At the risk of being called an armchair amateur. Depending who you ask Pennsylvania has all of the best and all of the worst railroad museums and excursion railroads. All of these places have one thing in common. If families donÂ’t come and spend money they will not prosper. Families want the following:

Clean and comfortable
Stuff that moves and makes noise, or stuff you can play with.
Easy to find
Several choices for food
A real nice gift shop
Lots of free parking with big wide spaces for the big ole Suburban
Lots of good clean bathrooms
To not stand around in line with a bunch of whining kids

How do I know this? I have been raising kids for 15 years. Been there done that! I know what the wife and kids want. Many of the folks in our hobby have never landed a woman, never started a family, and therefore are completely clueless about the whole situation.

I know
> what the wife and kids want. Many of the
> folks in our hobby have never landed a
> woman

"The wife"? "Landed a woman?" Speaking of clueless, this isn't 1957 any more. My sympathies to Mrs. G.

Despite the above Tom makes some points worth considering. Let's add impulse buy pricing and time commitments to the mix, and above all location.

Dave



irondave@bellsouth.net

That is a good point! Not just railroad museums but all museums need to be family friendly. Bathrooms, not Porta Pots, a sales location and lots of safe places for folks of all ages to learn about what ever it is that the museum is about.

Signs are good, people are better, Museums are for all the ages, not just kids not just Seniors or Railrams or in my case boat bums.

ted_miles@nps.gov

> That is a good point! Not just railroad
> museums but all museums need to be family
> friendly. Bathrooms, not Porta Pots, a sales
> location and lots of safe places for folks
> of all ages to learn about what ever it is
> that the museum is about.

> Signs are good, people are better, Museums
> are for all the ages, not just kids not just
> Seniors or Railrams or in my case boat bums.

When the family goes someplace the wife is usually a full particpant in deciding where to go and wheather to return. The museum environment needs to address the needs and desires of all members of the family.

When we look toward the future we see the children coming to see Thomas or other trains. These children do no come by themselves, but as part of a family unit. Railway museums need to play to the family and not the singular railfan. What is good for the family is good for everyone else.

Brian Norden

bnorden49@earthlink.net

"this isn't 1957 any more. My sympathies to Mrs."

If it was there would be a whole lot more operating trolleys and steamers. I doubt Tom's "old lady" would be offended. After all she married a railfan.



wyld@sbcglobal.net

Found this on another board- IMO its a pretty good explaination of the generation gap problem

Daddy what's a train?
Utah Phillips

Daddy what's a train? Is it something I can ride?
Does it carry lots of grown-up folks and little kids inside? Is it bigger than our house? Well how can I explain When my little boy asks me, "Daddy what's a train?"

When I was just a boy living by the track Us kids'd gather up the coal in a great big gunny sack, And then we'd hear the warning sound as the train pulled into view And the engineer would smile and wave as she went rolling through;

She blew so loud and clear That we covered up our ears And counted cars as high as we could go. I can almost hear the steam And the big old drivers scream With a sound my little boy will never know.

Daddy what's a train? Is it something I can ride? Does it carry lots of grown-up folks and little kids inside? Is it bigger than our house? Well how can I explain When my little boy asks me, "Daddy what's a train?"

I guess the times have changed and kids are different now; Some don't even seem to know that milk comes from a cow. My little boy can tell the names of all the baseball stars And I remember how we memorized the names on railroad cars - The Wabash and TP, Lackawanna and IC Nickel Plate and the good old Santa Fe; Names out of the past And I know they're fading fast Every time I hear my little boy say.

Daddy what's a train? Is it something I can ride? Does it carry lots of grown-up folks and little kids inside? Is it bigger than our house? Well how can I explain When my little boy asks me, "Daddy what's a train?"

Well, we climbed into the car and drove down into town Right up to the depot house but no one was around. We searched the yard together for something I could show But I knew there hadn't been a train for a dozen years or so. All the things I did when I was just a kid- How far away the memories appear,

And it's plain enough to see They mean a lot to me 'Cause my ambition was to be an engineer.