The N.C.Transportation Museum will hold an open recruiting day for
new Rail Operations volunteers all day Saturday, Sept. 20th. The primary
focus of the day is to interview retired railroaders with operating
experience who would like to become volunteers on weekday crews for the 2004
season.
Others who are interested in shop work leading to volunteer assignments are
welcomed as well.

Volunteers must be at least 18 and be interested in participating in a
team environment. Rewards include opportunities to join the museum's
operating crews, the chance to take part in restoration work and gift shop
discounts, in addition to participating in a great way to preserve railway
history.

All who register on Sept. 20th will receive a complimentary ride on the
museum's operating railroad and up to three guest tickets. Hours are 8:30
a.m.-5:00 p.m.
If you are interested in the program but unable to attend this day or want
more information,
call (704) 636-2889 and leave your name, number and email address.



http://nctrans.org
Wrinnbo@aol.com

> The N.C.Transportation Museum will hold an
> open recruiting day for
> new Rail Operations volunteers all day
> Saturday, Sept. 20th. The primary
> focus of the day is to interview retired
> railroaders with operating
> experience who would like to become
> volunteers on weekday crews for the 2004
> season.
> Others who are interested in shop work
> leading to volunteer assignments are
> welcomed as well.

> Volunteers must be at least 18 and be
> interested in participating in a
> team environment. Rewards include
> opportunities to join the museum's
> operating crews, the chance to take part in
> restoration work and gift shop
> discounts, in addition to participating in a
> great way to preserve railway
> history.

> All who register on Sept. 20th will receive
> a complimentary ride on the
> museum's operating railroad and up to three
> guest tickets. Hours are 8:30
> a.m.-5:00 p.m.
> If you are interested in the program but
> unable to attend this day or want
> more information,
> call (704) 636-2889 and leave your name,
> number and email address.

Jim:

Your message about primarily focusing on recruiting retired railroaders with operating experience for future operating crews was interesting. At our museum, we have not been able to interest many "professional railroaders" in the museum because that is what they do (or did) for a living. Most of our members/volunteers do NOT have any railroading experience, or very limited experience. I wonder how that stacks up against other museums? I wonder if anyone ever took a survey to determine the statistics?

Les Beckman (Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum/North Judson, Indiana)

midlandblb@cs.com

Les,

The original core of the organization was about 12-14 retired Southern Railway engineers, conductors and supervisors who wanted to see something good come of the place. They succeeded in that. We are down to two of the originals now, Jim Mesimore, who was roundhouse foreman when Southern vacated the property in 1979 (literally the last one out to turn off the lights) and C.E. "Pappy" Spear, who was boilermaker and mayor of the town of Spencer for many years. We are lucky to still have them.

Of our "next generation" which is about 40-50 people, we have 2-3 railroaders from shortlines and one carman from NS. The rest are everything else imaginable: Teachers, computer programmers, salesmen, managers, mechanics, truck drivers, mortician, machinist, nuclear power plant operator, college professors, self-employed home remodeling contractor, you name it.

It is indeed tough to recruit retired railroaders today. Fortunately, Linwood Yard is nearby so there are numerous railroad retirees in the region. Jim

http://nctrans.org
Wrinnbo@aol.com

Just thought I'd mention a funny story along those lines. When I was working at the Steel Plant and bugging the Lake Terminal RR for info and help while we were setting up the L&WV, they asked if we could set some property aside for them to build a hobby steel plant so they could come down and make steel on the weekends!

Personally I can't see a professional railroader involved in our operation but that's just my personal opinion.

lamontdc@adelphia.net

> The N.C.Transportation Museum will hold an
> open recruiting day for
> new Rail Operations volunteers all day
> Saturday, Sept. 20th.

Please let us know how this recruiting day goes. I hate to be a Prophet of Doom, but I'm just a tad skeptical of the success of such an event, based on my own experience. However, if it DOES work please tell us how you did it so we can try it down here!

FWIW, every day at SCRM is a volunteer recruiting day. Just show up, pay your dues to get on the insurance policy, and we'll put you to work doing SOMETHING. There's no "shop time" requirement for getting on the train crew here, either.

(Tomorrow -Saturday- is an open day at SCRM, BTW.)

The South Carolina Railroad Museum
mconrad@compuzone.net