That is an excellent example of cooperation between community organizations that can make an educational difference and make rail related museums more mainstream. Community involvement is vital to the future of railroad museums and tourist railroads.

It always seemed to me that there is a significant potential for this kind of cooperation in the presentation and "interpretation" of rail-marine operations among museums in the Northeast, but so far examples of it are few and far between. With Mystic Seaport and other marine museums in the area, and a number of excellent railroad museums, plus lots of communities that were involved in railroad marine activities, and a number of authors and lecturers who have done railroad marine related books, articles and presentations, I thought there might be some potential for shared hosting of displays and lectures.

Unfortunately US industrial history just does not seem to get much attention from the "intellectual elite". But on the other hand the railroad preservation and historical community does not take much notice of what is going on around them either. So far the only "national" organization I have encountered with ties to railroad interests that keeps a comprehensive database of the presentation and display resources available within (and outside of) their membership is the NMRA (National Model Railroad Association). The fact that most NRHS chapters refer to programs and presentations as "entertainment" in their meeting notices kind of sums up the level of respect that the art of presentation gets within railroad historical circles.

We have to think in a broader context-both where subject matter and regions are concerned. There are significant maritime preservation efforts both on the East Coast and the West Coast. As you mention, Mystic Seaport is a logical partner for railroad museums in the New England region. Here in the west, the Bay Area had a good amount of maritime operations related to the SP. Perhaps a connection could be made between the railroad and maritime museums there as well.

Railroads have made major impacts on the sociological development of the United States-some good, some not so good. While they made it easier to move people and goods, they were also the source of many regulations that stemmed from the abuses of the Robber Barons. Sometimes I worry that we emphasize the technological accomplishments of the railroads at the expense of exposing the human side of railroads. Those of us who promote railroad history and preservation need to make certain that we present our most professional images to counteract the images planted in the minds of the "intellectual elite" by organizations such as NRMA and NRHS. While I have the greatest respect for their accomplishments, I fear that the fact that we have not engaged with other organizations and have graying membership has effectively mitigated many of the successes of those organizations, and that some of their efforts such as Rail Camp, divert attention from the real problem.

Alan,

I find this to bee a very interesting subject. But as far as I know, there are only two times that anyone has taken a national look at Rail/Marine Operations.



[i]Where rails Meet The Sea[/i] by Michael Krieger is the book length study of the scene. Both coasts and the fresh water Great Lakes.

Then there is the Rail Marine Information Group [i]The Transfer[/i] is their intermitent newsletter is now out of production for lack of an editor.

Two of our ships at San Francisco Maritime National Park have rail connections. They are the Northwestern Pacific and the Western Pacific Railroads. Come and have a look. We are open year round!

The Park's J Porter Shaw Library was the largest single source for pictures in the Krieger book mentioned above.

Ted Miles

Yes, there have been relatively few attempts at "national" coverage, but there have been many instances where railroad-marine operations have been very well documented on a local or regional basis with books, articles, and presentations. This is particularly true in the New York metro area. A number of authors of railroad marine articles have done presentations for railroad enthusiast and maritime history groups. The Tugboat Enthusiasts Society (TES) welcomes both commercial and railroad marine operations as topics for publication and presentation. Seems to me like this is potentially an area for more cooperation between railroad museums and maritime museums, at least in the regions where railroad marine operations were common.

By the way, this is a very popular subject when an author does a presentation at a public library speakers program. There is a lot of interest in tugboats among the general public, and there are relatively few people who have had comprehensive access to do photography of either railroad or commercial marine operations.