Not sure where you're getting that from. According to their website, AOS is open to the public April to November Thursday/Friday/Saturday, with three tours per day.

You can operate steam locomotives and preserve the "experience. In that fashion, building replicas of British mainline and branchline steam or the PRR T1, or building new locos for a cog railway or the like, remains "preservation."

Just remember that the locos in question are "consumable resources" and not "historic museum artifacts."

Looks good. They charge $20 per ticket for a 90 minute tour. So it is a very different expected visit count and budget. I also don't see facilities for visitors such as parking.

There are performers that charge $80-1,000 a ticket and fill arenas for two hours.

It's all about the experience provided.

There are performers that charge $80-1,000 a ticket and fill arenas for two hours.

It's all about the experience provided.

So what you're saying is we should get Taylor Swift to perform at Steamtown (benefitting the Iron Horse Society, of course) and they'll have their income tripled from the one event? ;)

I've heard of worse ideas.

The crazy part is, with how devout Taylor Swift fans are, it'd probably work.

Consider the commenters involved..............mld

Over the past few years, I've seen quite a few railroads (and other venues) host extremely popular "Swiftie" trains - similar to your average Princess trains, but this time with a Swift "cosplayer" singing her tunes, and the kids love it...

The focus on restoring unpowered rolling stock makes sense - no point in operating steam if you have no coaches to carry passengers! It reminds me of the situation at Allaire/Pine Creek RR in NJ. The volunteer I spoke with online and in person explained that they are focused on their current projects (a second caboose and an additional passenger coach) with the goal of being able to handle larger crowds on peak weekends and thus generate more revenue, with the longer term goal of someday running steam again. They have four steamers that could realistically be restored to operation (Surry, Sussex, & Southampton #26, Chiriqui Land Co. Porter #46, Ely Thomas Lumber Shay #6, and the Irish Cavan and Leitrim Lady Edith #3). But given the current pace of progress, I have to ask the same question that I ask about B&M 3713 - how likely am I to see it in my time on this planet? (I just turned 50.)

For a second I thought you were talking about Steamtown, where currently in the shop we have 3 commuter coaches, a business car, and a caboose, all with goals of operation, which would give our trains increased capacity to maximize how much ticket profit the Iron Horse Society can make to fund larger projects. The Society is currently selling out almost every special train they offer. But as long as people are myopically angry about 3713, they're never going to see any of the progress.

Meanwhile, the Railroaders's Memorial Museum in Altoona has kind of morphed into an events venue for the region, that bears little or no resemblance to the original mission, but manages to keep the doors open....

https://www.railroadcity.org/events

Believe me, if they could get Taylor Swift they would do it in a heartbeat. The Queen Mary flatcar in the side yard is the performance stage.

https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media ... was-so.jpg

Just sayin'.

I go there annually for the big weekend train show in September that fills the Convention Center. And while everyone that's a diehard (about 100+) migrates trackside after the show closes and lines up trackside at the museum to watch NS and order takeout pizza, the museum beside us remains closed. Every year. Despite notices. Just fact.

I'm guessing that you haven't visited the Altoona Museum since September 2023?

I only say that because the museum completely reconfigured their courtyard space, relcoating equipment, more paved areas, an actual stage with roof . They even moved the PRR FD2 flatcar north from where it had sat about 10 feet, the stage is gone, but it is a little worse for wear, with some PC green visible in a few spots if you look close. In May 2024 the PRRT&HS had their Annual Convention in Altoona and they had a catered BBQ at the museum, along with a steam tractor which had 1361's whistle hooked up that could be blown for a donation. The Altoona Museum is making great strides in engaging the community, staying relevant, but also partnering with the Norfolk Southern and the Everett too.

Just because the museum could be open the same weekend as the N Scale Weekend in September, doesn't mean it would be worth it for them. There's still an admission charge, someone would have to be willing to go and actually want to go inside the fence. It's not the same as the Altoona Club where someone can unlock the doors, turn on the lgihts, and thats good enough.

Which caboose?