By this coming Fall (2020), I'm hopeful a nearly 75-year-old miniature railway will be in service again.
The quiet beginning to this "one off" line, built from imagination and passion does not generate revenue.
At best, it spurs curiosity, a few smiles, and challenges one's ability to understand how things work.

Among the rolling stock, one of the three gondola cars has never seen any paint other than its original coating of zinc chromate
applied sometime between the late 1950's or very early '60s.

I've been thinking about what to do with this car's visual appearance. Back in the '90s, the idea of making it a graffiti car was considered.
The riveted aluminum gondola could easily be lettered with any number of traditional rail-lines and the objective would be solved.

A thought has recently occurred to me that maybe the car could serve as a rolling billboard on a particular subject matter.

Railway Preservation.

If there is Pizza Pizza; at one time Mister Goodwrench, "We'll pick you up", and listening for a pin drop represented something,
the General Electric logo in my mind remains a very long running instrument of visual meaning.
In recent years, the color Pink has come to represent awareness to breast cancer as another example.
The pink color alone serves its mission with great results without requiring any words for further explanation.

Is there any marketing, or visual representation... (a logo) or one liner anywhere that serves as the slogan that best represents Railway Preservation?

If not.... Is it out-of-line to even try and consider what such a visual message or logo symbol would even be?

My first thought is simply, "Railway Preservation" lettered in classic roman gothic gold letters from one end of the car to other.

Thank you ahead-of-time for any perspective the group can provide on a question that may not be easily crafted into a single [one size fits all] answer.

John

The Three Stooges meet the Marx Brothers and Abbot and Costello.

Atkinson_Railroad:

I'm not sure about a single image John, but I think we could do much better getting the message out there. Here's a thought; the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) issues commemoratives on a regular basis. How about a block of four with the following theme: One stamp showing a steam locomotive being scrapped (torched) while the other three show locomotives that have been restored. If that is successful (purchased by the public), the same thing with electrics. And if that's successful, the same thing with depots. Cabooses; passenger cars; signals; freight cars; etc. The idea is ongoing, and could spread out over the years. We need to solicit the USPS to the possibility. I know there's a way to do it. The industry though, has to get behind it.

Les

Okay, we're getting a few people thinking. That's a good thing.

I wish I had the accomplished "word-smith" skills this crowd tends to expect.

Long, drawn out essays are a thing of the past. No one has time to read your great thinking.

Sound bites, one liners, and images are what's happening.

What best represents Railway Preservation?

The dog bit the man. Man bites the dog.

Dog bites Man.

Dog bite. Man bite.

There must be some way of saying Railway Preservation in a way that bites.

That's what I'd love to put on my railroad car. I'd bet you'd put it on your's too if you knew what it was.

What is it?

I know it's painful... spend a little bit of time and think.

John

See something? Say something.

Safety First.

Save Our Ship

May Day

Don't Scrap it, Save it.

Rail-Way Pres-er-va-tion

Go Stop

Run

BR 549

Save the Date

"...the sound of a horn?"

I'm wondering if there is a savvy way of scrolling the entire website for the most
often referred word/ term, or image used here?

Rust?

Found

Lost

A headlight? A bell?

Actions speak louder than words.

"Click it, or Ticket" comes to mind.

Is Railway Preservation just too complicated to explain or identify?

Maybe I am asking a question there really is no answer for.

I'll accept that... if it's indeed the case.

In the meantime.... someone may zoom in on something that says Railway Preservation best.

Headin' back to work,

John

A very simple slogan, which was used in the past is:
"Keep 'em Rolling"
There are plenty of young, savvy people who could mock up a graphic including turning steel wheels, or some image of "going forward."

Tossing some out off the top of my head:

“Railroads Built [insert country] - Support Our Railroading Heritage”

“Live It or Lose It. Railroad Preservation”

Eric, That's an excellent slogan. I like it!
I might even tweak it a bit and say "Love it or lose it".

On another matter;

Having wrestled with my choices in participating in public forums since their beginning,
I've finally concluded none of the boards I have ever played a participation in have ever improved my life or contributed to some Ahh moment of discovering hidden knowledge.
I knew this early on, but kept peeking in and contributing occasionally out of some kind of addiction.

Recently, I was excited about sharing progress setting up my railroad, "but" that excitement in sharing the updates has been shifted in my personal thinking.

A post related to BO tower located at Kalamazoo, Michigan in one forum thread started the beginning of this thought process for me. Someone wrote that it had been torn down and later expressed regret that it was still standing. Unless I drive there myself and actually look, I will never really know.

To express an analogy, I was an early adopter to "social media" when at 12 or 13-years old
I became fascinated with Citizens Band Radio... and later on, Ham Radio.
I met my first wife on the CB radio at 16. We met at Carroll Park in Bay City. I rode my bicycle there. She pulled up in a car with a push button transmission.

By the end of CB Radio's popularity sometime in the late 1970's the medium had become a cesspool of noise... making the band-width less than enjoyable.
I enlisted into the Marine Corps at 17 with my parents permission and discovered I could hit a bullseye consistantly better than anyone else in any platoon I was ever with.

Have chased many different kinds of employment enjoying each one of them.

The "chase" with on-line forums is something I at least had to try.
I'm not a writer... don't claim to say/type anything of any value... that has any more substance to it... than anyone else's expression of [for the moment] armchair entertainment.

And with most things throughout life, if it's not fun anymore, it's not worth it to me.

Anyone who knows me, knows I'm a pretty nice person. Opinionated, but not hell bent.
I likely do ask too many questions at times. It's who I am.

Today is a good day to shut it all off, remove the bookmarks, condense the favorite lists
to knowing what the weather is going to be for the day and move on to better (personally productive) purposes.
Like working on my railroad, riding my bike, and visiting with real human beings when I'm able to do that again.

Perhaps someday, I'll return... as was suggested in Frosty the Snowman.
By then, maybe it will be a different world (for which I doubt) and the crowded noise will have moved on to somewhere else. We'll see.

I apologize for even starting this thread... and deciding to bail. I'm sorry for that.
I want to also express my thankfulness for being able to meet Fred when I lived over on the other side of the state. He knows who he is.

Clicking the Send Button,

John D. Atkinson