What is your museum doing or planning on doing to involve young people to bring some young blood into what seems to be an aging group of members and volunteers?

And the answer shouldn't be along the lines of "Let them sort 6 garbage cans of nuts and bolts taken from the floors of South Louisville Shops when it shut down."

Tom raises a good point. Do any museums do a "youth volunteer drive" or a "youth day" to come work on a project? It seems like doing something pretty basic as fixing up a Fairmount track cart, or a fairly basic woodworking project (fixing up depot benches) followed by a train ride or some other experience would be a good way to get people hooked.

Good topic! I would add another question about policy for members under 18. Does your organization require an adult parent/guardian to be in attendance with an under 18 member? What tasks can or can't they be allowed to do?

I seem to recall the local NRHS Chapter back when didn't allow members under 16, but when you were old enough to join, you didn't have to have a parent with you. I suspect this is one more area where things were different back when.

ETA

We have had several young folks (high school age) involved in our organization over the 8 years I have been involved. One has gone to rail camp.
Our SOP allows 16 years or older to work on train crew in car host position. We have had some 15 years olds allowed by exception when working directly with their parents.

We currently have three high school aged youths working as car hosts. This also gives them the opportunity to observe the brakeman, engineer, & conductor jobs, but they are not allowed to work those positions.

They are also involved with restoration projects on the property.

We also have an annual Boy Scout RR Badge program.

We allow Restoration Team members as young as 14. They assist with disassembly, wood working with hand tools, installation and tightening of bolts, plumbing, painting, track work - pretty much the jobs being done on any particular work day.

The boys also can work in our Archive, cataloging maps, photos, books and artifacts.

Having a parent stay there is not a requirement.

The only job I would not let the boys do is chasing the threads on used bolts and nuts. Not that the job is unsafe or they could not do it correctly. I don't want the moms mad at me for cutting oil getting on the clothes.

Several of the boys repaired a wig-wag that had been damaged many years ago in a traffic accident, using parts from another unit. It is powered up and on display during open-house events.

Our society has a Student Membership at a reduced rate. One of our members hosts a social media site that follows the history and current events of our prototype railroad.


Mike Manson

NWPRRHS

Hear, hear. When I was living at home, Mom made it clear that I was not to dirty the furniture by sitting on anything in my work clothes. First thing to do was shower and change.

TVRM required an adult sponsor who was a member in good standing. The adult sponsor could be a parent or any other member. The main requirement was that the sponsor was responsible for the youth member and had to be present when the youth was working.

Our youth members participated in a variety of different capacities. Some worked as car hosts and sales and some worked in operations under the supervision of qualified trainmen and enginemen. Many of the permanent staff and volunteers there started as youth members.

Towards the end of my time there, we did take on the BSA Railroading Merit Badge. The event that I worked on was a joint camping weekend by three troops from Northern
Alabama. They did the activities over a weekend and stayed overnight on the railroad, pitching camp in a field owned by the railroad at Grand Junction. The depot remained open 24 hours so that the Scouts had access to the facilities-they didn't care to dig latrines and we really didn't want latrines dug either.

When I was 14 I started volunteering at the Minnesota Streetcar Museum, along with my friend from school. George Isaacs really motivated us by giving us small but tangible and visible shop projects, like disassembly or drilling holes. Later we could point to an object and say "we built that".

At that time, the entrance requirement for operators was possession of a drivers license, and we were allowed to start training a few months before the license was issued. So I was an operator at Como-Harriet at age 16. I think I was allowed to flag the crossing before that, too. I put in three full seasons of operation before leaving for college.

I started volunteering with the Bytown Railway Society at 16, once I got my driver's license and could make the trip to Ottawa.

From the start, the guys made it clear that volunteers under 18 couldn't serve on the steam crew, but that the experience leading up to that time would help me join the steam crew when I was old enough.

I worked on all sort of stuff for a couple of years- chipping paint on the CV boom car, greasing cables and helping with hydro tests, etc on the steam wrecking crane... lots of general restoration work. Then, as soon as I was 18, I was invited to join the steam crew which led to plenty of fun with the steam crane and CPR G-5 Pacific 1201.

I've always felt this was a nearly ideal way to bring new blood into the fold and it encouraged my life-long obsession with railway preservation. The fact that there were a number of other volunteers close to my age suggests this was a very successful approach.

Steve Hunter

AMEN. A good friend of mine tried to volunteer as a teen to a pretty well-known museum back in the early 90s. He said they lit up when he asked if he could volunteer, and stated to his face that it'd be great to finally have, "someone who can do the ____ jobs nobody else around here will touch," and even suggested they'd be putting him to use cleaning out the porta-johns permanently. This was within the first 5 minutes of him talking with them. He wasn't quite as naive as some teens and told them, "Thanks, but I want to help out, not be your personal slave" and walked away. He's never even thought of volunteering for any museum ever again from that experience. He said it best that he expected to have to 'work his way up' to the more interesting things, but this bunch made it clear that they wanted someone to do the stuff you couldn't pay anyone to do on a permnanet basis.
And don't give me any of that, "we say stuff like that to scare off the people who wouldn't do any work anyway" nonsense, because I've heard that as well. Telling someone that they're not going to run steam engines their first day is quite different than saying you're going to be a permanent janitor for the volunteers.

IF there is really any credence to this story--i.e. there were witnesses, the tale-relater wasn't exaggerating later, etc.--then that/those senior volunteer(s)/staffer(s) should have been assigned those very "_____ jobs" he was talking about. Permanently.

In contrast, I've taken extra effort to personally thank a young volunteer undertaking exactly such mundane tasks voluntarily, for his willingness to do the "dull" along with the "fun."

The Travel Town Museum in Los Angeles depends a lot on teenagers. A lot of the high schools in our area require community service hours to graduate, and we have actively recruited those for years. Many (probably most) do their hours and never return, but a percentage stay and some of those are now into their 20s.

They help with everything from admin, docent guided tours, clean-up and up to heavy track work and restoration under supervision.

We also have been actively recruiting Eagle Scout candidates to do their Eagle projects at Travel Town, and we currently have about 5 scouts with pending projects.

We also do an annual overnight railroading merit badge program.

Greg

Like every other volunteer organization - treat all volunteer with respect and be friendly with them. Allow then to participate in everything they are old enough to do.

Here at Old Pueblo Trolley, we will take volunteers who are teens as long as they are sponsored by a member in good standing. The sponsor is required to be present whenever the teen volunteer is working. We also will take on teenage workers who are part of a designated high school vocational program. They do anything from woodworking to bodywork. Vocational program participants may operate welding and cutting devices if they have been trained to use them.

The only area where we do not permit teenage volunteers to participate is vehicle operation. They may work as a conductor on a streetcar or motorbus, but they may not operate the vehicle. Due to our operating agreements with the City of Tucson, all streetcar motormen are required to possess at a minimum, a Class B Commercial Driver's License with passenger endorsments and Department of Transportation medical certificate. Previously, the City of Tucson permitted volunteers who did not possess a CDL to obtain one through training provided by Sun Tran. However, we have not had the need to send a volunteer through that training for several years, so we do not know whether they are willing to provide that type of training now.

Young volunteers are great and our only hope for the future. Today, one of our staff participated in a strategic planning and membership seminar put on by the New England Museum Association. One of the bottom line items was that if your membership is mostly over 60, you have serious problems.

The Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad has a written junior volunteer policy. Here are the high-lights:

Parents/guardians sign waiver.

Less than 14 years - must be with parent, grand parent, or guardian at all times.

All other junior volunteers (14 and over) must be directly supervised by parent, grand parent, guardian, manager or specified volunteer at all times. Volunteers can decline at any time to mentor a junior volunteer (reinforces who is responsible).

14 and 15 year olds may be trainman, car host or docent.

16 and 17 year olds may be conductors. They may also train as an engineer, but not on a train carrying passengers.

We have detailed prohibitions and permissions by age group based upon the Maine child labor laws.

Check federal and state child labor laws. Many states prohibit children (less than 18) from working in a boiler room. Is working on a steam locomotive like working in a boiler room? Darned if I know, but check into it. There may be prohibitions on using power tools, working alone at a cash register, etc.

Some states have expressly extended their child labor laws to volunteer service. Some have not. Many states say nothing at all and I would not ask for an opinion.

You do not want to learn about child labor laws after some youngster hurts themselves engaging in an activity prohibited for someone of their tender years. Capiche?

I would suggest joining your state association of non-profits. Most non-profits use volunteers, and the association can provide a wealth of information. Hint: we all have the same problems, and you will feel better finding out it is not just your organization.

Our youngest.

This kid is awesome! Honestly one of the smartest kids I've ever met and one of the hardest workers to help under me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUMQPHt ... e=youtu.be