While I am a member of the NRHS board, this is not intended to be an "official" response from NRHS. That said...

First, a little background. The NRHS was founded something like 76 years ago on a pretty simple model. Get together, ride trains. Each chapter was given one seat on the Board of Directors. Pretty simple. That model broke a long time ago, but was kept in place. The current board is now comprised of 160 members, and no organization can function effectively with a board that size. The new bylaws approved last year are the biggest step into making the NRHS a real 21st Century organization, with a board of 25 members. For the first time, the national officers and the board will be elected by direct ballot from the membership this summer.

Fact checks -- the requirement that every chapter member must be a member of National is not new. This has been in effect ever since I've been a member (I joined in 1982) and was probably in effects when your chapter became a chapter. Nothing new there, as I said. Also, the statement that trips in conjunction with board of directors meetings are not open to the public is also untrue. I have operated two BOD meetings for the Wilmington Chapter and both times our trips were open to the public. The only exception was a doodlebug trip on the Wilmington & Western where, with a capacity of 66, we pretty much filled it (over-filled it) with the directors in attendance. The board activities are generally geared to a smaller crowd, so capacity is often an issue.

Okay, what is NRHS doing for me today? Let's start with the Bulletin. Right now Jeff Smith is running an incredible mix of stories that you simply won't find in the other rail publications. Sure, there are some straight-ahead contemporary features (Howard Ande's grain elevators), but there are also features on how railroads have interacted with the social fabric of the country (Alex Craghead's impressive stations article) or on the future of rail photography and its importance (an article by Jeff Brouws that was presented originally at the Center For Railroad Photography & Art conference). If you are looking for tons of pretty train pictures or are still waiting for the next Bert Pennypacker article on Reading Camelbacks, then the Bulletin probably isn't to your liking right now. But if you want to actually read some challenging articles, give it a try.

Next up, let's get into photographers' rights. The NRHS is the only organization with the clout to put up a good fight for photographers' rights. Retired Metro-North counsel Walter Zullig has written numerous letters and made countless phone calls inquiring on the basis of photography bans, follow-up calls to see why photography guidelines haven't been implemented and calls to see why photographers were illegally harassed. Walter's efforts (alone and working with local ACLU offices) have directly led to the abolition of photo bans in New Jersey, Maryland, Atlanta, and even the Tampa streetcar. When the Bear Mountain Bridge posted "no photography" signs, Walter tried to get other interested parties to join him in protesting (hiking groups and the like) and was met with indifference. So, he challenged the signs alone, and they are now down. Finally, if a photographer has an incident, he can contact Walter and he can guide them down the right path. When I had my incident in New York City, my first call was to Walter who made the phone call to the NYCLU to open the door for my case against the NYPD.

How about the grants program? I believe the grants program has given nearly a half-million dollars to rail preservation projects, all funded through donations (not dues). It takes a large national organization to generate this kind of cash in donations and numerous projects inside and outside NRHS have benefitted. (And for those who gripe that the outside organizations get too much preference, check out this fact -- last year only four grant applications from around 35 were from NRHS chapters. If you don't apply, you don't get considered.)

And then there's RailCamp. Sure, some campers have gone through the program and vanished off the face of the earth. But many others are working at their local tourist railroad or within their chapter -- one has become his chapter's newsletter editor. It's been a great program to help establish the next generation of preservationists, and it's being expanded with a camp in Tacoma next year.

Okay, enough about today. You get the idea. What about the future? For the first time ever the NRHS has a five-year plan and a defined goal. The goal is to become the leader in rail preservation. Now, does that mean they are going to collect thousands of pieces of equipment? No. The hands-on collecting is best left at the chapter level. For what the NRHS is trying to accomplish, the best parallel is the National Trust For Historic Preservation. The National Trust owns no property and does no hands-on preservation; but it has risen the awareness of why preservation is important to the general public. The NRHS will focus on the outward as well -- telling the general public that rail preservation is important and raising awareness. This can only help the local chapters. Right now rail preservation is important in some communities, invisible in others, depending on local efforts. The NRHS will spread the word nationally. Right now the new shift is visible on the NRHS Facebook page, which is focusing on spreading the word of preservation projects around the country as well as presenting some commentary on preservation in general.

There is one important project where the NRHS will get involved in actual preservation. One of the near-term goals is to establish a photo archive where entire collections can be donated. Too many collections are going into the trash or being broken up on eBay. The archive will be a repository where collections can remain intact. The original material will go into a climate-controlled archive while digital versions will be available in a web-based data base, with the material available for use by individuals, historians, publishers, etc., for a nominal fee to fund the archive's functions. This archive serves two purposes -- first, it's needed. No question about that. Second, when applying for grants, having a track record of receiving grants helps. The archive should be somewhat easy to get grants for, since it clearly fills a need and is easy to define a goal. Getting grants for the archive will establish a track record for the NRHS that it can use in the future when applying for grants for more esoteric tasks. (As an aside, the advisory committee on the archive project includes representatives from two major railfan publishers who see a real need for a project like this). This project is coming, and coming fairly soon.

There are still challenges out there. The chapters still feel something of a disconnect to the national organization, and this is being addressed. As NRHS moves ahead in making itself more visible, it will pull the chapters along behind it -- when a local expert is sought on restoring a depot or saving a park engine, it is hoped that the local community will say, "hey, we have a chapter of the NRHS nearby and the NRHS is the leader in rail preservation. Let's contact them." The disconnect is being worked on. Volunteerism is at an all-time low, and opportunities for volunteerism are down on the national front because a lot of work needs specialized skills such as computer programming and software design, so much of the work that needs to be done has to be done by paid professionals; wherever possible, these professionals are being sought on a "paid volunteer" basis where professionals work necessary NRHS work into their schedules at a well-under-market pay rate.

There are other things I am forgetting, but I'd be happy to answer any questions both within this thread and outside. Yes, your membership is important. A lot of the NRHS goals cannot be accomplished without the strength of 14,000 members behind it. Personally, I think what they are doing has been important and I think that now that a plan is in place that gives the NRHS direction for the first time ever that things are only going to get better and important work is going to be accomplished.

I would probably be a lot more impressed with the NRHS effort to become the leader in the railroad preservation field if it had been preceeded by a successful national effort to be the leader in the railroad history field. In four decades around the industry I have yet to be told by any of the people who were central to the most significant changes in railroading during that time that they were contacted or interviewed through the efforts of the national or any of the chapters. It is an opportunity to record history that the NRHS has largely missed. In some cases where there has been an opportunity to document railroad history, it was distorted and mistold by people in the organization to suit their own purposes. A good example was the Richmond Triple Crossing night shot, where a writeup by the local chapter of this non-official event held concurrently with their convention went to great lengths to mention every NRHS officer and committee member as if they had been the planners and workers, and neatly omitted any mention of the team of people who actually made the arrangements, planned the shot, and executed the lighting to make it possible. I am sure some of the people who actively took part that night (JB and MB have passed away) still remember how the local chapter treated them in their "NRHS" version of the event.

Then they wonder why they can't get people to volunteer any more.

PC

PC - Did it ever occur to you that perhaps the NRHS today does not reflect the National organization of 1983 when the Richmond shot was taken? That was nearly 30 years ago. The point of Steve's email is that the NRHS has a plan to become something different. What I (nor any of the other officers) can do is invent a time machine to change all of the actions of previous administrations.

Jeff Smith
Editor, NRHS Bulletin

Yes it does occur to me but the NRHS has to live with their real track record.

PC

Did it ever occur to you that the tendency of the NRHS and its officers to thus characterize the people whose support they desire, is one of the reasons that that support is NOT forthcoming?

Why do railroad publications have to he challenging? I thought the point was to learn something and be entertained? You know, the old diversion from the stresses of life. If I want a challenge, I'll read the Iliad or something. As both a Pennypacker and Reading Camelback fan, I don't even know where to go with that.....obviously not down to my hobby shop for an R&R magazine or to re-up with the Chapter I quit paying into many years ago.

I left the NRHS because the guys I had built a bond with had transitioned into the force leaving me with little left to show up for. I miss my friends very much and it saddens me to see the way things are portrayed today. I personally enjoyed the slide shows. Seems to me that I just don't have much in common with the 21st Century incarnation of the NRHS.

By the way, what makes a Railcamper qualify for "falling off the face of the earth?"

With all due respect, Brother Cook, let's look at the reality: Here you are griping publicly about a slight that happened back before the B40-8 was introduced and about the time the SD50 came out, back when Reagan was serving his first term, before PRR 1361 and N&W 1218 were resurrected, before the GG1's were finally retired, before the Blue Mountain & Reading resurrected 2102 and the PRR E8's, and when Conrail was struggling its way to solvency and railroads were figuring out what to do with deregulation. And an awful lot of your posts here are thinly veiled rants about similar long-term grudges about not being paid to come to give shows and the like, presented as "constructive criticism."

It's exactly this focus on petty personal politics and personality clashes that the entire rail enthusiast movement--the NRHS, museums, and preservationists alike--MUST leave at the door and in the past if it wants to be taken seriously and advance into the 21st century.

I know of another certain well-known individual that left a certain NRHS Chapter because, as he told it, he watched them argue for a half-hour over the color of jackets the excursion crew was to wear on a series of main-line excursions.

Then it wasn't just me and the T Shirts........which means the tree/forest thing was more widespread than I imagined in my worst case scenarios.

OK, we have the present movers and shakers asking us to be open to trying them again after they rebuild the organization into something worth being part of. No objection from my POV, although I'm having a bit of a hard time imagining just what that entity might be. I would encourage a bylaw prohibiting any discussion of clothing at any meeting, however.

dave

Question: Is this being presented as a "requirement," or merely a suggestion or recommendation? I am in any number of organizations where communications is facilitated, but certainly not mandated, via e-mail chains, Facebook, a Yahoo Group, or the like. But sheesh, are we required to subsidize the Post Office or phone company? Lord, how much easier volunteering and volunteer coordination could have been in the 1980s with e-mail!

It's odd--yet a portent of the future--that some of the more successful and active organizations I have seen or worked with have sprung up exclusively from an online presence. There's a homebrew club that's scattered nationwide that trades information exclusively online, and gathers at national conferences of brewing-related events to share homebrews. There's at least one online ham radio club (I'll give you a minute to let the irony sink in).

Many NRHS Chapters are switching to online newsletter transmission by PDF in e-mails. This lowers cost, and in the case of our bulk mail permit it allows our editor to throw a few more exchange newsletters in the mail to continue the discount (need a minimum of 200 to qualify).

With regards to the Chapters voting in members to "keep out the riff-raff," my one chapter still announces applicants and votes on them at the next meeting. I once challenged our Membership Chairman, now 85 years old but still sharp as a tack, if anyone had ever NOT been voted in over the decades he had been in the chapter. "................ no........" I then asked if anyone had ever opposed anyone's membership. "......................................... One time. [Name withheld] objected to [name forgotten] because he said he had sat next to him on a fan trip, and [applicant] talked his ears off!" "But he was still voted in, right?" "Yes, with only one 'nay' vote!" That got a laugh from the meeting's attendance.

So if the NRHS is planning on being the premier organization in Railway Preservation, what are the products and services they plan on providing to the tourist railroads and operating museums that are not already available to them locally from other organizations and individuals? Where is the "value added" that makes it attractive for an already successful preservation operation with a full staff of experienced personnel to invite the NRHS to their property and presumably into their shops and offices?

PC

I'm so glad I quoted Jeff's comment since he has now edited the post to delete that last sentence. I thought it should be preserverd (note the preservation tie-in) for posterity.

Doug Baily -

I'm so glad that you are a moderator on this forum and chose to use your authority to take a biased position and make subtle personal attacks on me. Perhaps I should post your personal email to be about your thought on the NRHS? If I recall it was not very flattering and you made attacks on the NRHS (and me) which were unwarranted. My comments was to illustrate that the industry has a number of people such as you and Preston Cook who are so closed minded that you can't put aside something that happened decades ago and move forward with a different NRHS leadership....I call that ignorance and closed mindedness.

BTW - Isn't there are policy on this forum about signing your posts. I don't believe yours is signed.

Jeff

I would love to see the NRHS transition from withering to growing and thriving. I hope the new organizational model and goals make a difference. There is so much to be done. Steve makes a lot of good points in why someone should be a member.

I would suggest the national leadership can use it's clout to intervene in the looming destruction of the Frisco 0-6-0 in Orlando.

Tom -

That is exactly the type of activity that we envision in the future. If you shoot me a personal email (my email is bulletin@nrhs.com) I'll share with you the strategic positioning of a new preservation focused web site that we are beginning to develop and will be launching in 2012. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.

Unfortunately, the NRHS gets heavily distracted with discussions like the waste of time that has been going on between myself, Mr. Cook and Mr. Bailey. The NRHS has much to overcome to turn our image around but may people can't even open their eyes to the possibility that the NRHS can do so. It is a shame because the industry could move ahead a lot faster, and the NRHS could be a driving forces behind it, if some people can get over themselves and work with us to build a more mature rail preservation field. God knows it is desperately needed.

Jeff

First of all, you may feel free to publish the full content of any PM, email or communication you've ever received from me. I wouldn't be embarrassed in the least to have them read by one and all. Secondly, you're correct about the signature thing. We've never enforced it for anybody that I'm aware of, but I'll cheerfully add mine to any future posts I make.

Secondly, you seem to believe that because I have the ability to moderate this forum (which I have not done at all with relation to this thread) that I should therefore somehow strive to be unbiased? I admit to that failing. I'm human. I have opinions, and those opinions are based upon life experiences, and they do, sometimes appear in what I write.

Thirdly, calling Preston Cook, a gentleman who has contributed prodigiously to preservation and to the body of literature of preservation "closed minded" is somewhat offensive, and perhaps more than a little biased. You can call me anything you like, it won't disturb me, it won't get you "moderated", and it most assuredly won't get you banned.

Have a nice day, and I certainly wish you the very best with your endeavors. I hope you succeed, and in the face of the difficult task ahead of you I certainly admire your fortitude in pursuing it.