I've been visiting this site for a few months now. I've seen good news and bad. I've seen controversy and co-operation. I've seen questions and answers. One thing that I really haven't seen is talk about the little things that all the various orginazations do. At what level does a project become meaningful?
For example, I just spent three weeks of volunteer time building stairs for exibits. Will the average visitor care? Probably not. Will someone from another museum see it and say 'wow'? Not likely. Will a book ever be written that mentions them? No way. I know this and I still can't help but think that the effort I and others put into building them improved not only the museum, but the whole experience visitors will have.
I am sure many of you are thinking, 'What is this guy going on about?' or 'So what?' or even 'Did I shut down my computer at work? I say to you, I didn't resurrect a long dormant steam engine this time. But I added utility to my museum's displays. I didn't rebuild a one of a kind passenger car this week. But I did do something that needed to be done. I'm happy with that. Is that wrong?
To all of you who do the little things for your various museums and orginazations, I say, keep it up! Know that you are not alone and someone does appreciate what you do. You may not be in the spot light, but hey, you did your part.

Martin N.


nitmo@nwlink.com

You should be proud of everything you do for your organization, in the long run fixing the stairs is as important as fixing the steam engine. I'm the sort of visitor who goes to a museum and says "hey, that wasn't there last time, or look, they painted that building, etc". These little things add up to a positive experience for visitors and in the long run more people coming back, more donations, and more people taking the operation seriously. The next generation is watching; I wouldn't care about all of this if I hadn't had positive experiences with railroads as a kid. My positive experiences have passed into history now, and possibly that is partially because there weren't enough people around to rebuild the stairs or paint the buildings.

Martin, the progress at which musems improve their display items is what people see. People say, wow, now I can climb on that locomotive now that they put stairs next to it, or even if it's a step next to a display case so children can see the items displayed. It gives an impression that it's a first class act, and that said museum is welcoming not just people who are physically fit, but people who can not climb up into the cab without stairs or are too short to see many things. It gives people a chance to see what they could not see before.

J.T.

jtjjtb@aol.com

And wow do those "little things" mount up as time goes on and the overall museum experience improves as a result. Marking exhibits with meaningful and noticable signs so people can see what they are looking at is in the same league. You would be shocked at how many rail museums have nothing like signs and steps. Visitors have to get past the "so what" question and have some idea why this thing is meaningful and worth saving if they are going to want to return. It's not as "sexy" as locomotive restoration and many other tasks but just as important in many respects. It's very satisfying to see people reading signs as they walk around the grounds. It's even more satisfying when they can use them to tell their kids what some of the controls in the cab of the "Big Boy" are by reading them while visiting. Not every visitor will use them but many will. How do your visitors know what your exhibits are, when they were built, where they were used, or what they cost or weigh? If they can't I suggest you have work to do.

Museum of Transportation
rdgoldfede@aol.com

Martin,

Oh, for more volunteers like you--and staff that appreciates the "little things." The little stuff is what makes the big stuff understandable/accessable to the "unwashed masses" so they can understand why we save this stuff. Understanding leads to support, support leads to expansion (if not of the collection, then of the interpretation of the collection, or it's further preservation).
Hurrah for the little things and the people who do them!!!
S'
David D.
(BTW, I'm one of those guys who DOES look at steps, etc. and says, "WOW! cool idea!--and then I steal it to use elsewhere [the idea, not the steps]) Yeah, I know, wierd. . . now where did I put my "dress" pocket protector. . .

djdewey@cncnet.com

Not only do we agree that things like providing stairs and other access to exhibits are important, we might also discuss their design and construction, so that new groups making them don't have to start from scratch. For locomotive cab access, for instance, what is a good design that sits solidly on the ground, but can be easily moved when the engine is. What are the best materials to avoid splinters, rot, rust, etc.. Has anyone ever built handicapped access to a locomotive cab, so that wheelchair-bound visitors can at least look in the window?



ryarger@rypn.org

I did not work alone on these steps!(I should say this quickly so I don't get into trouble.;) ) My partner in the stair building project did much of the leg work getting the matterials and the huge saw to cut through the large sized lumber. We work as a pretty good team and so are able to get the small projects done fairly quickly. We even do small projects that are needed for larger projects to move foreward. It can be frustrating and even mind numbing work. But we do it and things improve a bit more.

Right now my partner is making more durable signs for our rail displays. He has a wealth of knowledge that he loves to share. Its amazing how a 'simple' car can come to life with even a short history made available. And our visitors love it. They now feel like the museum wants them to share in the history of the collection, not just show off a fancy paint job or prove how clever someone is with a saw or welding torch.

The stairs in my example are fairly substatial so they do stand out. But many things we and others do are hidden or subtle. They still enhance and improve our museum. Some of you out there have spent many dirty, hot, uncomfortable hours doing things like laying brick in a firebox or re-tubing a boiler or even replacing leaf-springs on steam locomotives. Those are little things(relatively speaking, of course) that the average person will never see. But when that engine steams by, don't you feel proud of your contribution? I bet you do.

And that is why we do the little things.

Here's to you Rich. May your saw cuts always be straight!

Martin N.



nitmo@nwlink.com

Wow, now that Martin has my head the size of Thomas (just finished one weekend with the little blue guy and one weekend to go) I can talk a little about the stairs Martin and I built. Luckily I was able to find a fairly good supply of old growth, full dimension Douglas Fir 2x15's that had been removed from a large building that was being torn down. The stairs are 2x11 risers with 2x11 treads. We used treated 4x4's for the uprights. One thing we built was a 3 foot by 3 foot landing on the top. This allows the stairs to be set next to a piece of equipment, and it can be set at the end of a car with an end door either running down the tracks or crosswise. The area over the risers we used 2x4 hand rails but on the upper platform we used lag eye bolts in the posts with an upper and lower set of chains on the sides not being used. With the full dimension lumber it takes 6 people to move but they won't fall apart anytime soon.

Initially I had purchased the 2x15's to restore a four wheel side dump car and also a 1,000 gallon fire car built on a four wheel side dump frame. When the stair project came up I was able to purchase some more of this excellent lumber.

To Martin I say THANKS for all the great help and to all the countless un-sung heroes who put their time into those projects the public doesn't see, keep it up !!!

Richard

> I did not work alone on these steps!(I
> should say this quickly so I don't get into
> trouble.;) ) My partner in the stair
> building project did much of the leg work
> getting the matterials and the huge saw to
> cut through the large sized lumber. We work
> as a pretty good team and so are able to get
> the small projects done fairly quickly. We
> even do small projects that are needed for
> larger projects to move foreward. It can be
> frustrating and even mind numbing work. But
> we do it and things improve a bit more.

> Right now my partner is making more durable
> signs for our rail displays. He has a wealth
> of knowledge that he loves to share. Its
> amazing how a 'simple' car can come to life
> with even a short history made available.
> And our visitors love it. They now feel like
> the museum wants them to share in the
> history of the collection, not just show off
> a fancy paint job or prove how clever
> someone is with a saw or welding torch.

> The stairs in my example are fairly
> substatial so they do stand out. But many
> things we and others do are hidden or
> subtle. They still enhance and improve our
> museum. Some of you out there have spent
> many dirty, hot, uncomfortable hours doing
> things like laying brick in a firebox or
> re-tubing a boiler or even replacing
> leaf-springs on steam locomotives. Those are
> little things(relatively speaking, of
> course) that the average person will never
> see. But when that engine steams by, don't
> you feel proud of your contribution? I bet
> you do.

> And that is why we do the little things.

> Here's to you Rich. May your saw cuts always
> be straight!

> Martin N.

At the Museum of Transportation we have a two platforms at the railcar floor level which allows visitors to see into the lit up cars located on the four tracks along the platform. This allows anyone who can't go through the cars on regularly given tours to at least look through the windows. Those in wheel chairs or with other disabilities benefit from this, as well as visitors who can't make the next tour, those with small kids in baby buggys, etc. We have a locomotive on this platform that has no covers over its diesel engine but haven't created a raised level to allow cab viewing as the cab is partly stripped of its fittings. This is a good idea if we ever move something else along it with a cab that is in good condition. Those who have seen FTA GM #103 along this platform will know its engine compartment and cab are lit up. The cab is along the ramp leading up to the platform level, with handrails, and we don't have any view of the interior because of this. You can see the platform at the link.

Museum of Transportation
rdgoldfede@aol.com

You can get an idea of what our signs look like at the link, toward the bottom. This one for the milk tank car tells the story of these cars, and the interior ones identify features and parts. The stairs with handrails allow safe access. There is another sign on the opposite side that goes into when it was built, who owned it, etc. You can see other signs elsewhere on our site, with a close-up of the one for the milk tank car at the bottom of the "visiting us" page.

Museum of Transportation
rdgoldfede@aol.com

Ron:

What's the material and process for making those nice-looking signs ("labels" in strict museum-ese)?

How are they mounted, and do you have to move them around when you change position of a car or loco?

Howard P.

hpincus@mindspring.com

IRM has embarked on a major sign project, since in the past many of our display signs consisted of a few aged type-written pages taped to the windows of a given car. Over the past two years, approximately half to 2/3 of the collection has been "signed" using a standardized display design consisting of a 2'x3' aluminum sheet with vinyl lettering on it. The lettering is color-coded depending on the type of equipment (electrics are blue, steam is black, freight cars red, etc). The signs are mounted in varying ways; most are hung directly from the equipment (generally from grab-irons), which obviously makes it easy to keep the signs with the cars.

Frank Hicks

frank@gats.com

At Orange Empire we have signs mounted to the cars. These signs are ink-jet printed on 11"x17" paper and then laminated in mylar. On a wood sided car these can be tacked to the car side or hung from grab irons, etc. For metal sided cars thin magnets are encased behind the paper so that these can be applied and removed just like magetic signs seen on motor vehicles.

These signs are can include any graphic that you can insert into a word processing program. Font size is about 1/2" high, if I recall corectly. Also we have made up some explaining that the car is under restoration.

Brian Norden

bnorden49@earthlink.net

Signs at MOT are mostly mounted on aluminum, with most sized like the ones at IRM, and a few are larger. Smaller ones are used inside the cabooses, milk car, on the "cut-away" diesel, etc. The black lettering is on a yellow plastic backing and is made as part of the backing, not seperate ones that will come off in the sun. I understand that we inspired IRM to follow our lead. We removed smaller black plastic ones with white lettering that were so small that many visitors never noticed them at all. These were attached right to the exhibit, and they often blended right in, becoming invisible. Most of our signs are on posts where they can be a few feet from the item, as long as it is not one we can easily move. Others are attached to the handrails, steps on the side, or elsewhere just as long as it causes no damage to the exhibit. I don't recommend ink jet printed and laminated signs as the sun will slowly fade these and they have to be replaced at frequent intervals. Our signs only need some polishing with car wax a few times a year and have lasted five years with no need for replacement so far, except where we ran into them with a forklift or something. We have paid about $100 each for the larger ones, and the post costs $10 in addition, with smaller ones about $20 each. It is a considerable investment but one that has paid great dividends in visitor satisfaction. They also need a "sign wrangler" to pay attention to them as exhibits have to be moved and the signs adjusted, moved from one side to the other, etc. Scroll well down on the link to see an example.

Museum of Transportation
rdgoldfede@aol.com

I assume the mylar lamination is heavier than the regular stuff used in office supply stores - we've found that to be temporary at best. What is your source of lamination?

Dick