Hello, all. Does anyone know of any grants that could/can be used to restore a piece of railroad equipment, in this case a Pullman sleeper?
Any information will be appreciated.

That's like asking what this week's lottery numbers will be...everyone wants to know! :)

Your best bet is to try and tie your project to your specific area's past...then seek out funding sources based on how the restoration will positively impact your local community.

Stephen

With so little funding via grants out there, I seriously doubt that anyone will tell you their source for fear that you will take funding from their project. The biggest single source will be from local donations. Yea, I hate to beg for money with my hand out but that is the truth of the matter. In return they get to have their name posted somewher that says they supported your efforts. The idea is that then people see their name they will buy from them. Just like PBS gets grants from companies. They are not really commercials, they are grantors.

Later!
Mr. Ed

Although they don't give out huge grants, the North American Railway Foundation does give grants.... http://www.narfoundation.org/

There isn't an easy answer...

First there are no national grants for restoration... be it railroad cars buildings, or such... (OK, there are a couple of programs... like Save America's Treasures... If your project is on the National Register for National significance.... and you present it well, and congress funds it this year, and...)

There are a couple of small grants for railroads only... Trains Magazine makes a single grant a year. The NRHS makes annual grants. Both are small... less than $5,000 not what is needed for a car project.

The North American Railway Foundation has been mentioned... they are a source... but you need to show how your project will benefit railroad history... They set the bar high...

There are Enhancement funds in the current Federal Transportation fund act... These are very political... but they are a possible source of funds...

Your state may have preservation grants.... Some like Colorado do.

Then there is just membership based giving.... it generally is the best route... you need to be able to explain your project, what and why... in ways many belt and suspender restoration types or local history society ladies can't....

Grant writing and fund raising are specific skills, which many of us lack...

With the above said, go, ask, if you don't ask no one will give...

Once a year, at the NRHS convention, the award of several thousand dollars worth of grants is announced. Because the 2010 convention is being held relatively early in the year, the deadline for next year's grants will also be earlier, circa April 2010. Funding for these grants comes only from donations made to NRHS (and not from dues)....

For more information, see NRHS.com

Bob H

There are easy answers to this question and more difficult answers. I've been involved in the past in grant preparation for a RR museum and learned a lot from that experience. Yes, there are RR specific grants available from a variety of sources as indicated here already. But there are a greater number of foundations and grant opportunities available that are not directly related to rail preservation. Yes, this may range from obvious ones like Home Depot, but there are many, many smaller foundations available as a source of funds.

What we did at the time was to hire a grant consultant for two months. He provided us with the guidance as to how to run the business side of the museum which is key to grants. He focused on our mission statement and then on the focus of our primary project where we wanted to raise the money. Was it to restore two RR cars? No it was to add handicap access to the train via two cars that needed to be restored. We also changed the focus on the restoration shop to that of education with an apprenticeship program for welders which was supported by a local welding union. Key also was good business practices to include book keeping and budgets. Much of this type of information is required in any grant application. Foundations will also look at your performance. How good are you in accomplishing your goals? How much of the grant money will go to the project rather than paid administrators? What other grant money have you received and how quickly was it used? Many will want to know who is on your board. Need copies of your 990s as well.

There is apparently a data base of foundations that these consultants have access to. We were provided a long list of grant opportunities/foundations then we focused in one three or so.

Key I feel is to get away from thinking like a RR museum and the goal of restoring RR equipment. Most non-RR people really don't give a damn. Think out of the box. Think education. Think handicap access. Think of a community angle. Think of a social/historical angle.

I have to admit I hated putting together the applications. Even a simple one requires a ton of information, most of which requires some degree of creative writing. It is very competitive.

Hope this is helpful,
J.R.

Do you have non-profit status? Most foundations are non-profits, including NARF and the NRHS, and they will only consider applications from other non-profit entities. Yes, it's very competitive...that's why I compared it to the lottery.

Corporate sponsorships. Find some local businesses struggling with negative public image...that you think would benefit from sponsoring (underwriting) the project in return for all of the community "good will" a selfless affiliation such as this will generate -- that's the ticket.

Think WalMart.

Stephen

If you are non-profit, be careful of corporate sponsorship. It may not be an allowed source of income under your corporate non-profit charter. It could be taxed as income or cause you to loose your non-profit status. At least that is what I was told by a tax attorney when we looked at sponshorsip.
J.R.

Ten years ago it was a different story. Today, as long as all the sponsor gets in return is "thanks," there are no tax implications for the non-profit.

The non-profit is prohibited from using comparitive language, such as - our sponsor is the best, the biggest, etc. And no "call to action" is allowed, such as -please visit our sponsor, or please buy our sponsor's products, etc.

There is more to it, but those are the big ones.

Stephen

Thank all of you for your responses. I appreciate your responses and the information.

Well The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad got $350G from uncle Sam to install a GPS narration system in there trains, so maybe if you wanted to install some stupid unnecessary gadget in your car you could get the grant after all that's what's important unlike you know car barns and workshops.

It's not clear if the original poster is a private party or is affiliated with a museum, but as far as I know, if you are a private individual who owns RR equipment for preservation and restoration, you are completely SOL when it comes to having access to any grant money to restore your rolling stock. You will have to finance everything out of your own pocket.

The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad seemd to have this figured out pretty well. We talked about this in another thread. Check out their equipment page and notice that much of the equipment is sponsored.

http://www.cvsr.com/roster.aspx

If you ask around here I know that some of the folks involved are on this board and might be able to give you some thoughts.

If the car has a significant historical tie to the community or state, you might qualify for state historical preservation grants. Old Pueblo Trolley's Historic Motorbus Division funds many of its restoration projects that way. Our collection policy is extremely narrow and requires that (where possible), the vehicle to be acquired have a documented historical tie to the state. Due to the rarity of most of the transit buses, that almost guarantees that the buses are eligible for most state historical preservation grants in Arizona. Our current project is a 1928 Twin Coach from Bisbee, Arizona.

On the railway side, we receive grants from the 2oth Century Electric Railway Foundation and the Marshall Foundation-a local foundation. These help to cover maintenance and restoration efforts. We also get income from selling advertising space on the exterior of the cars. Prime ad space goes for more than $1500 for 6 months on our Belgian tram. That car has the potential to make more than $5000 annually just from ad income. We can command that price due to the fact that our street railway runs down a major downtown street and more than 300,000 people see the car annually.