Rail Museums Struggle; News Media notices

Alexander D. Mitchell IV · **Posted:** Tue Jul 12, 2016 11:39 pm

Much discussed yoday on Facebook:

http://www.timesrecordnews.com/news/loc ... 98691.html

Quote:

The Wichita Falls Railroad Museum is going through tough financial times, with its board noting a loss of donor and sponsorship money, fewer grants and family memberships, and an aging volunteer base.

"Here, a couple of months ago, we realized we only had enough funds to stay open for six months," organization secretary Susie Cain said.

The museum was founded in 1980, though it wasn't until 1986 that it really gathered steam.

History buffs embarked on a project to repaint the city's deteriorating steam engine, which was in Rotary Park, and also began collecting rolling stock.

More at the link.

lmckay175 · **Posted:** Wed Jul 13, 2016 1:22 pm

I'm assuming that this museum does not have an excursion line? It seems that today for a museum to be successful, they have to be an operating museum. Visitors will go to a museum if they can ride a train, not view them deteriorating on static display. Either way, the hardships many museums are facing today are unfortunate.

robertmacdowell · **Posted:** Wed Jul 13, 2016 3:19 pm

It's ALL in the overhead.

By "overhead" I mean the annual costs you are stuck with, the costs of "keeping the lights on". This includes entitlements (costs you have promised to bear like paying the city to mow the property and pick up trash) but not money you spend doing your mission like restoring cars.

The beauty of a static museum is that overhead costs can be very, very low.

Even some operations, like Michigan Transit , Fox River, Toledo Lake Erie & Western, or Ohio Railway Museum, can hold it together on $20,000/year of operating revenue, or even none at all for years at a stretch. Yes, I read 990’s.

At SMRS, just three years ago, $30,000 of gate was considered an exceptional year. Today, the thought of a $70,000 gate is depressing. The reason is overhead has grown even more dramatically than revenue. The cautionary tale is that a simple shift in management can have a huge impact on overhead.

Tom Davidson · **Joined:** Sun Dec 29, 2013 6:07 pm **Posts:** 203

Certainly one would hope the group can recover. If that is not to be, then the fate of the equipment has to be the most important consideration. It would seem that FW&D 2-8-0 304 would be a good fit in the collection at Frisco. It's a very common representative
of "standard" steam railroading, and would provide representation from another Texas railroad.

Of course, I have no connection to either the Wichita Falls group, or the Frisco group. I have no horse in this race, and do not know the circumstances, or the level of interest in what I propose. Whatever happens, I hope the equipment ends up in good hands.

Tom