Some may have seen my post about the C&O Lexington Subdivision earlier in time, and in that thread contains a post about me wanting to create a Railroad Historical Society in Olive Hill, KY - a very (former) important railroad town here in Carter County.

I still plan on doing this, but being 16 and busy with school and other things I have had little time to actually figure what I really need to do to make it happen. I know some people here are from actual RR Historical Societies and I would like information on how to get one started from scratch. I also have no idea what local interest would be, would contacting the local newspaper be a good idea to try and reach out and find possible supporters before or after starting the RR Historical Society.

Thanks much,

Local newspapers are often interested in historical items, especially if the paper has been there since the days of wire services sending news on real telegraph wires. Do you have a collection of artifacts from the old days of local railroading? If you can arrange them in an attractive display (maybe with help from someone with artistic talent if that's not one of your strong points), this would be a subject for a photo to go with the article. It would be a good idea to include a way for interested parties to contact you, once the article appears--phone number, e-mail, Facebook, etc. If you or someone you know has video productions skills, a YouTube post might help. Good luck!

Perhaps the simplest way to test the waters for you would be to create a local railroad history group on "meetup.com". I think it costs about $35 to create and have a group on there for six months. I realize that's not free, but it's not an unreasonable amount of money to see if there is any local interest in what you want to do. You also will get a broader age distribution of potential members than you will in the traditional enthusiast community. The major downside of "meetup" is that it's easy for people to "join" your group and then never have anything else to do with it, but it would reach a large number of people who might have an interest in railroad history.

Another suggestion - make contact with the local county historical society if one exists.
Maybe it would be easier to begin as a special interest group within it rather than doing all the initial work yourself.

In any case the railroad is an important part of your area's history and the local history buffs should be interested even if railroads are not their passion.

Cory, if you decide at some point that your group wishes to incorporate and become a 501c3 tax-exempt organization, please contact me and I'll be happy to help you by providing a list of the steps your group will need to accomplish with the various bureaucratic/governmental agencies both local, state and federal (i.e., the IRS). I also have samples of various documents, policies, etc., that your group will need if you go the incorporation route. Your group will need to do all of the requirements if you think your group wants to accept charitable donations of either money or materiel with the donor getting to claim the donation on their annual tax return.

I do caution you that the requirements are extensive and require someone with good administrative skills. It's not terribly difficult just time consuming.

If you're interested in pursuing this, send me a PM and we can link-up off-line.

Thanks!

Thanks for all the suggestion, I will take a closer look at them when I get home this evening.

Thanks,

As mentioned in an adjacent trhead, if you are truly serious, then I would suggest obtaining a membership in the Association of Tourist Railroads and Railway Museums (ATRRM).

Mike

Another possibility would be to form an NRHS Chapter -- starting point would be

NRHS.com

which gives links to web pages for approximately 160 NRHS Chapters in the US, Canada, Japan and Great Britain.

Bob H

Have fun.
Don't take yourself too seriously, It turns people away.
Be social and have fun.
As you get a few people together, take some pictures.
Contact the local media, inform them of your group and purpose.
Ask through the media for anyone with photos, stories,
personal or relative connections, to share what they have.
Let people know what activities, gatherings, with regular
feeds to the local media. You want to be the topic of
barber shop and beauty parlor conversation.
Did I mention, Be Social and Have Fun ?