You're hitting on a couple of points here I'd like to comment on.

1) Not every railroad museum needs to be the equal of Colonial Williamsburg to be successful. You need nearly infinite resources to put on the kind of totally immersive experience being described, something hard to come by in volunteer organizations.

2) You need to make your displays relevant to your audience. I am in full agreement that a museum staffed by, programmed by, and marketed to railfans will flounder and fail. That is not to say you need to ignore your railfan audience, but they can fill in the blanks better than a "general public" visitor. You need to make your museum relateable to everyday people. "Refrigerator cars made it possible for perishibles to be shipped across the country without spoiling, opening up markets across the country and around the world. Refrigerator cars are still used to move goods to market today."

3) Again, going back to my three basic groups (Collection, Display, or Active), success can be measured in different ways. As stewards of a collection (of papers or artifacts or equipment), success could be simply, "Nothing has further deteriorated." If you're in charge of the town caboose that's open on Sundays, success could be simply, "We got 25 visitors today, some of them made donations for the upkeep of the caboose." If you're an active group, there's many metrics of success, such as, "We got 1,200 more visitors this month than last, we got two new volunteers, and our restoration project is under budget."

-otto-

I think it is important that we don't muddy the waters by confusing "success" with being "successful."

Having multiple successes can lead to being successful, however, this is not necessarily true. In the collection you mention in your examples, you have measured success as 'nothing further has deteriorated'. However, if this collection is not shared (outreach), properly displayed (exhibited), or made relevant (programming) I do not believe that it's preservation and sustainability are truly secured. Over the years, many museums amassed large collections with a similar attitude only to find themselves burdened with increasing upkeep responsibilities and a dwindling volunteer pool. We now understand the consequences of these actions.

When faced with supporting such organizations, I cannot help but think that funders, with a limited budget for support, would shy away from funding such organizations, favoring those instead who have successful outreach, exhibits, and programming.

Otto, aside from the aforementioned example, I agree with points- they are very good. While each museum can and should look different, depending on their circumstances, there are certain metrics of success (outreach, exhibits, programming) which in my opinion must be accounted for to be considered successful. They can look different- but they must be addressed.

Stephen

Stephen, I think you're talking about "goals" that could lead to "success." The example of a collection is that their base activity is to preserve what they have and don't let it deteriorate further. The example of a display is that the presentation is neat and attracts visitors. The example of an active group has many different levels of success, and perhaps their base activity is, "Hey, we were open another day and no one got hurt."

The GOAL of a collection could be to share or allow public access. Perhaps this brings you to the next level from collection to display. If your items (whether they be photos, papers, artifacts, or trains) are on display (either on your property or somewhere else), you're sharing information, you're allowing public access, you're giving some life and reason to what was otherwise a collection in storage. If display goes well, perhaps you take the next step and go active, perhaps turning those displays of equipment into a train ride, or producing a traveling museum exhibition from your collection of photographs, etc.

Going back to my original point, you need to be successful at your basic mission before attempting to take your organization to the next level. Say there's a collection of trains rotting in a field somewhere. They are deteriorating. The first step to "success" would be to stabilize that collection and prevent further deterioration. Once the collection is stabilized, then you might consider going to the next levels of display and activity.

-otto-

FURTHERMORE, there is nothing wrong with having modest goals. Perhaps you're in charge of the town caboose display. Darnit, make it the best town caboose display you can! You don't need to be a huge operation to entertain and educate. I think we fall into the trap "bigger is better" and this isn't always the case.

-otto-

Indeed I am- yet somehow the word eluded me! Otto is right on in saying the goals relate to how a museum accomplishes outreach, programming, and exhibitions. (There are probably other parts that I have missed as well) Proper orientation with these goals leads to success which leads to the products of success (good finances, good attendance (relative to location), and the active increase and diffusion of knowledge)

Otto, I think you have also struck a chord with me regarding how many of our organizations are structured. Most 'formal' museums do not open to the public until they are finished. Railway museums, being volunteer run, are often works in progress. I think a challenge that many museums face is when it is time to move away from that base activity (making sure equipment is secured and preserved) and moving on to those goals we've discussed.

I'd certainly be interested in hearing from people who are part of organizations that have undergone this shift, what it looked like, and how it took place.

Stephen

Dave, I was catching up on some details I missed here and I believe your point is key!

In the other thread Jim Lundquist provided a standard definition for what a museum is, which is quite helpful. This along with the ATRRM guidelines you mentioned would probably suffice instead of the 'overarching mission' I mentioned. We should probably be cognizant of the fact that the definition of what a museum is (outside of the very traditional sense) in a constant state of flux. Consider, for example, that museums might not have permanent collections or any collection at all.

Consider the following articles:
Collection=Museum?
http://icom.museum/fileadmin/user_upload/pdf/ICOM_News/2004-2/ENG/p4_2004-2.pdf

I would strongly recommend the following:
'What, if Anything, Is a Museum?' Eugene Dillenberg, Spring 2011, The Exhibitionist
http://name-aam.org/uploads/downloadables/EXH.spg_11/5%20EXH_spg11_What,%20if%20Anything,%20Is%20a%20Museum__Dillenburg.pdf

Stephen

Here's a concept I learned at my 50th college reunion earlier this month which I think has some relevance here. The college is considering giving up teaching traditional courses in foreign languages and is instead considering teaching courses in foreign CULTURES, (of which language would be a part). So, a student would take French CULTURE, for instance, and would learn a lot more about French history, government, way of life, the values held by its people, and so on, than they would learn if they just learned the language, which is much narrower in scope.

In the same vein, if we take the viewpoint that we are interpreting the all-inclusive CULTURE of the railroad, and not just the hardware, it might be worth thinking about. (I'm not discounting the importance of the hardware, though). In other words, put more of a human spin on our interpretation. There are all kinds of subject areas there, and many have already been treated in books and museums. Things that come to mind are working conditions: starting at age 14 or younger as an engine wiper and working 60+ years for the railroad, (how many people do that any more), working at all hours of the day and night on 16 hour shifts, living in RR bunkhouses or assigned cabooses, a lot of the time away from home). Other subjects are other types of RR jobs and their functions, blacks in railroading, women in railroading, how the RRs supported the war effort and how some RR workers were exempt from the draft, etc., etc.

I think younger people may be more interested in the personal side of life in the "golden age" of steam and passenger service, since they can't look back on personal experiences with it like some of us can. We look at the hardware and that brings back memories for us, but the young people have no memories to bring back when they look at the hardware. For them the hardware needs to be interpreted regarding what its function was and how people made it perform that function, and what benefit was derived from it for customers of the RR and for the general public. Otto's comment above about reefers and how they enabled fresh produce to be consumed over long distances is a good example.

I can think of three examples, and they happen to be in Ohio.

- Midwest Railway Preservation Society in Cleveland. I just learned about this group a couple years ago. They have a roundhouse and an impressive collection of equipment. I toured it once because I knew a friend of a friend. Not really set up for regular visitors, though I hear they have an occasional open house. I saw a lot of potential here, despite the location at the edge of the city in a heavy industrial area.

- Northern Ohio Railroad Museum in Medina - looks like an impressive collection of traction, and it appears that they have just started opening their doors to the public. No overhead wires yet strung, but it looks like they occasionally tow around some of the cars with a diesel. Not a bad way to start.

- The Cincinnati Railway Museum in Covington, Ky. - I just learned about this place last week. Apparently they have a large collection of equipment. Their web site describes a "self-guided tour" which I imagine involves walking through their yard and seeing what they have to offer. From photos, pieces are in various states of repair.

I don't talk about these examples to put them down, but they do bring up the point that you don't need to be at Museum Preparedness Level: SMITHSONIAN to be open to the public. You could be a COLLECTION that takes steps towards DISPLAY on your way to being ACTIVE. I think the three groups I mentioned above are taking steps towards future goals to increase their chances of success.

At the heart of the matter, success equals survival.

-otto-

At National Capital Trolley Museum, we morphed over a period of about 20 years. The first step was creation of a planning committee which in turn created a General Plan for Determining Facilities. A second step was hiring our first paid staff in the position of a part-time director of education. Meanwhile we completed several steps in the Museum Assessment Program offered at the time by the federal Institute of Museum Services. Then we developed a strategic plan. Finally, we re-wrote the bylaws to eliminate an archaic shareholder based system of voting, replaced by a board of trustees that is made up of a combination of museum members and community leaders.

With all of this in place, when the highway project came along in 2007, we were in a position to act quickly and relocate the facilities. The facility project was completed in about three years from final agreement with the State of Maryland to moving the collections into the new facilities. We also managed our way through the fire in 2003.

Wesley

Thanks Wesley for your feedback on how your museum underwent that cultural shift. Thanks also to Otto for those great examples and to Geoff for thoughts on a more 'holistic' approach.

While museums do not need to be completely absolutely complete before welcoming public visitors , it is good to have a strong outward-looking attitude which contemplates how a museum can reach those who visit it. Having just one complete exhibit and perhaps another in progress would be reason for people to visit or visit again.

I believe it may also be important to prioritize activities, decisions, and spending based on both the needs of the public and the collection, trying not to favor one over the other for any extended period of time.

Stephen

You can be a museum of work in progress interpreting the skills and practices involved in restoration, conservation, etc and morph into the interpretation of your chosen bit of cultural history as you progress beyond the restoration / conservation phase. Sometimes - in fact, often - the process is as interesting than the result.

Otto, it isn't about ignoring railfans - they will show up anyhow, so working to attract them moves resources away from building a bigger congregation to preaching to the choir.

I think we also need to ask the question 'who is a railfan?' And 'what is a railfan ?' When we were children, we were probably hard pressed to find another of our peers that didn't derive some interest in watching, riding, or learning about trains. Where are all of those people now? While perhaps not as passionate about railway preservation as we are, it seems there must be an awful lot of 'latent railfans' around. How do you reach them ?

I think that when we are thinking about railfans we are talking about a very specific audience. I think, at times, we could give visitors more interesting and in depth information that would be of value. Too often though, we focus too much on the provenance of an artifact rather than the stories surrounding it, how it was made, how it was used, and why it was useful.

The fact, for example, that a given locomotive may have worn 7 different road numbers is of limited interest to a select few railfans. Telling the story of why the locomotive may have had those different numbers is more interesting. Expanding the depth and breadth of what we look at and not assuming all 'railfans' are after the same thing may go a long way.

Stephen

Folks,
i just finished givingg a car Narn tour yesterday afternoon. Walking back to the Visitor's Center i saw a family pushing their grandmotheer around in a wheel chair.
Knowing that we spent a lot of money to make our Car Barn 3 ADA compliant; I asked the leader of the group if they would like to roll down to see the barn.

Showing them around only delayed my lunch for a while and they had a good time!

Things like that is what makes a museum successful! And it only takes a little extra effort.

Ted66

ted66,

Your post made me think of what I believe makes RR museums successful: Dedicated volunteers like yourself, willing to go the extra mile, put in the extra hours, ect. to make the visitor experience that much better.

The visitors are what make the museum successful, and the volunteer is what makes the visitors' experience successful. If you have dedicated volunteers, the rest will surely follow.

Stephen, regarding this paragraph of yours:



This makes me think, there are a lot of baby boomers who have just retired with, presumably, less to do. If they could be reached, they could be a significant number of visitors and/or volunteers. Perhaps through AARP (and CARP in Canada). I think they have local chapters; maybe they would be open to hosting presentations by RR museums at their meetings. Also, their website says they have info on places for people to volunteer.