I agree whole-heartedly with the comment below. We, too, have been a beneficiary of this type of research. Unfortunately, we were fairly passive in the way we acquired items in our collection; if it wasn't donated to us, we often didn't know about it. It wasn't until recently that we actually sought this type of information out.

I'll give an example; CSX recently gave the order to our local dispatcher to send many of the former Port Huron-Sarnia carferry records to Livonia, Michigan for "storage" (we have learned to lovingly call this the "Livonia burning facility"). Through the foresight of a couple of the employees, most of the records from the last years of operation were saved. When many of the former carferry employees found out we were interested in these records, even more materials came out of the woodwork that had ammazingly happened to follow them home. What's the gist here? Most railraod employees I've found are natural horders; and we should all be thankful they are. Their wives, children and others often aren't however, and so what one day may be saved is later lost if we don't keep in contact with these people and make sure we let them know just how valauble things like waybills, duty rosters, and enginehouse ledgers are. Also, timebooks; I can't emphasize this enough. Timebooks are some of the most valuable, IMHO, first-hand documents out there. I have saved whole hoards of them from the dumpster---and ebay consistenly has 30-40 up for sale at any one time. They tell the road, the employee, the pay, the date, what power was used where; as a rail historian can it get any better?

The other issue is that I have found many of us who fight to preserve these items are often at odds against collectors and dealers who don't see the problem with, say, ripping apart a book of waybills and selling them off piece-meal. What IS wrong with that, you ask? The minute the material
is sliced apart, it loses all historical context. The transfer of one car from railroad to railroad tells its own story: how goods went from place to place, what railroads worked with each other on a regular basis, what routes different agents or customers preferred, etc. I argue constantly with a particular local collector/ dealer of railroadiana about this all the time. He has the rare ability to find many of these types of ledgers out, but the effort brings about the destruction of the historical record. I would love to hear if others in the field have run into this issue as well! Any suggestions?

TJ Gaffney

> The way in which this bus was identified
> shows the importance of saving scrapbooks,
> dispatch sheets, and similar ephemeral items
> of transportation history. Working in the
> library of the Museum of Transportation I
> often see interesting items that give us
> insights on the daily workings of
> transportation companies. This shows how
> such items may be of more importance than we
> can possibly imagine. Please be sure that
> your families realize that your collection
> may also be important and make some
> arrangements for its placement at a museum
> or library (ours, for example) where it will
> be available to future researchers.


Port Huron Museum

tjgaffney@phmuseum.org

Bob, I take a wack at that one. Street cars were on their way out for sure. The Depression, and National City Lines all contributed to their loss.
The article in the New electric railway Magazine is must reading.

We have a Key System Bridge Unit painted in their "fruit salad" colors at the Western Railway Museum. And I think the Orange Empire Railway Museum folks have a bus in their colors. it would not surprise me if the Pacific Bus Museum folks have one too.

Ted Miles

ted_miles@nps.gov