Known by many for making the American Freedom Train of 1976 a reality, Ross Rowland has been involved in the formation of several railroad projects over the past 50 years. Here he reviews his past history, tells us about how John Wayne helped in the formation of the AFT, and what his plans are for the Yellow Ribbon Express!

http://theroundhousepodcast.com/2015/04 ... s-rowland/

Can't wait to listen to this.
Man, how I wish he'd write a book on his experiences getting the golden spike and freedm train tours together...

One of the most enjoyable afternoons I have spent as a train-obsessed creature was in the Lebanon depot circa 1996 listening to Ross' stories of the AFT. In the grand scheme of things, #759's High Iron trips and the AFT set me down a path that continues to this day.

I know, I know, that makes me a fan boy or whatever else. Ya' know what, I don't give a Flying Scotsman!

Life is good. Life with steam is better.

Rob

FWIW...
Nick's podcast is excellent. It covers a wide variety of rail-related subjects, with a special concentration on steam preservation. Recent interviews with Linn Moedinger, Kelly Lynch, Chris Price (of the Talyllyn Railway), (and Ross Rowland) have all been very enjoyable for me as a semi-active volunteer at my railroad museum. The non-preservation topics have been equally enjoyable. Moreover, the production of the podcast is very well done, not "amateurish" which can be prevalent in the podcasting world.

When it comes to getting any story on paper (or the medium of your choice,) now is always the time and today is always the day. It's too easy to put off asking those questions or sending that e-mail or digging through that old box of paper in the attic. Forty years go by before you know it, and the stuff you need to jog your memory isn't always at hand.

Without putting too fine a point on the topic:

In the past week, we've seen one of the "walking encyclopedias" of our one group hospitalized with a heart attack, one now being treated for early stages of cancer, and another, who hasn't been seen much lately, we've learned has been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's.
This lead the one group "leader" to look at the small, frail 90-year-old member and say "Now, this means we need YOU not to go get sick on us or anything!"
He replied, jokingly, "Why are you putting this pressure on ME? What about HIM [pointing at me]??"
Me: "Now, wait a minute...."
Leader: "Oh, I'm not worried about him. He'll go until he's run over by a bus or something..."
Me: "Oh, c'mon, at least make it a STREETCAR...."

Yeah, seriously. Tomorrow never comes.

I enjoyed doing the Podcast and am doing my best to warm up to all the newly available "social media" outlets that now play such an ever increasing role in how we communicate.

I have not yet worked up enough courage to get on Facebook or Twitter or any of the others but I'm guessing I'll have to eventually.

If the new "gadgets" can start to bring more young folks aboard I'm all for it !!!

Thanks, Ross Rowland

Ross,

I would really lean into the facebook idea. people share with others and the word gets around quickly to people who are not into steam trains but are into military stuff, people who love trains but don't subscribe to magazines and also people with money who may have an interest in helping the cause. I think if you want this to kick off and hit the rails you need to jump on the facebook train.

Ross,
It's of course your call as to what you wanna say and what medium you wanna say it with, but I would strongly suggest and endorse writing a book about all your experiences.
Social media, webcasts and such are okay, but they're temporary. The one thing about the internet that everyone forgets is that primarily, it's so popular for the following reasons:
1. Content isn't that hard to create if it's just info (as opposed to flashy production for video and graphics)
2. It's very cheap, as opposed to a written form
But the thing people most need to realize is the temporary nature of all internet content. Providers come and go, hosting can vanish overnight, and the person running the website can simply decide they're done and not pay the bills to the provider anymore.
You can't count on anything you're created online staying there in the long run.
Books, like it or not, are here for the long haul. I promise that if you write a book, people will be reading it a hundred years after we've all passed on. But putting all the effort into the internet, the ocntent likely won't last one more generation.
If you go to the trouble of putting down your story at all, wouldn't you want it to be able to be read long into the future?
It's of course your call, but I just wanted to put that out there.

Neither are very suitable for long form content either, but for releasing snippets that are "of the moment."

When organizations turn their back on creating content for the mothership and rely exclusively on Facebook or social media in general, they miss the bigger picture and ignore the long view.

At minimum, a book, electronic or otherwise, or a dedicated website platform with more enriching content would be preferred. Everything else should act as a feeder and point back to the "mothership."

Consider social media a lot more like the samples at the grocery or outside a restaurant, ideally meant to lure people inside if the product and experience at first glance are intriguing/satisfying.