Hello all,

I've just returned from a business/school-related trip to Washington, D.C. where I spent some of my free time at the Smithsonian. I visited the "America on the Move" exhibit at the National Museum of American History (NMAH), and the Air and Space Museum's new Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles Airport. I thought I would share some observations I made by comparing and contrasting both exhibitions and their potential impact and lessons for us in Railway Preservation.

First, the Hazy Center at Dulles Airport is stunning when you approach. The giant hanger structure is large enough to house most of the Air and Space Museum's collection of large air and space craft such as the Boeing Dash 80, the Enola Gay, and a Concorde. The museum, while not fully finished did contain a good number of displays. On that particular Sunday afternoon, lots of families with young children visited the museum. The facility is first rate, but my only complaint rises from the lack of interpretation with the artifacts on display. The signage just explains the very basics of each aircraft, akin to saying "This is a Spad Biplane," or "This is a Concorde." What I thought lacked from the exhibit was the kind of interpretation that the Smithsonian was noted for. Granted, the aircraft themselves have a certain appeal, but expanded exhibits on how Glenn Curtis used the Langley Flyer (In heavily-modified form) in a patent suit against the Wright Brothers would have made the experience much better.

Back on the National Mall, I hiked down to NMAH to visit the "America on the Move" exhibit. What a contrast! The curators at NMAH did an excellent job with the design and execution of a display plan. Most of the exhibits were in an appropriate setting in order to provide a context. The Washington D.C. streetcar was on a piece of pavement with the conduit strip running down the middle of the tracks, cars were on a section of Route 66 that you could walk on, the Chicago L car was parked next to a recreated L station. Southern 1401 was in a scene that depicted the Salisbury, NC train station. The cab even had toolboxes, and two mannequins who talked about the slow orders out of Salisbury!

My basis for writing this is to point out that I think "America on the Move" is more inductive of the types of displays that Railroad museums need to shoot for. The aircraft at the Air and Space Museum may have some appeal, but I don't think the display of artifacts without discussing context, historical significance, or even operation and usage is a good way to display them, or invoke interest among visitors. I encourage all who are in the Washington D.C. area to visit both museums to see the contrast.


david.wilkins@bardstown.com

David;

What was the attendance like at the NMAH? You mentioned there was good attendance at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, but I wondered how attendance at the NMAH compared.

I agree wholeheartedly with your preception that the NMAH did a better job of intrepreting exhibits based solely on your observations. However, I unfortunately think that the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy center is easily able to get away with a lack of interpretation because both parents and some well-read children are familiar with at least the spacecraft and aircraft such as the Concorde.

Plus, much of the public thinks that aerospace is "cool" anyway. There has been lots of publicity about the woes with the Space Shuttle and the Space Telescope, and about the last flight of the Concord. But outside of the Miami newspapers, there was little reporting on the accident aboard the S.S. Norway; and good but I am not sure great reporting about the launch of the new Queen Mary II.

What was last nation-wide report you saw on railroads that was not an accident? The Challenger's barnstorming trip through South-Central U.S. generated lots of local news as well as rail-related news; but was reported at all by any of the nation-wide news sources?

I think Rail Preservation (along with Marine Preservation) has an uphill challenge in reaching the masses. I think we HAVE to try harder because a growing majority of the public have no frame of reference when it comes to trains, trolleys, and ships/boats. Well done exhibits like the NMAH help the general public to understand the context in which rail transportion occurred; the museums we like to bash as looking like "junkyards" only reinforce the concept that railways are "old hat".

I saw some of the comments posted about "Thomas" below. I can understand the negative aspects that were mentioned; but I also have to point out that churches (and I am sure other non-profits and even for-profits) are realizing that if you don't "hook-em" when they are young, it is much more difficult to connect with them when more exciting things like sports, aerospace, or girls enter the picture. My nine-year-old's interest in trains was certainly sparked by Thomas as well as those "wooden railways"; I am hoping he will retain an interest in it as the other three continue to enter the picture.

I have also heard Trains magazine being criticized for being too general; but when you take "Thomas" and Trains Magazine out of the picture, what is left for the general public? Gone are the days you can take them down to the trainyard; and fewer of the public live close to live tracks (and don't resent it.) Amusement park trains are about it.

If museums are the only places for children to see and understand railroads; then rail-related museums will continue to be challenged in making themselves visible and desirable by the general public. Not only are days when large artifacts were just given to museums disappearing, but so are the generation that remembers running a steam locomotive, working for railroad, or riding passenger trains during the glory days well before Amtrak.

-James Hefner
Hebrews 10:20a

> Hello all,

> I've just returned from a
> business/school-related trip to Washington,
> D.C. where I spent some of my free time at
> the Smithsonian. I visited the "America
> on the Move" exhibit at the National
> Museum of American History (NMAH), and the
> Air and Space Museum's new Steven F.
> Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles Airport. I
> thought I would share some observations I
> made by comparing and contrasting both
> exhibitions and their potential impact and
> lessons for us in Railway Preservation.

> First, the Hazy Center at Dulles Airport is
> stunning when you approach. The giant hanger
> structure is large enough to house most of
> the Air and Space Museum's collection of
> large air and space craft such as the Boeing
> Dash 80, the Enola Gay, and a Concorde. The
> museum, while not fully finished did contain
> a good number of displays. On that
> particular Sunday afternoon, lots of
> families with young children visited the
> museum. The facility is first rate, but my
> only complaint rises from the lack of
> interpretation with the artifacts on
> display. The signage just explains the very
> basics of each aircraft, akin to saying
> "This is a Spad Biplane," or
> "This is a Concorde." What I
> thought lacked from the exhibit was the kind
> of interpretation that the Smithsonian was
> noted for. Granted, the aircraft themselves
> have a certain appeal, but expanded exhibits
> on how Glenn Curtis used the Langley Flyer
> (In heavily-modified form) in a patent suit
> against the Wright Brothers would have made
> the experience much better.

> Back on the National Mall, I hiked down to
> NMAH to visit the "America on the
> Move" exhibit. What a contrast! The
> curators at NMAH did an excellent job with
> the design and execution of a display plan.
> Most of the exhibits were in an appropriate
> setting in order to provide a context. The
> Washington D.C. streetcar was on a piece of
> pavement with the conduit strip running down
> the middle of the tracks, cars were on a
> section of Route 66 that you could walk on,
> the Chicago L car was parked next to a
> recreated L station. Southern 1401 was in a
> scene that depicted the Salisbury, NC train
> station. The cab even had toolboxes, and two
> mannequins who talked about the slow orders
> out of Salisbury!

> My basis for writing this is to point out
> that I think "America on the Move"
> is more inductive of the types of displays
> that Railroad museums need to shoot for. The
> aircraft at the Air and Space Museum may
> have some appeal, but I don't think the
> display of artifacts without discussing
> context, historical significance, or even
> operation and usage is a good way to display
> them, or invoke interest among visitors. I
> encourage all who are in the Washington D.C.
> area to visit both museums to see the
> contrast.


Surviving World Steam Project
james@survivingworldsteam.com

Much of the image problem that railroads have comes from within. Aside from a few UP TV commercials I've seen that basically say "Rah, rah, we're the railroad!, there is not much beyond the occasional accident for the public to see.

The major RRs and the AAR could easily put together TV commercials that explain the relative merits of rail transportation, i.e. fuel efficiency, less highway damage and congestion, less air pollution and so on, but they seldom do. If you told the general public that one 100 car freight train takes 400 trucks off the road and did it using 1/6 the fuel, they would probably listen.

But for all the years I've worked for them, the RRs have rewarded their managers only for cost cutting, regardless of whether it drove away business or not. Positive thinking by managers usually gets them fired, but destroying the infrastructure they oversee or eliminating needed employees will get them a bonus. It's hard to keep people and build a business that way, and the 50% reduction of our nations rail system is living proof.

ryarger@rypn.org

Many moons ago, back in the 9th grade, I did the usual report on what I wanted to do when I graduated from High School. I still had my model railroad layout at that time, and was nuts about trains, so I wanted to work for the railroad.

I remember going to the SP yard in Lafayette, LA; and interviewing one of the employees there. Much to my surprise, he told me that I did NOT want to work for railroad, but should do something else instead.

It was about that time I became friends with someone who was nuts about aerospace; that and doing well on an Engineering Aptitude test lead to my going for a Mechanical Engineering degree after graduation.

I even interviewed with NASA after graduation from college, but I ended up working for an electic utility instead. Being exposed to massive steam equipment, and finding Wes Barris' list of surviving steam locomotives when I first got on the internet re-sparked my interest.

Iron Dave also mentioned the preception of blue collar jobs versus white collar jobs; but the railroads have a lot of ground to gain. There is hope; one of the folks in the shipping department was showing me with pride the ease of requesting and tracking railcar shipments on Union Pacifics website.

The main problem is that we no longer have the romance of the rails working on our behalf. It is now something we have to work to instill in the next generation.

-James Hefner
Hebrews 10:20a

> Much of the image problem that railroads
> have comes from within. Aside from a few UP
> TV commercials I've seen that basically say
> "Rah, rah, we're the railroad!, there
> is not much beyond the occasional accident
> for the public to see.

> The major RRs and the AAR could easily put
> together TV commercials that explain the
> relative merits of rail transportation, i.e.
> fuel efficiency, less highway damage and
> congestion, less air pollution and so on,
> but they seldom do. If you told the general
> public that one 100 car freight train takes
> 400 trucks off the road and did it using 1/6
> the fuel, they would probably listen.

> But for all the years I've worked for them,
> the RRs have rewarded their managers only
> for cost cutting, regardless of whether it
> drove away business or not. Positive
> thinking by managers usually gets them
> fired, but destroying the infrastructure
> they oversee or eliminating needed employees
> will get them a bonus. It's hard to keep
> people and build a business that way, and
> the 50% reduction of our nations rail system
> is living proof.


Surviving World Steam Project
james@survivingworldsteam.com

Don Phillip's review of the NMAH in TRAINS magazine several issues back was instructive. He said, for all the excellent work on this exhibition (which I have not yet seen), the museum-goer is left with the indelible impression that railroad history ends with the Depression.

Then the automobile picks us up, and off we go to Tomorrowland. (And never mind about the sprawl and pollution, let alone the rusting railroads, left in the wake.) The General Motors pavilion, indeed.

Once upon a time, railroads were proud to compete for the spotlight, and took every opportunity to "polish the brass." Now, it seems that they would just as soon be anonymous, far from the public gaze (and scrutiny). Perhaps, in this new era of "homeland insecurity" we'd best not rush to blame them.

But history, and the future, is not well served by the constant refrain of the "disappearin' railroad blues."

jgerlach@trainsofthought.com

> What a coincidence, I returned two weeks ago from DC where the major attractions I visited with my two under-ten year old sons were the new Air and Space Museum and the transportation exihibit on the mall. I agree with the assessment that the mall experience is on a higher level than the Air & Space annex. I was a summer intern at the old Air and Space Museum on the mall ( Not the one opened in 1976, the one before) so I have seen the transition over the years. My father went with us to the Air & Space visit. He has been a Smithsonian Fellow at the Air & Space Museum so it was sort of like having our own tour guide.

My impression is that the new Air & Space Museum is a work in progress. The handout at the door says that they opened while still needing to raise a lot of money (I don't have the article in front of me, but I think its $90 million). Having the facility open, even in incomplete form makes it easier to raise the remaining funds. It is a stunning building with several unique features inlcuding a walkway near the top of the building where you can look out on the ceiling mounted exhibits and down on the rest of the floor displays.

The facility is also unique in that, unlike the immobile 1401, the exhibits at the new faciltiy are designed to be moved around. The reason for the vaulted ceiling is so that cranes can come in and change the exhibits hanging from the ceiling. I suspect there is a continuing debate over what, and how, items are to be displayed. Given some time, and additonal funding, I think they will figure it out and we will see the "rest of the story" presented more as time goes by (and the "Subway" food service will get off the hanger floor to the balcony where it belongs). Future Phases will also see their entire aircraft restoration facility moved to an area attached to the existing building.

One item you didn't mention was the observation tower that looks out on the south end of, and southern approaches to, Dulles Airport I have a picture of my two sons and their grandfather looking straight out the window at a landing 767 which is probably 300 yards away. Now I'm trying to find a place for an observaton tower at TVRM (although the platform at Grand Junction with a direct view of the NS mainline is pretty neat, it can't compare with the view at Dulles).

The entire feel of the transportation exhibit is "different". It seems more intimate and makes you feel more like you are experiencing the exhibits rather than observing them. You actually go into the L car and there is a film showing passengers (and the conductor) at the end of the car, commutng to work, or going shopping). The sound is the train and converstions between the passengers. My sons really felt part of the exhibit. I suspect that the cost for the transportation exhibit was considerably less then Air and Space and there was a heavy emphasis on sponsorships (many auto and truck interests were represented as well as the AAR).

Both facilities are wonderful but they will seem in some ways they were done by two different organizations.

Tim Andrews
Chattanooga, TN



tandrews@researchcouncil.net

>The main problem is that we no longer have
> the romance of the rails working on our
> behalf. It is now something we have to work
> to instill in the next generation.

> -James Hefner
> Hebrews 10:20a

WARNING--- I may wander here. Please feel free to stop reading at any time.

What James says is most definitely the case, but why should it be the rail preservation community alone fighting this battle? The railroads themselves (with VERY few exceptions) have done little to help their own cause. Do they advertise? Very little---maybe a print add in this magazine, a TV add (which very often has little to do with train operation I've found) maybe once a year, and that's it.

What about support of the communities the go through? I know CN has a new program preporting to do this, and other Class ones do as well, but very little is actually done. Railroads, like most coporations, very often see the general public as the enemy, and visa-versa. Why shouldn't they? Most people don't seem to notice rail movement unless it is something that holds them up from getting to where they need to go (grade crossings) or until a tank car spill or some such other calamity, in which case they sue the railroad involved.

Railroads on the other hand receive little direct economic benefit from the "average" joe out there --- the guy who once shipped his LCL packages or rode the train for business purposes has been gone for fifty years. Three generations have now grown up basically without any real direct connection with rail, and worse, a couple generations of rail executives have come up who seem to be taught only to report to stock holders. And lets face it folks---do your kids ask for train sets now, or an X-Box at Christmas? Could it be that kids are inidated with computer gaming commercials, but see nothing rail related at all on TV?

Does this mean all is lost? No. But expecting that people are just going to automically love a steam engine or train passing them is ridiculous now. On the same token, expecting that a rail executive or employee is going to bend over backwards to help us out is ludicrous as well. Look, I'm not the first to say this, but we need IMHO, to start operating like a business, and stop acting like a bunch of wierdos playing trains. We have to start playing hard-ball: get an advertising budget, get known in the community, show how important it is for young guys and gals to know hands-on skills. How do you strike back against the current cut backs in "skills" based curriculums? Cut a deal with your local school district, and start teaching welding, woodshop, etc. AT YOUR FACILITY. Instead of making a pencil holder or a screwdriver, teach a kid how to use a lathe or sander. Show him or her how to MAKE a window, sheathe a boxcar, needle-gun a loco frame.

I'm tired of a lot of hypocrisy going on right now across the board, not just in the rail preservation or railroading fields. We are a "cause-and-effect" society. Many people decry how our educational system is a mess, how our young people no little of how to do things in the "real World", but yet vote down every millage proposal cause it will raise their taxes, or how "young-whippersnappers" won't listen, but yet won't take the time to teach them becuase its "just a waste of time"; who drive away potential volunteers from their organizations by never taking the time to say hello, who sit around and complain what is wrong about their organization or railroads in general instead of showing whats good about it, and then wonder why they have to close their operation down for lack of patronage. These same people often blindly say that railroads hate steam and railfans, and won't take the time to talk to anyone in their organizations, and then proceed to trespass over these same railroads "because its their right".

Most kids that I know or knew learned best from example. If we want kids to get into rail preservation or look at railroading as a career, we have to show them that WE think it is a viable profession, and one that they can make a living in and be PROUD to work for. Why can't we partner with railroads in showing them how railroads can be a good place to work? Operation Lifesaver has shown its usefullness in educating the public on safety issues: why can't we do the same with rail preservation, railhistory jobs?



tjgaffney@phmuseum.org

'Afternoon All...

I haven't been to either of the Smithsonian's new exhibits, a fact I hope to change sometime this year. I'd like elaborate some on Air Museums and the concept of the "disappearing railroad".

I did have the pleasure of visiting the Air Force museum in Dayton Ohio last year and was absolutely blown away. My newfound interest in vintage aircraft has also sparked more than a passing interest in military history and the Air Force museum was not to disappoint to be sure. Most compelling was the WWII exhibit area, not only showcasing planes, but also the stories of the soldiers who flew them. There were artifacts from German POW camps that held American GI's, sunburned mannequins working at a fever pitch to install a temporary runway in the South Pacific and the heartbreaking story of a bomber lost in North Africa, who's crew lived for several days while attempting to walk back to base.

I can honestly say it was the most compelling museum I've ever been to, rail or otherwise. Certainly all museums cannot tell their story on such grand a scale, but each could take a lesson from what I saw in Dayton.

As for the disappearing railroad concept, I'll definitely agree, its not isolated to the new Smithsonian Exhibit. However, to a degree this has been overcome at Steamtown in a film called "Labor Business and Government" which discusses how the railroads have grown, haul more freight today and are a prosperous, thriving industry. True it's only a short video in a forgotten corner of the museum, but for those who take the time to watch it, it does expand the concept of what a railroad is today.

Just my thoughts.

Dave Crosby

bing@epix.net

Was this the Lady be Good, a B-24 (I think) which was found abandoned on the desert about 1959? They found the skeletons of the crew a couple of years later, but what happened to that plane? Is it still out there? There was reportedly still liquid coffee found in one thermos bottle.

"and the heartbreaking story of a bomber lost in North Africa, who's crew lived for several days while attempting to walk back to base"



ryarger@rypn.org

Hello Bob

I'm pretty sure that was the one, although the name of the plane escapes me, the story rings true. I know there were artifacts from the plane on hand (a wheel assembly I believe was the largest IIRC). I'm not sure if the plane was still there or recovered.

Dave Crosby

bing@epix.ne

> But for all the years I've worked for them,
> the RRs have rewarded their managers only
> for cost cutting, regardless of whether it
> drove away business or not.

Bob, you are all too right on this score. I once had a professor (who worked before climbing the ivory tower) who said at the end of a "capstone" course "after all that accounting, the best advice I can give you is beware of those who know the cost of everything and the value of nothing". Unfortunately, this is extant in almost EVERY industry.

Keep in mind however, that this mindset was forced upon the railroads at times. Albro Martin, in his book "Enterprise Denied", details the speeches by nationally known legislators (I think Robert LaFollette was most prominent)about the evils of surplus-now known as "retained earnings"-because "surplus" connoted excess.

It was very good business to attack railroads, since they often had the only way of shipping and had quasi-monopolistic powers and were resented in much the same way Microsoft is today. Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter was among those who made a living litigating against railroads and did quite well both at the bank and in the political arena.

When the railroads tried to innovate-as in the 50's when piggy-back was a nascent concept- the ICC was worrying about the problems of horizontal integration-even as roads were on the verge of insolvency.



superheater@rrmail.com

"Lady Be Good" was a B-24, lost in the desert in Libya. Yes, it was found almost intact, long after WW2 had become a memory. The crew was lost, most of them having died within a short range of the plane. They had survived the ditching, but not the desert. I understand that artifacts were collected from the wreck, but over the years, the plane has been stripped of aluminum and everything else that could be fashioned into a tool, weapon, of tradable item. There may be some hulk left, but nothing restorable or even worth the bucks to collect it.
A really sad, sad, story.


Aurora7@Juno.com

I think most of us need to see what (and how) the AIr Force Museum in Dayton Ohio has changed and really grown up over the years. Unlike either of the Smithsonian A&S museums, this one includes details, context if you will, with each exhibit. Really something all museums should strive to do. They also have really used their space well without being too packed in, but not ridiculous "architect planned" wide open white spaces.

To some degree, I don't think the Smithsonian can, or will, do what the AF Museum people have done. I think it requires a gritty, more down to earth, method that might not within the Smithsonian's basic approach. Just as an example, the AF Museum has a 40&8 Boxcar on european tracks in the WWII area with POW's being loaded by uniformed German soldiers. Imagine that, train car in an airplane museum, but it helps tell the story. Also, uniformed pilots (dummies)are around the planes along with mechanics, etc. Many have sound tracks that allow you to listen in on fairly ordinary conversations. Many airplanes have pieces of "support" equipment parked around them or in the proper place such as generators, trucks, bomb loaders, etc. Some are parked on sand, metal decks, etc. that help explain where they would have been found. It isn't Disneyesque, but it isn't quite a Hollywood set either. Worth a look, by the way admission and parking are both free...

JK

JamesKissinger@hotmail.com

I remember reading about the "Lady Be Good" in a book I have on B-24 Liberators. I searched the web, and sure enough, there is a website for the plane and her crew.

If you click on the link "Believe It Or Not", and scroll down to the bottom of the page, you will see a picture of her remains in the back yard of a police compound in Tobruk, Libya; from the August 2001 issue of Aeroplane Monthly.

A tragic, even spooky story that has taken many strange twists and turns over the decades.

> "Lady Be Good" was a B-24, lost in
> the desert in Libya. Yes, it was found
> almost intact, long after WW2 had become a
> memory. The crew was lost, most of them
> having died within a short range of the
> plane. They had survived the ditching, but
> not the desert. I understand that artifacts
> were collected from the wreck, but over the
> years, the plane has been stripped of
> aluminum and everything else that could be
> fashioned into a tool, weapon, of tradable
> item. There may be some hulk left, but
> nothing restorable or even worth the bucks
> to collect it.
> A really sad, sad, story.


www.ladybegood.com
james@survivingworldsteam.com

Don't forget that they also have the Presidential aircraft display in the hanger annex on the other side of the field. A free shuttle bus runs from the main museum grounds out to the Presidential Annex. One of Eisenhower's VC-121s and Truman's VC-118 are fully interpreted and set up to allow the public aboard the aircraft while keeping wear and tear to a minimum. The VC-118 used by Kennedy and Johnson is displayed at Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona-the largest privately funded air museum in the nation and third largest museum (Air Force is No. 1 and NASM No. 2).

As for the NASM extension at Dulles, it is years away from completion as there are several aircraft still stored at sites around the country. Two aircraft at Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center in Tucson are to eventually be displayed at Dulles. They are N7004U, the fourth production 727-100 and the first 727 to enter commercial service and a P-2 Neptune. To judge the Dulles unit now would be like judging Da Vinci's Mona Lisa when it was half completed.

awalker1829@yahoo.com