This, as we have seen many times before, is the downside of both active government involvement in rail preservation and the general trend of museums being seen as a governmental responsibility and collective mission: "I can..." or "We could..." becomes perverted into "Thou shalt..." or "You must..." Without trying to get into a political screed here, this is the very crux of the ever-widening gulf and fight in the United States and elsewhere between progressive collectivism and conservative individualism.

In my town, I can tell you that the B&O Railroad Museum and the Baltimore Streetcar Museum suffer mightily from a popular perception among local citizens that both institutions are run and paid for by the City of Baltimore. This has nothing to do with anything either institution actually does, but the popular perception in urban areas that "the government" does everything, or at least everything related to transportation above the ownership of a car......... (And, true, the fact that the BSM has an almost exclusively Baltimore collection running on what is technically city property would lead one to that conclusion about the BSM, but....)

I was just talking to a friend tonight about the very same subject. An effort in the Pittsburgh area to preserve a blast furnace plant has been broadcasting to the public that their intention is for the National Park Service to take over the site, ala Steamtown. Aside from the fact that the likelihood of a "Steamtown for Steel" happening is practically nil in this political environment, communicating this desire as an untimate goal actually may turn off potential contributors, at a time when those private contributions are sorely needed.

This is not a good time for anyone to be touting their organization's relationship with any form of government. The country is broke, people are pissed, and anything that the public can grasp onto as an example of government mismanagement of money is going to be exploited.