Here's a story that just begs examination.

The new interim director of Kansas City Union Station is apparently aiming to turn the flagging museum complex around, in part, by purchasing a collection of equipment from a Milwaukee collector.

Anyone have the details, and is this, in any sense a "matched set?" of equipment?

Is it at all representative of varnish resident to KCUS?

The reporter seems to have done some digging to get stats and some insightful quotes from NRM, AoSRM, B&ORM and CSRM on holdings and attendance, etc.

Assuming the equipment is operable, would an excursion operation be feasible, and would that boost the museum draw, and the bottom line?

Any other comments?

Full Steam Ahead
jgerlach@trainsofthought.com

If I'm not mistaken there was an article in the "flimsies" section 30 to 60 days ago that descibed this situation but I don't remember all the details. I think this collection is now in the basement of some building in downtown KC. Wooly

> Here's a story that just begs examination.

> The new interim director of Kansas City
> Union Station is apparently aiming to turn
> the flagging museum complex around, in part,
> by purchasing a collection of equipment from
> a Milwaukee collector.

> Anyone have the details, and is this, in any
> sense a "matched set?" of
> equipment?

> Is it at all representative of varnish
> resident to KCUS?

> The reporter seems to have done some digging
> to get stats and some insightful quotes from
> NRM, AoSRM, B&ORM and CSRM on holdings
> and attendance, etc.

> Assuming the equipment is operable, would an
> excursion operation be feasible, and would
> that boost the museum draw, and the bottom
> line?

> Any other comments?


wooly421@charter.net

> The new interim director of Kansas City
> Union Station is apparently aiming to turn
> the flagging museum complex around, in part,
> by purchasing a collection of equipment from
> a Milwaukee collector. Anyone have the details?

Baseball is an odd game – unlike most sports, the defense controls the ball. At Union Station Kansas City, management also is also trying to control the ball while playing defense. But it’s a very different game than most railroad museums will ever play. At USKC, they are charged with operating a $190 million asset that has turned out to be a true money pit. An additional $2.5 million to display railroad equipment would not, at first blush, appear to be an neither an extremely aggressive addition nor a major change in strategy. Indeed, they already have rail theme exhibits and a beautiful station. As they have said, they are building upon one of their strengths.

The problem is that they are hemorrhaging cash. I suspect they have a patron paying for the new exhibit, so they’re probably not adding materially to their immediate cash flow problems. They will, however, incur future operating expenses they can ill afford unless their “build it and they will come” strategy successfully boosts revenue. Management, however, may have an entirely different game in mind. They need to buy time. Institutions such as USKC cannot exist without annual giving campaigns (or better yet, an endowment). The local community is upset with prior management and the project. People who paid huge sums to have their names carved in granite must be especially sore that no one walks past their quest for immortality. Note that most foundations and wealth individuals pledge to major capital campaigns for distribution over five years. Thus, the initial capital campaign must be collecting its last dollars and now it must be nearly impossible to obtain donations and pledges. That is, unless you can quickly tout some new project while discretely badmouthing the prior management team.

The rolling stock in question appears to be from a failed lounge on the southeast side of Milwaukee. Centerpiece of the collection is Going to the Sun Mountain, a GN round end parlor observation car. It’s a great car, but likely rewired to meet the local health code – I’m not sure how they heated the car. The carpet is ratty, but the interior is intact. The other cars are all ex-Milwaukee lightweights (or at least they’re painted Armour yellow). They are a 48-seat diner, an RPO and a sleeper (Jefferson River??). With the matching F7A, they once looked sharp, but they haven’t rolled in a dozen year and they look it. The deal also includes what has been described as a “warehouse of railroad collectables.” That makes it difficult to assess how much USKC overpaid for the deal – although it certainly appears that it was a rather rich deal.

Let’s hope that the project includes placment of the trainset in an all-weather display area. They can’t seriously expect to attract 250,000 visitors to a seasonal exhibit. By comparison, this projected attendance represents 14% of the SMMA population – a very ambitious number for any attraction. No single museum in Chicago, for example, gets that percentage turnout (although several occasionally come close).

Home run or bunt --I'd call it a bunt.

fred_ash@bankone.com