience and want to visit more railroad museums, which makes us all stronger again.

Go to the conventions and talk to everybody - send your directors and volunteers to hep others in your region with their programming and work out crew reciprocity. Include each other as beneficiaries in your drop-dead plans. Share the cost of visitors center rest stop brochures. It isn't rocket surgery.

They do

Ever hear of attrm?

Bob H

I would also say that a number of places do not even know what they have.

As more and more organizations are more professionally run, those who cooperate to efficiently allocate resources will eventually outperform and outlast their more curmudgeonly colleagues in the marketplace. In the short term these sorts of stories are frustrating, especially for those who have to live them, but in the long term, folks looking to build secretive personal fiefdoms, often on the backs of donors and/or taxpayers, will fade away.

RYPN is a great facilitator in the cooperative sharing of resources. Having been a lurker for a long time, it seems that, more and more, people are willing to share ideas, technical knowledge, and best practices. Those who opt out do so at their own peril.

Even more difficult are the sad situations where the lack of cooperation, siloed operations, and even willful malfeasance exist within one organization. The moment someone tells you, "You're making us look bad", don't walk. Run.

It may not seem so from the threads that appear all too often, but there is a surprising amount of goodwill and swapping that goes on.

Just a few years back there was I believe, a 3 way trade of sorts out West that involved an SP 0-6-0 . I am all for having collections shake out so that items end up where they are more useful and/or historically appropriate. This includes private collections too...there is a hefty sized shortline 2-8-2 in OR that would be almost perfect for a well known CA museum pike. The ball just needs to start rolling.

We may simply not be aware of all that goes on.

Remember the Western Maryland Shay 6...she went from static display to good use at Cass Scenic. There are several other examples.

Very general, no criticism to anybody or any group and I am not speaking about any specific group or individual. General life observations.

We have become so adverse to any type of criticism that sometimes groups won't "chat" with each other for fear of being criticized by the other. Our social media world is so critical that it is actually causing us to become more un-social than social.

Some groups are kingdoms controlled by specific dictators who have to make all of the decisions. If the king is not on board, either is the kingdom.

Stretched too thin. Sometimes people do not respond as they do not A.) Have the time. B.) Do not know the answer. C.) Are worried about being criticized. D.) Really do not want to do anything. E.) Do not have the power to do anything or F.) Are too scared to do anything.

In my book working with a lot a groups and having worked with a lot of museums and even private companies. Either you want to help and you want to share information and you want to grow and succeed or, simply put, you don't want to.

Even if it's a fair criticism, there are some wonderful moments out there.

At the Chattanooga ATRRM meeting a couple years ago, a chat with Bob LaPrelle indicated that their exodus from Dallas to Frisco was leaving some pieces in the 'what do we do with this one?' dilemma - pieces not significant to their collection and possibly not even worth moving out of Dallas.

He was open and honest about it to anyone that would listen. I was glad to be able to communicate to some of my own contact list, and this was expatriated home from Dallas to Buffalo, NY where it originally operated:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 834&type=3

I think that was pretty exemplary by MAR. This forum is as good a place as any, and has as many contacts as most, to 'talk amongst themselves' when they are either looking for something or have to admit they've got something in their collection that they are never going to get to, need to get rid of, or just simply no longer fit the mission. CSRM also went through this process, and they certainly made every attempt to find good homes for things that no longer fit the plan.

Yeah, you can find head-banging examples, but you can also find some pretty good examples out there of it actually working.

There are also some groups and individuals who are really "hunter gatherers" more than restorers/operators. When you approach said individual, initiate a (As tactful as possible) discussion along the direction of.....you have three gizmos.....all of which are rusting in your field/building and that you are not using.....I'd offer you X $$$ for one gizmo, and then you could use the $$$ to restore & operate the remaining sisters........you get stares of incredulity and the "but I'm going to restore that someday retort", even though nothing on the property has been done for years, except haul "more" gizmos in...And I've also heard the, I've just used that" answer, while there are 3 inch by 20 foot trees growing out of it retort, or the "I'm working on restarting X trolley Co or rr and MAY JUST need those gizmos for that sorta-mythical project......too much inertia, or just an irrational mental picture of what they can actually accomplish in their remaining lifetime?
Or the "I/we have the most of__________, so we win...."?

I know this afflicts other areas of interest as well......when I lived in MI, a guy on a corner street lot had 3 1960-1970 era Corvettes on his property, rusting away and beat up.....and a big piece of plywood that said "not for sale.....don't even ask!!!"

Maybe it is also the wife who does not know what to do with the dear-departed husband's treasures........there was a machine shop auction a couple years ago where the husband's shop was locked up in his garage building for about 20 years...the wife never sold anything, and the sale was only put on after her death by the executor......

Are trolley museums better at parts swapping than railroad museums? The one with which I am associated has in recent months participated in multiple swaps of trucks, motors, truck parts, and other traction miscellany. This seems to go on regularly in this aspect of the rail preservation hobby with nary a mashed keyboard or indented forehead in sight. Maybe we're just better talkers.......

Mr. Mitchell, I respectfully suggest there are three sides to every story. It occurs to me that you may not have drawn a triangle. In doing so you may be able to remove the keyboard imprints you suffered as well as prevent a similar condition to others.

In my humble opinion, I would state that trolley museums are more highly evolved than the run-of-the-mill 'heavy rail' groups.

Dave

I've worked in both, and for tourist railroads. In my experience, it has been personal rather than institutional conversations that bear fruit. Consider the trolley oriented parts swap list on the ATRRM site - it is pretty much moribund. I went through a lot of effort to join thinking it would be active and fruitful, only to find pretty much nothing going on. I do, however have an ad hoc email list of people who run the sisters to the car we are now rebuilding and we have already collaborated on specifications and drawings, sharing orders for consumables, and ideas and advice.

So, why don't we take advantage of the swap site to broaden the pool of possibilities? Comfort levels? Previous positive experience? Whatever, I think it is pretty self limiting.

Since this is a hypothetical discussion (and I want to keep it that way) I'm going to play Devil's advocate and make this statement: I strongly disagree with people who say, "I'm restoring this locomotive, and ALL THE ENGINES RUSTING IN PARKS OWE ME PARTS. I'm going to swap my cracked turret with this engine, and my cracked driver with that engine, so MY engine can run."

No! Engines in parks deserve to remain complete for future generations. Vandalize three engines to get yours running, and who is to say it won't end up like Jensen's, cut for scarp, leaving three other engines less than they were before.

You picked it, fix what you have.

An interesting point raised by someone back-channel:

Would the approach to Second Museum had been more effective had it been made by Museum That Wanted To Use Private Car rather than Private Owner of RR Car?

This gets to be problematic because only the owners could make the offer, and technically Private Car doesn't really fit the mission statement of said rail museum except as a revenue source, but would fit the mission statement of Second Museum...... and for all we know, it could have ended up at Second Museum eventually had they been a bit more helpful to the owners...... (might still, who knows, but....)