I'll submit that it's an issue of new members being turned away, regardless of their age. I'll spare the forum my individual war stories, but I will say that as an eager 16 year old volunteer I gave freely of my time and treasure (and our family truck) to a steam preservation organization. They treated me like dump, and I gradually got tired of being shunned. I left the organization after about 2 years. (Funny, they still don't have their locomotive running...)

Fast forward 20 years to present day. In the course of my personal preservation effort, an SP caboose, I've reached out to folks throughout California and beyond. I've found some groups to be open and gracious- the kind of group I think I'd volunteer for if I lived closer. The other end of the spectrum are the groups that are full of their cliques and look down on anyone outside the 'inner circle'. I've seen these as well.

A lack of fresh volunteer blood has something to do with the overall tone a group has with it's new members. Consider the negative tone that this forum takes from time to time if you think that it just doesn't happen.

There's enough drama and negativity in life to have one's volunteer work include these factors.

Drama and negativity have been a part of most museums as far as I can tell. Only a few seem to have survived this, perhaps due to two factors. First, charismatic leaders who have an optimistic viewpoint. Second, a rather secure base of funding. If the group is scrambling to pay the bills (and failing), or is run by curmudgeons, and especially both, then growth and participation is less likely by new people regardless of age.

Museums could survive just fine if they were supported by a good flow of recent retirees and the first 10 years of their retirement. Youthful volunteers are a bonus and should be encouraged as much as possible.

The problem some places are running into is "good flow."

It's a discussion that has to be had, but is like walking on eggshells while juggling dynamite, because the potential for outright screaming matches (because of political implications) is potent:

As a nation, we are in danger of a seismic sociological shift. Aside from government employees with cushy pensions (and popular opinion is swelling against said pensions, as underfunded as they are), the prospect of taking a retirement at 67 (or whatever), let alone taking an earlier retirement at 55-60 or so, is vanishing by the year. Recent studies and newspaper articles have said that more and more people, whether by choice or due to financial necessity--or even a sincere belief that Social Security will not be there in the US in 30-50 years--are either postponing retirement, planning to, or not even making any retirement plans. They intend to continue working for pay past the "retirement age" that many reading here, and their parents, took for granted.

In short, the potential pool of retiree volunteers will be reduced because of people who either don't want to retire, can't afford to retire, or have never planned for it in the first place. Only time will tell how substantially said pool will shrink, and how much it impacts the ability of museums, etc. to get willing volunteers from the AARP crowd. I would like to think I'm wrong, but the evidence suggests otherwise. Therefore, our industry--like any nonprofit dependent upon volunteerism--will have to plan ahead for this change, just in case.

Your post is brilliant.

My earlier post in reference to "youth" should have been more along the lines of the shift in demographics...especially those related to retirement/age. The average 60 yr old railroad employee...never even worked with steam equipment. The individuals that still exist from the "golden era" are almost all gone or in-active.

While the premise of...retiree volunteers...is a good shot in the arm, it won't cure the problem. Museums must appeal to the social crowd and relate to those in their 20's and 30's. Thomas and The Little Engine that could...those are great at drawing in the cookie cutter family model. But, what about the social crowd...the people that live by their I-Phones, laptops, favorite restaurants, favorite drinks, favorite music? How do you draw in main stream America?

As the older generations pass...the parents of/and the Baby Boomers...you are going to see a massive shift in how our citizens exist and what motivates each individual.

Wouldn't it be great to be able to ride on a museum train to some un-specific destination...to have a Wine & Cheese party with a artist/band/symphony there to entertain? (Yes, I know a SMALL handful do this) Small towns and large cities alike, draw their citizens by having movies/events/entertainment...thinking out of the box. The small town I live in...has a winery...that on Friday nights has a string quartet...everyone shows up with quilts and lawn chairs for a night of music. Everyone feels a sense of community...it's great!

Diversity, excitement, forward thinking, they can all bring new blood. Maybe the question should be asked..."How do we make railroad history relavant to a new generation?"

If your museum is mostly retirees, this becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, as your museum naturally shuns and excludes people with day-jobs. I am such a person.

Anytime somebody calls a meeting, or wants to do a project, "Hey, let's convene Tuesday all day", or "Hey, let's have our meeting at the museum at noon on Wednesday", or "hey, how about meeting at someone's home Monday at 5:30pm" an hour and a half drive in commute traffic from where the job centers are.

Why? Because meeting times are decided by a conspiracy of retirees whose weekends are tied up with family obligations, and museum paid staff who would rather be "on the clock". You can pin them to the wall on the issue, and even get a promise to really aim to schedule museum business on workable days. But the NEXT meeting, they'll run into the same storm of retirees and staff groaning about meeting on a Saturday or Sunday, and they'll schedule it on a weekday "just this one time".

Often those old retirees are the people who built the railway museum from the ground up in their youth (somehow managing to squeeze it in between their day job, and WHOLLY unsympathetic to the new blood coming up who has to do the same.)

That seems to be an old and proud tradition in the industry. Railroad historical groups frequently expect people who have full time jobs to do long round trip drives to support the mid-week events. Then they ask the local folks to cover the stuff on weekends that might have been more practical for the working people who have a longer drive to be able to attend.

You see it over and over.

I think it is an offshoot of the equally old and proud tradition of asking your guest speakers from out of town to do programs in the worst weather of the winter when they have to risk treacherous driving conditions or right in the peak traffic of the summer vacation season.

PC