Maybe, just maybe, the AoS folks are happy to continue along the same path that JJJ established for them. Why in the hell would they want to get involved in any type TV show?

It has already been established that AOS doesn't have unlimited amounts of money. And AOS has said if they had more money they would do more. They are doing the best they can with the resources they have. With what I've seen so far it seems to be nothing short of amazing.

A TV show is just one idea they could look into to acquire addition funds. And it would be a way to be more open to the public without just becoming a museum. On the surface it appears what Jay Leno is doing and what AOS is doing is similar. Just one is cars and the other trains. It might be mutually beneficial if they were to get together and talk. Certainly couldn't hurt. Even if they didn't do a TV show, maybe they could do a youtube channel. You get enough viewers and google starts writing you checks. Jay certainly has the expertise and connections if AOS deemed they wanted to pursue these avenues to further their goals.

I wonder if Leno has even heard of AOS? I only recently heard about it. AOS should call him up, Hey Jay, we heard you were looking into the possibly of getting a steam engine. We should talk. They might find themselves with a "customer" and a new fellow collector.

You don't need a "TV show."

You need a competent videographer (not just someone that has the latest iPhone, though they can do amazing things) and someone (maybe the same person) savvy with online marketing and social media. Maybe an intern from a local school, or even a volunteer. I know a couple qualified folks who can't yet afford to volunteer--need that pesky day job, income, and all that......l.

If you really want the production values and attraction of Jay Leno's Garage, you may have to pay some talent. "You get what you pay for" applies just as much here as it does to rolling stock, mechanical aptitude, etc.

Look at Kelly Lynch and the Fort Wayne guys for a model. (A prototype, not Heidi Klum.)

Actually, we have a very talented videographer on this list who works with public TV in New England.

To answer an earlier question regarding Jay Leno and Steam. He does have at least one (1) operable Stanley Steamer and has visited the Los Angeles Live Steamers track during meet weekends in Griffith Park more than once. This past spring I believe he was offered the throttle of a large 3-3/4" scale Roll Models NG steam locomotive and took the owner up on the offer. Pics were posted on FB.

Rob Gardner

I love the assumption that Leno's TV show apparently makes fist over dollars in cash.

I was a subscriber to his Youtube channel and he clearly just enjoyed it. That it was fun enough and popular enough and he has all the needed people connections to move to the TV screen doesn't mean it's making dollars; I doubt he needs it.

Bob

You don't have to make oodles of cash.

BUT if you're getting a million-plus views on YouTube on anything but a one-off, never-will=happen-again event and you're NOT monetizing it, then you're "doing it wrong."

The numbers involved are painfully not NBC Tonight Show-scale of dollars. But they ARE of the scope to pay for--just to be painfully obvious--a video guy that has a fluid-head tripod and wireless audio mics. More specifically, they're paying for someone who knows production--what to present, how to present, appropriate variety, editing, etc.

This is the delicate dance that "television/video" finds itself in in 2017. Television-scope video production doesn't (necessarily) pay for itself. An amateur with an iPhone might get away with filming a Hollywood blockbuster. But for 99% of the rest, it's in between. Where it falls depends on whether you really do have a compelling story to tell, a competent director and producer, camera-persons that know how to shoot GOOD video, etc.

And how do you get it to pay for itself on Facebook or whatever else? That's where you call in (and maybe pay) someone who knows this field. I drink regularly with folks that make a living doing this. Let's just say they make a hell of a lot more than I do.

I was highly privileged to have had the opportunity to recently participate in one of the Saturday tours of this magnificent private facility. Mr. Corns, Mr. Sposato, and the other professionals in Sugarcreek are extremely gracious in giving up their Saturdays to patiently welcome people into the wonderful creation of their recently-deceased colleague and friend. To them I say thank you for the hospitality.

Now that Mr. Jacobson has passed, the people who worked with him to build the Ohio Central and AOS are focusing on how to move the operation forward in the way that best reflects Mr. Jacobson's sensibilities and wishes. These are the people who knew him the best and who know railroading and steam railroading. I'm very much looking forward to seeing what this intelligent group of professionals comes up with.

For anyone who has not yet been there - get a group together and make the trip. You will not be disappointed. Everything about this deeply personal creation is first class. It is as if you went to sleep and woke up in 1935. The only thing missing compared to the real thing is the large amount of human activity and the dirt - the space is spotlessly clean and well-organized.

Many times on RYPN, when someone posts a "what if" or a "how about this"-type "foamer" dream, people will pile on with the "What's your business plan?" or "Where are you going to run?" or "How are you going to market it?". Mr. Jacobson and his colleagues have truly built a "Field of Dreams" in the middle of the cornfields. Talk about "Build it and they will come". Mr. Jacobson constructed his own personal steam preservationist Holodeck experience and people from all walks of life are banging down the doors to get in. Build a quality experience and they will come.

Scranton Yard ... "making a run st[sic] the title of most irrelevant keyboard warrior on RYPN" - RobertJohnDavis

"Scranton Yard ... "making a run st[sic] the title of most irrelevant keyboard warrior on RYPN" - RobertJohnDavis"


I take it you are wearing this as a badge of honor?

I know. Let's do a TV show along the lines of the BS auto restoration shows where the boss comes in with a derelict from the scrap line and says it has to be ready for a fantrip in a week. Throw in a clown that has to be on camera every 30 seconds doing something silly. That would be believable.
I think JJJ was smart enough to lay out a follow on operation. Leave the work to the people who are hired to do it.

But they don't want you to show up and knock on the doors. It isn't what they are in business to do. Besides, they would run out of railfans in the first couple years - then what?

Many have built it only to find out that they won't come enough to keep the doors open.

I do agree that quality of experience is paramount - but it doesn't mean we don't need a good business plan and commensurate marketing. Remember, if we use our narrow set of values to judge the much greater mass of humans looking for something interesting to do, we are only leading ourselves astray.

Rather than a "museum" (oh, such a loaded term), think of the AOS as an archive, a closed stacks library. Nobody complains about dealing with closed stacks (to preserve the materials), so really, enjoy the tours that are offered and wait and see what develops.

If I am over in that part of the country, I will certainly avail myself to finding a group tour and visit, but otherwise, there are plenty of other things out there also worthy of my visitation if AOS isn't open.

I suspect that the staff there have the burden of the mission and the collection weighing on their minds every day. More a poverty of riches than a wealth of "stuff".

Their challenge will be finding a ongoing mission for the AOS without degrading it's mission over time. I wish them well in that.

Michael Seitz
Missoula MT

I think the underlying frustration some may have with AoSR projects is that sometimes groups may feel like they don't get a chance to preserve a certain piece that they get "outbid" on by AoSR. Or in some cases people might feel like their local railroad history has been "stolen" or raided. Not everything that has ever gone to AoSR has been saved from the scrapper's torch at the last minute. With out a published plan for interpretation and display to the public, some feel like it's basically lost. Engines at AoSR have been brought in from all over the place. It unlikely that someone who may have been historically connected with or interested in a specific locomotive will ever get to see it if they aren't a member of the "railfan" community who also travels a great distance and finds their way into a Saturday only tour group. Someone with a casual or passing interest in trains or railroads won't go to that kind of trouble.

As railroad preservationists, we all like to see pieces get saved and I commend Mr. Jacobson and the team at the AoSR for their efforts to do so.

It is unfortunate that some of the collection consists of pieces which were not in danger of being destroyed and were more appreciated in the communities they served in their working life. With respect to that, it is understandable that people are frustrated or bewildered at the ultimate purpose of the facility.

While I understand these sentiments, I cannot think of one locomotive, except maybe Yreka Western # 19, that Mr. Jacobson acquired that could be described as being better appreciated where it was. Many of his engines were those being de-accessioned by museums, such as BEDT # 13, or Woodward Iron # 41, or otherwise nearly forgotten like Morehead & North Fork # 12, the Army 2-8-0, or the tank engine in the PA park that sought its removal. I think the best course of action is to be patient and see what transpires down the road. The guided tours are a good thing and could be the start of more access to the general public.

John

In some cases, competing bidders for locomotives were scrap companies, working under an alias.
Let's not be naive about AOS Roundhouse. These locomotives will be in restorable condition long after we are serving as ballast material. It might even be in the interest of some private locomotive owners to will their locomotives to AOS for eternal conservation.