Just wanted to post a quick thank you to Age of Steam, McKinney Avenue Transit Authority, and Trinity NRHS for hosting an excellent convention for the Association of Railway Museums. I hope to post a full report in the Articles section within a week or two, but here are some highlights:

1. During the seminars, I observed a marked tone of seriousness about the necessity to connect with the larger communities in which we work. Whether it was reaching out through living history presentations that go off the property and out into the community, looking at our facilities as visitors see them, or judiciously adding paid staff to volunteer institutions to ensure that phones get answered and political and fundraising ties are forged, the theme was connect, connect, connect, and make yourself relevant to the stakeholders in the community around you. In the post-9/11 world of rising insurance rates and declining recreational spending, "build it and they will come" or "collect cool stuff and they will come" doesn't cut it if you want to be in business for the long haul.

2. Age of Steam showed us how powerful focus can be in interpretation--their sharp focus on restoring and interpreting their extensive heavyweight passenger car collection, and becoming first of all a museum of passenger rail travel, gives them a clear story to tell the public, one that has proven very persuasive to foundation funders.

3. McKinney gave us a good look at a different kind and philosophy of preservation--operating vintage equiptment in full-scale revenue service, just as the builders intended, instead of preserving individual cars as museum pieces. This is preservation of a transit system as a complete technology and experience. Individual cars in their collection continue to be refurbished, modified, and altered, just as they were by their prior operators. The focus is on the system as a whole--and a very effective reincarnation of an honest-to-goodness urban streetcar line it is.

Thanks to all the organizers for a very good and enlightening time.

eledbetter@rypn.org

Sounds like a good conference. That "connect, connect, connect" theme would make a good editorial for RyPN, and no doubt the other stories would make good articles.

> Just wanted to post a quick thank you to Age
> of Steam, McKinney Avenue Transit Authority,
> and Trinity NRHS for hosting an excellent
> convention for the Association of Railway
> Museums. I hope to post a full report in the
> Articles section within a week or two, but
> here are some highlights:

> 1. During the seminars, I observed a marked
> tone of seriousness about the necessity to
> connect with the larger communities in which
> we work. Whether it was reaching out through
> living history presentations that go off the
> property and out into the community, looking
> at our facilities as visitors see them, or
> judiciously adding paid staff to volunteer
> institutions to ensure that phones get
> answered and political and fundraising ties
> are forged, the theme was connect, connect,
> connect, and make yourself relevant to the
> stakeholders in the community around you. In
> the post-9/11 world of rising insurance
> rates and declining recreational spending,
> "build it and they will come" or
> "collect cool stuff and they will
> come" doesn't cut it if you want to be
> in business for the long haul.

> 2. Age of Steam showed us how powerful focus
> can be in interpretation--their sharp focus
> on restoring and interpreting their
> extensive heavyweight passenger car
> collection, and becoming first of all a
> museum of passenger rail travel, gives them
> a clear story to tell the public, one that
> has proven very persuasive to foundation
> funders.

> 3. McKinney gave us a good look at a
> different kind and philosophy of
> preservation--operating vintage equiptment
> in full-scale revenue service, just as the
> builders intended, instead of preserving
> individual cars as museum pieces. This is
> preservation of a transit system as a
> complete technology and experience.
> Individual cars in their collection continue
> to be refurbished, modified, and altered,
> just as they were by their prior operators.
> The focus is on the system as a whole--and a
> very effective reincarnation of an
> honest-to-goodness urban streetcar line it
> is.

> Thanks to all the organizers for a very good
> and enlightening time.


http://www.newportnet.com/yprhs/infopage.htm
ryarger@rypn.org

> Just wanted to post a quick thank you to Age
> of Steam, McKinney Avenue Transit Authority,
> and Trinity NRHS for hosting an excellent

Make that Trinity Valley Railroad Historical Association--always better to get one's hosts' name right.

eledbetter@rypn.org