There was a great deal of hopla about a year and a half ago of the potential of this great collection moving from its long time home in North Olmstead/ Olmstead Township to downtown Cleveland, due to the sale of Mr. Brookins mobile home park. The last updates on their website seem to be from the fall of 2004. Has anybody heard anything more about what will/ has happened to one of the most important private interurban/streetcar collections in the U.S.?

TJG

http://www.trolleyvilleusa.org/mission.html

Thanks for asking about the collection I too would be interested in some news on this subject

Ted

I have no direct information other than a few facts gathered here and there.
I ran into one of the people involved by accident and talking to him ,I came to the conclusion they are one of those secert hand shake groups that make ohio, paticualry northern Ohio a waste land of lost oppertunity. (I'm on the board of another)
One other fact is alot of this proposed move is based on a lot of politics. Cleveland just got a new mayor. May be great, may not. who knows may be the best thing for them.
Other information is the problem of a site. Quite a few rumors have floated around all with there own problems. size for the collection track areas and costs involved with each proposal.
Back to the waste land comment. Take a pin, stick it in a map at downtown cleveland and draw a 40 mile arc and see what you have.
One very well run operation ( for profit) running on someone elses railroad with handy caps imposed by land lord. But still a good operation more in the lines of entertainment than preservation.
Roundhouse in industrial/toxic wasteland , building falling down, that has a plan. another secert hand shake group. no fund raiseing.
A strong group with some property making some good headway but all of this is being done in the middle of exploding urban growth of high dollar homes.
The subject group of equipment in Olmstead Falls. Memebers involved there splintered off on Ill planed and run excursion operation.
Then you have another group who owns 20 miles of railroad track with 6 miles @ F.R.A. class 2 status. 38 acres inside the wye and affordable farmland availble at good prices. Thier railroad is owned free and clear. they even have a good source of fund raising all though it's not rail related.
This group is under control of a select few people that want to run it as there own model railroad club.
There is also a nice live stem group nearby.
All of these groups have ideas about federal and state funding in a state know for the biggest transportation question being Ashphalt or concrete. The state even formed a gruop to help bring everyone in the state totgther and play well. that hasn't worked real well.
Throw in probally another 50 or more pepole with a whole lot to offer that have just given up due to all the Sh*&!
T.J. you know alot of the people I'm refering to and we have discussed this so you know where my frusration comes from.
I've always thought that if you could put Ego's, personalitys, god complexes and all other crap like that aside and come togther you might be able to put something togther in the mold of I.R.M. SOn-O^-B!@#h that hurt,should of had my hard hat when I bumped my head! The knots growing but maybe someone here from I.R.M. can answer a long wondered question of mine, With that many involved you can't tell me everyone gets along ,do they? But I'm sure they have found a way to work togther. Or at least co-exist well.
That's enough of my rant , Nomex, asbestous suit on and jumping off the soap box before it's hit with mortor fire. and back to the subject at hand, time is running out and my money is on the collection being split up. My only hope is it goes somewhere it will be cared for it in the same manner for the next 50 years.
If anyone can prove any of this to be lies or wrong feel free to correct me. I take critism well. (just not on my spelling I know I can't spell well LOL)

Jack, as to your question on IRM - there is no reason to suspect that a model based on IRM would ever work. BUT IT DOES!! There is the usual assortment of personnalities and dysfunctional individuals (myself included) and the ususal rivalries and factions.

But mostly, when all is said and done the Museum comes first, we have long had a committment to getting our own land and housing the collection, and more and more importantly as time goes on - a relatively conservative pay as you go financial position.

Probably the strongest asset at IRM is the VOLUNTEERISM and their willingness to help the museum in innumerable ways regardless of age or ability and the appreciation of all of a project well done. It starts with PEOPLE, generous of their time, money, and support.

Bob Kutella

Jack:

Interesting you mentioned a Chicago - area museum in a post about the future of Trolleyville. Maybe it was a subconscious association? The Trolleyville collection is certainly not all drawn from the Cleveland area. In fact more of the cars ran in the Chicago area (10) than in the Cleveland area(9). (The two Fox River cars are counted twice since they later went to Shaker Heights). Maybe a little pruning would be a good thing if it would help cement a deal to move a smaller collection to Cleveland. Wouldn't it be great to see one of the Fox River cars operating on its orignal home rails at the Fox River Trolley Museum?

On a side note I have always had a soft spot for the Trolleyvillle operation. When it opened in the early '60s the physical plant was spectacular compared to the other trolley museums of the time. I was lucky enough to be on the Shaker Heights fan trip which was bussed to Trolleyville one Sunday to become the very first public customers of the new line. The rumor that day was that Gerald Brookins chose to open unannounced on a Sunday to avoid a threatened injunction by the NIMBY trailer park residents. He figured they couldn't find a judge to issue the injunction on a Sunday!

Pete Schmidt

Jack, I feel your pain, brother. A similar situation exists down here in my neck of the woods. My forehead has permanent damage from banging my head against the wall trying to get the organizations in this area to work together and look beyond their own "backyards". I spent 9 years on the board of one group and 5 years on another, and have about 30 years "in the trenches". I keep my sanity now by working on what I want to with who I want to, pretty much as an independent preservationist. Hume, Andy, Dave C., Sandy, Jimbo, Ben, you've all heard me on my soapbox, so you know what and who I am talking about. To go into more detail here would require me to put on nomex and start handing out bics, blowtorches, and a lot of gasoline. You can always do what I did to take out my frustrations, become a Civil War reenactor. Then you can at least shoot at people. (of course, they don't let us use bullets, :),) Hang in there and keep fighting the good fight. Even if people can never see the big picture in their region, every document, structure, or piece of equipment saved is a victory, even if you are only buying time for a future generation to preserve it properly. Regards,