We are starting to experience industrial history as economic development / tourism, but not on the scale of recognition enjoyed by house museums, for example. I don't know if it is cultural, ingrained esthetics, ignorance, or a feeling of shame by succeeding generations to the harsh realities which were daily working life for our forefathers.
Steamtown and Cass are both economic development projects, but they have very different personalities. Many of us experienced TRAIN conventions at both venues. Perhaps the difference between federal and state bureaucratic weight, or the urban VS rural character of the sites was paramount....or just the individuals involved.
Cass doesn't seem to take its primary identity as a museum to the extent that Steamtown does. Their operating program seems much more vital, but less authentic in detail. Getting to Scranton is easy compared to finding Cass. Riding a day trip behind steam working hard is easy at Cass but not as easy in Scranton.
First class shop work is being done at both, although the Scranton facilities are much larger and more complete. I don't know how staff size or productivity compares, but it would be interesting to find out.
Do we expect more from Steamtown in terms of "professional standards" than from Cass? Perhaps some dissatisfaction with Steamtown in the industry may stem from their relatively high expressed mission / standards VS our experienced product as visitors? Should Steamtown reconsider their focus and be a less abashed tourist railroad given the compromises inherent in the intrusion of an outlet mall, reconstructed structures, etc? Could interpretation be enhanced by focussing on providing a vital operating experience even if it forces academic and professional curatorial standards into a relatively subservient position?
Would the opposite be true at Cass? How about CATS? East Broad Top?
There are good guys doing good work at all these places. As Mr Rowlands suggests, in the private sector it is easier to define and control the mission, personality, and execution of programming than in the public sector. It isn't as easy to find the resources to operate a huge entity, however, unless one has public funding.
Public / private partnerships can either provide opportunities to find the best of both worlds (Georgetown Loop a decade ago, CATS now) or create a disfunctional quagmire of conflicting business philosophies wherein not much can get done(Georgetown Loop at present, CATS a few years back). Some public money comes tied up with so many knots unravelling them can make a project untenable for private sector entities (LIRR 39).
Since the USA is culturally unlike most other countries, perhaps our best models can be created through considering and comparing the positive and negative aspects of our own players rather than just wishing our public were as historically conscious and supportive as the British.
dave
irondave@bellsouth.net
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