Speaking of the N&W 578, where is she and what is her status? Neat little engine.

Fine and dandy.

But some trolley/streetcar museums are as much, or even more, concerned with preservation and interpretation than with just giving a pretty ride (or at least should be). Baltimore's Streetcar Museum, in particular, is very "Baltimore transit"-centric in part because of its incompatible gauge. Trolleys existed in part to operate in urban environments (yes, I know about the many exceptions and the interurbans). Absent an appropriate setting, a trolley ride through the woods is just a ride through the woods, and you're only varying the means of conveyance. Too many otherwise excellent trolley museums I have seen have totally "dropped the ball" when it comes to putting the trolley in a proper context that modern folks understand--the "why."

The BSM has helped make up for its slightly park-like setting with a display hall lined with dozens of vintage street scenes of streetcars in various Baltimore neighborhoods--it's a rare local visitor that can't find a photo of a location that they live near or pass regularly.

A real shame to hear about OPS #21. I believe this is the same car that the old Eastern Ohio Chapter NRHS (now Akron Railroad Club) had a major role in preserving, under the leadership of founding member Bob Richardson (later of Colo. RR Museum fame). It would be a real shame if this car did not survive after having been saved for over 70 years.

Given the state of the economy, declining middle class, lack of time and interest for volunteering, etc., there are going to have to be some hard and rational decisions made as to which museums are worthy of on-going support amid an increasing scarcity of resources for such activities.

When I talked about "ORM needs to move" I was totally unaware of any internal strife on that question. I just assumed the were happy as a lark in Worthington.


Firstoff, it hasn't demised. They are entitled to the benefit of the doubt, and to our support at the very best. There are things we don't know.

Second, I agree -- every museum should take to heart the lessons that ORM's situation has to teach us.


So do streetcars. Muni PCC #1016, after a lifetime of stopping every block in San Francisco, took one look at the Sacramento Northern mainline and said "This is heaven!"

I won't deny the pastoral scenery is helpful (except for interpreting city streetcars). However that's not what makes it the optimal solution. That, quite simply, is protection. From encroachment, from vandalism. And also, it provides the ample space for an intelligent site plan which includes all the facilities you need to be effective. Parking, MATERIALS YARDS, picnic grove, septic fields etc. It also gives you a big enough space that use of a streetcar or trolley bus makes sense simply for transport.

Why not build the city historic transit experience right in the city? Ask Brooklyn, Detroit, Seattle, Vancouver. Because the nonprofit charity cannot possibly afford to have ironclad control of the necessary real estate, and that makes you dependent on the city, and those have proven to be highly unreliable about supporting transit over other priorities.

When Orange Empire was established in Perris (Southern Calif.), it was out in the "boonies". Over the years, suburban development has built up along one side of the north main line, while the other side has become industrial with some apartments further into town. There's a photo of our Pacific Electric 418 (an IER "Blimp") in Interurbans Special 60 showing the car going through Bellflower in the mid 1950's. This scene can be nearly duplicated on the north main; we even have the right kind of overhead. PE "Hollywood" cars also served this kind of "environment". Our San Francisco Muni car does look a bit out of place, but one morning years ago, when it was the "duty main line car", a fog had settled over the Perris Valley, giving a Bay Area touch to the scene.
When it comes to "bad things" happening to urban heritage electric railway operations, the Seattle Waterfront Trolley is probably the poster child. Haven't heard anything from there lately, but as time goes by, the likelihood of the trams returning to service seems to be fading.

Early-era movies of the Ohio Railway Museum can be seen at the following links.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGjTdd-jjnQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lD2ErS2zovg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLjKMMl32KM

I tried to connect to ORM's website this morning, and have had no luck. Perhaps I have the wrong connection. Anyone have a good one?

Thanks.

Les

Maybe their server is down thanks to the storm?

Steve Hunter
Cardinal, Ontario

Steve -

Maybe. But what I get is a RAILROAD map of Indiana. If the server was down, I would think I would get nothing. But then, what do I know?

Les

LOL, nope, you wouldn't be seeing a map, so we can't blame the storm! I just tried the link I had to their site and got the same result.

Steve

Keep in mind, Ohio Railway Museum has TWO websites. Not sure why.
http://www.ohiorailwaymuseum.org/
http://www.ohiorailwaymuseum.net/

They once had different things on them (factions? Domain ownership?) but now are the same; that's an encouraging sign.

Hmm, two sites, both the same with only the map showing. I wonder if the map is supposed to be a background, behind the text, but for some reason it's in front of any text that may be there.

It makes the site a little hard to use.

Steve

I just looked at the HTML source for both web sites. What is visible is all that is there, when they say "coming soon" that's what they mean.

Looks like this on mine. It looks like the page uses somewhat advanced web features, so you may have those features turned off, or an obsolete browser. I checked it on Camino, Safari and Firefox, two of which are available for Windows.

OK, I'm running Firefox here at home and it comes up fine. The IE we're using at work may be an older version, and all it sees is the map.

I guess this is a lesson to avoid the latest and greatest features in your web sites!

Steve