Getting younger people involved in railway preservation helps the organization have a future. God knows how many RYPN threads we have had about this but the flip side of the coin is that today younger generation loves sharing everything they do and see to the world, and this sometimes includes things that should stay within the organizations and not be broadcast to the world. It boils down to sometimes people don't think before they post. Even a seemingly harmless video showing the organizations (insert valuable railroad item here) stored collection may not seem to be anything to worry about, but the fact that it shows the items are in a boxcar with a flimsy lock in a less than secure location could get the interest of the wrong kind of people.

I fully agree with this and people should also be careful to what's visible in the background when taking pics or video.

When I did my personal website of my car projects I angled the photo angles so I wouldn't show and advertise what tools, supplies and other stuff I have in my garage. Yes, a few things are visible but for the most part I don't want people to know what I own. I can't afford to replace everything I own at this point in my life if something happened.

Back on track (pun intended!),
Yes, most museums and similar places encourage pics and video......it's free advertising......but becareful of what you include in it, especially when you're part of one and have access to areas and equipment that the railfan, tourist, average person, ect ("outsider") doesn't! Most museums own things that are irreplaceable or out of reach finacially when depending on donations and can't be replaced/repaired easily.......if at all....if something happens.

As an example, CERM is still trying to recover and repair damage from a vandilism incident over a year ago. The funds that they are scraping together to fix the damage could have helped one of thier restoration projects instead.

The internet has changed many things about participation in preservation and events. Nowadays anything you say at a public event could very easily be distributed via the internet. This is one of the reasons why many railroad and industry people are very reluctant to speak to railfan organizations and railroad historical groups nowadays.

PC

I took some pix a couple years ago of a fairly obscure frieght car restoration that I had planned on posting here. I figured it might be some nice publicity ($) for the group. Once I got home and downloaded them, I noticed a nice pile of unsecured original rail in the background of a few of the pix. I thought it might be advertising for criminals and decided to hold the post. Sad say we live in with regard to scrap thieves.

Mike Stillwell
Buena Vista, VA.

True, and many museums, preservation groups, and excursion operators tend to be rather tight-lipped for much the same reason.

A related potential problem (which the aforementioned entities may need to watch for, especially with well-meaning members and/or employees) is information being released directly onto the web without prior approval of said entities. Like it or not, some negotiations (and the agreements which are the result of those negotiations) require a certain degree of confidentiality, and a member or employee who releases information related to the negotiations in question could easily "queer the deal", often without even realizing it. (And yes, I do speak from experience; fortunately, no real harm resulted from my actions AFAIK, but I did get called on the carpet for it, and deservedly so.) Some things need to stay within the organization, and whoever is in charge needs to ensure that everyone who is part of that organization is fully aware of that fact.

The internet is also having an enormous impact on the volunteerism and donations at many groups. Those that have fumbled along on their projects, and haven't used their funds effectively, are increasingly becoming the subject of negative reviews in internet discussions with the result that it is increasingly difficult for them to raise money (and of course the sour economy does not help their situation either).

Meanwhile other groups that do a good job of using the internet to promote their projects and demonstrate their progress have found it to be a very effective communication and fundraising tool. There is a lot for everyone in preservation to learn from the excellent communication efforts generated by ARHS and Tri-State Railway HIstorical Society in their recent F-unit repainting projects. People are still willing to donate to worthwhile causes if you can show them that you are making good use of their contributions. Both of those groups did an outstanding job of displaying their projects and demonstrating their progress.

I would also like to point out the website of the USS SLATER as being an outstanding example of how to effectively use the internet to promote your activity and encourage support. Their "items wanted" postings with nice descriptions of obscure USN hardware are a particularly good feature of their website.

PC

Does anyone really know of any cases where either premature publication of a deal in progress was the primary cause for that deal not happening OR where photo postings were partly to blame for thefts? I tend to think scrap thieves aren't looking online at train buff sites to see where to strike but I wouldn't put it past some of our brethren to help themselves to souvenirs for themselves or resale based on what they see online. I myself decided not to post detailed photos showing some of the appliances on a favorite park engine for that reason just to play it safe.

BTW, the Straight Dope syndicated column recently addressed the question as to whether "loose lips" meaning casual chit-chat ever led to Allied shipping losses during WWII and the answer seems to be no.

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/rea ... -any-ships

Steve

I can personally cite at least four instances on one shortline railroad network where publication of photos showing vintage signs, signals, etc. was followed in VERY short order (days at most) by the unauthorized removal (i.e. theft) of these items from the railroad property.

In another instance, I received authorization from another railroad to remove up to five vintage signs from a just-removed-from-service rail line--one for myself, and the others to be donated to, or sold to raise monies for, another preservation project in that area. The signs were big, requiring a truck and assistance. While I was scouting about for a truck and equipment to remove the signs without killing myself, a website published photos of the signs and highlighted their location. A few days later I got a call from the railroad asking if I had removed all the signs. I hadn't; someone else had.

Consider too the photos that visitors might take and post on the internet.
Best to take whatever precautions possible. Such as making an effort to keep easily stolen items out of general view.
I've seen instances also where a person with inside knowledge has verbally passed this information on to a "buddy" who then manages to spew it all over the web.
Loose lips...
Mark D.

I too know of one event where a planned preservation effort was called off after some loose lips sank the ship.

An organization was going to be allowed to enter a class 1's facility to document some artifacts stored there that were too numerous to preserve, but were able to be documented.

Apparently word got out of the trip, people started talking about wanting to go, word got back to the class 1 and the whole thing got shut down.

And all the artifacts got scrapped where they stood.

I don't know who was doing the talking, but if I ever catch them, I'm gonna wring their neck.