Hello railroad museums (or even any other groups with volunteers):

How is your volunteer base holding up? Do you have more or less volunteers, or, is it just cycling like normal?

While it is still too early to tell here in San Diego what will come to be in the next 2-3 years, right now, we are down to the bone.

Ideas? If you are down, have some of you tried anything which worked - free lunches, free gas, free dinners, anything along those lines?

Thanks -

Jim

Pacific Southwest Railway Museum
Jim@psrm.org

In Rockhill Furnace, about treading water. Got some new faces but have not seen some past faces. Would love to see some ideas for increasing turnout.

Last year we went to on-site meals (3 Sat, 2 Sun) rather than ordering out which helped alot.

Would love to hear other ideas as we need more volunteers badly. (who here doesn't)



Friends of the EBT
ebtrr@spikesys.com

I wonder too - if it's not just related to trains - how about churches, baseball teams, etc where volunteers are the backbone?


Pacific Southwest Railway Museum
Jim@psrm.org

Although our Executive Director might disagree I would say the number of people is down, maybe not total volunteer hours. Could be just a cycle as people grow older, move away, change jobs or just lose interest, however some of the people moving on may be due to organizational changes that were not liked by all members
Tom Cox


tc@juris.cc

> Although our Executive Director might
> disagree I would say the number of people is
> down, maybe not total volunteer hours. Could
> be just a cycle as people grow older, move
> away, change jobs or just lose interest,
> however some of the people moving on may be
> due to organizational changes that were not
> liked by all members
> Tom Cox

I'm beginning to think it's a national trend. We are tight also,and the tightness began after our steam locomotive went down for repairs.
Also,our volunteers seem to get scarce during the summer months,when the weather is hot but we still have just as many trains to run. Has that been your experience also?

kbcotton@flash.net

I speculated some time ago that the growth of volunteer-based museums occurred in the postware boom, in which the quality of life in the middle class increased greatly. Perhaps today we experience increased pressures on the middle class that is causing it for them to have greater difficulty in volunteering. I certainly feel the pressure of working longer hours for the same pay. And apparently my increasing tax burden includes bailing out companies or governments that have suffered from corrupt business practices.
Could all this be a temporary situation, until baby boomers retire in good health and once again contribute their time?

Both of the last posts had good ideas.

Yes, our steam program went down, and the group of 20 that kept her running went with her. That being said, all the other jobs still need to be donbe, and, the volunteers aren't there for them as well!

Baby boomers are now retiring - my sister did, my brother did. Yes, lots of middle class workers (a smaller and smaller number) are working longer hours - that's certainly not good news for volunteer organizations.

How about the younger generation. Can we catch their attention and bring them into the fold? If not, the rr museums are a dying bred - along with America - as the volunteers are what has made this country great - in all areas.

Jim



http://psrm.org
Jim@psrm.org

At RMNE, about the same. We are fortunate to have some people in their 20s getting involved and active, which is encouraging for the future. A few more would be better!

One interesting trend we have seen is the number of active members resulting from our Engineer For an Hour program. In the last three years, about 6-8 people who took the EFH became active volunteers (we include one year's membership with each EFH session), including a licensed crane operator, a rigging equipment supplier, a chemist who just spent a week's vacation on the track crew (his wife says we should call that "Slave For a Day"!!), etc., etc. I suspect the immediate connection and excitement of being "in the seat", and the not-always-subtle sales pitch I've been known to give about what a great bunch of people our volunteers are, plus the follow-up of getting the newsletter, makes some of these folks come back and get involved. Inadvertently, EFH has turned into a recruiting tool for us.

Railroad Museum of New England
hpincus@mindspring.com

Has anyone done some "market research" within their respective groups,i.e, why do folks volunteer and their likes and dislikes about the activity ? Or...

Perhaps some of us baby-boomers have fallen victim to what one veteran of the preservation movement has called "old fart syndrome." That is, we look at the "youth" that are interested in preservation and treat them the way we were treated when we first came upon the scene. Get my drift ?

> Both of the last posts had good ideas.

> Yes, our steam program went down, and the
> group of 20 that kept her running went with
> her. That being said, all the other jobs
> still need to be donbe, and, the volunteers
> aren't there for them as well!

> Baby boomers are now retiring - my sister
> did, my brother did. Yes, lots of middle
> class workers (a smaller and smaller number)
> are working longer hours - that's certainly
> not good news for volunteer organizations.

> How about the younger generation. Can we
> catch their attention and bring them into
> the fold? If not, the rr museums are a dying
> bred - along with America - as the
> volunteers are what has made this country
> great - in all areas.

> Jim


newhaven0401@verizon.net

How about having staff or active voluneers call up some of the former volunteers to find out why they are no longer active. Their responses may be telling.
I suspect there is a declining trend in railroad museums and excursion trains. That said, just passing off the slump on national trends may cover up the fact that some museum groups do things that run off valuable volunteers. It's hard to handle the truth sometimes. "It's just a generational trend" makes an easy excuse.
We'll see who is still in business in 10 years.

N/NW
> Has anyone done some "market
> research" within their respective
> groups,i.e, why do folks volunteer and their
> likes and dislikes about the activity ?

In Portola, I would say we are down a bit, but the number of hours is up. We've had several members (myself included) spend solid weeks up there this year.

What is really down are donations. We are trying to tackle some major projects (CZ dome car, locomotives restorations, new walkways) that are very capital intensive.

One thing we are doing to attract people is adding a nice volunteer lounge where our members can sit back and socialize after hours.

Also, our President has been manic about improving the look of the grounds and making sure we have a fun environment. We're restoring more equipment, adding walkways and holding cook-outs for volunteers.

Its definitely being noticed, and some old heads who dropped away have come back, but many who are noticing and approving plead poverty and cite the difficulty in reaching the museum. We're considering carpooling to help ease the costs.

We're also trying to do more high-profile events, like off-site "roadshows" to areas with higher populations.

As someone once told me, a good volunteer rule of thumb is: the flashy stuff (ie: steam engines, classic diesels) hooks them, the clean, well-lit bathroom keep them.

Couple a things...

Personally, I quit volunteering because of financial difficulties - long story. I hope to get back into the preservation game sometime in the next few years, but who knows?

There are other reasons, though. A friend of mine quit volunteering when I did. His reasons were different, and require a digression. Bear with me.

He and I were also volunteer firefighters around the same time. We began volunteering as firefighters in the mid 1970s. At that time, our companies, and most of the companies we knew about (suburban Philadelphia) had as many members as they wanted. Several had waiting lists! By the time we left (me the early 1980s him the mid 1990s) all volunteer fire departments were hurting. Most had some form of paid firefighter. None had waiting lists

One thing happened during this time period that many people do not look at. When I started firefighting, training consisted of one evening a week. More training was available, but one evening a week was all that was required. By the time I left, training requirements had been increased. They added extra work details, weekend training and the requirement that all members over 24 learn to drive at least one piece of apparatus. There was no longer any room for someone who just wanted to help clean the firehouse, wash the trucks and roll the hose. EVERYONE had to be "professional". Yes, this can be a worthwhile thing, but it pushes out some people. They start thinking they joined to be volunteers, not pro's. And off they go.

Another thing happened during this time. Initially, the people in charge remembered that we were doing them and our communities a favor. They remembered that they needed us. That changed, and we began to be told that it was the fire department that was doing US a favor, and if we didn't do what we were told, "there's the door." (This was actually said to me)So: more requirements + less appreciation = less volunteer firefighers.

Let's not forget the "clique" factor. Life was a lot easier if you were one of the Chief's gang. Add into that the standerd harrassment of new members and it seems obvious why volunteers became hard to come by. I hope things are different now, but I can tell you that is why membership dropped off in the 1980s.

How does this apply to your organization? Maybe it doesn't. Maybe there is a place in your organization for a variety of people. Maybe you make an effort to appreciate them, and maybe new members are welcomed and made to feel at home. Only you can tell.

My friend quit volunteering on the trains because he did not want to spend the time to meet training requirements. He saw rules and dress codes added while appreciation fell off. It seemed too much like his firefighter days, so he left.

I realize all this relates to things that happened years ago. Mybe none of it is true anymore. Again, you need to decide. However, I think there is a delicate balance between professionalism and volunteerism. One need not choose one or the other, but I think it is important to remember that an increrase in the little inconveniences that volunteers have to deal with probably will result in some of them deciding working on the trains (or anything else) is something they don't want to do anymore.

wtl1959@aol.com

> I speculated some time ago that the growth
> of volunteer-based museums occurred in the
> postware boom, in which the quality of life
> in the middle class increased greatly.
> Perhaps today we experience increased
> pressures on the middle class that is
> causing it for them to have greater
> difficulty in volunteering. I certainly feel
> the pressure of working longer hours for the
> same pay.

While the railroad consumes larger chunks of my time and energy making the idea of volunteering less appealing it is elder care that brought my volunteering, and everything else for that matter, to a complete halt. For the last three years all of my time not spent working has been spent in elder care. This is a 24/7/365 job. For various reasons it is my wife and I against the world. Because I worry about what this is doing to my wife I take my vacation so my she can get away for a while.

Before the care became full time I usually found myself volunteering because I thought my help was needed and not because I really wanted to be doing more work. My years working for the railroad have taken away a huge chunk of my interest in volunteering for them.

Even before it became full time, elder care had eaten greatly into my time volunteering as well as going to various events. This has been true for at least the last 14 years. How long it will last is? Unknown.

> Could all this be a temporary situation,
> until baby boomers retire in good health and
> once again contribute their time?

I think in my case it is temporary. What is unknown is how much I will want to volunteer and when I will want to get back in the saddle. I am exhausted and doubt I will want to do anything for a while after this is over. Then there is all the work around the house that will need doing because, for now, I can only do the absolute necessities.

I try to maintain an interest through sites like this and occcasionally helping someone via long distance, either by supppling information or arranging to get material or parts from one location to another where it can be put to use. I have also tried to increase my donations but since the elder care has also greatly depleated my bank account that gets more difficult to justify all the time.

John Bohon

jhbohon@yahoo.com

There is plenty of great work on volunteerism, what factors make it work for organizations, and what factors and situations chase folks away.

Contact me off-post for references. Some of the articles, particularly those in refereed scholarly journals, are not easy reading.

But I think we've all been in organizations that clicked, and we knew why...and we've been around stinkers, and we not only knew why, we knew the way to the door!

Two other thoughts ---

(1.) For what works in YOUR area, I am sure you can find at least one or two nearby organizations that seem to be "on fire." Though anecdotal and not a truly scientific survey (n = 1, in this case), a case study is always instructive.

(2.) Dave Kaplan, one of TVRM's Directors, recently commented on a 79th birthday party TVRM Member Mike Brown and others organized for Paul Brock, our beloved Senior Road Foreman Emeritus. Many of you will remember Mr. Brock from his years of service at TVRM and on the SRR/NS steam specials...a WWII Marine with an Iwo Jima landing under his belt, there is not a finer man on this Earth. Anyway, Director Kaplan noted that the evening -- with wives and S.O.'s in attendance and held at a good restaurant -- was just the type of activity that would generate esprit d'corps.

http://www.rtms-movietrains.com
amiller@rtms-movietrains.com

Was up at Heber as a 'volunteer' today. As best as I could tell, I was the only one that came in not on the call list. Did a little student engineering on the morning's short run out to Decker Bay with the person responsible for getting crews up to Heber and asked what he thought about the status of volunteering at Heber. His impression is that it is down a bit and gave a couple of reasons.

1. A number of our volunteers are older retirees who two years ago would put themselves down as being available 3 days a week (for example). Last year, only available two days a week and this year just one day.

LESSON: Though sad, but true--you just slow down as you get older and don't have the desire to take on as much. (I know for a fact that health problems have played a role in availability, too).

2. Let's not forget that gas prices are over 25-30% higher than they were last year at this time. Any form of remoteness (hey, Ely how is your base this year?) or long distance travel (we had some from northern Wyoming and Boise Idaho that haven't been down as frequent this year) for your volunteer means a cost that the family budget possibly can't absorb.

...just a couple of more thoughts.

sc 'doc' lewis



utweyesguy@aol.com