Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum,North Carolina Transportation Museum,Southern Appalachia Railway Museum at Oak Ridge,Tenn and Southeastern Railway Museum.None of these organizations have posted updates on restoration work for a year or more.I know I will get replies that the volunteers are busy doing actual work,but the casual web surfer might think these organizations are in decline and don't have any current restoration projects to donate labor or money torwards.How about some shop work photos about every three months from each of these organizations?

Perhaps the purpose of their web sites is to attract visitors, not to inform members. An hour of effort devoted to attracting more visitors will allow the museum to increase its revenue, whereas an hour of effort writing a web page that says "we scraped the rust off ol' 97 again" won't.

And in the case of TVRM, I know Jason McLanahan and his wonderful wife Shelley put a great deal of regular effort into TVRM's web site. Mark and Bob send out weekly shop reports to members and volunteers that would be (a) Greek, and (b) uninteresting to Soccer Mom, Nascar Dad and the 2.5 kids.

JAC

True, But.......In a time where shows such as Monster garage, american choppers, dirty jobs, american hot rod, modern marvels and mega machines atract enough of the general population to make money and thus stay on TV I think there is in fact a missed opportunity here.
While there is NO POINT in going into great detail about exactly what is going on in a photo, a photo that is "worth a thousand words" can appeal to everyone. Such as, heating something with a propane rose bud, blacksmithing, welding, moving something with a bridge crane, driving a rivet, a person all sooted up in a smoke box, rolling tubes, torching something with a plasma torch, drilling a big hole, turning drivers in a wheel lathe and even sand blasting. All these examples, if photographed properly to convey the enormity or scale of the equipment being worked on and the physical labor involved, would most likely have a "that's cool" effect on most with no desire to know much more than a simple caption could convey (joe cleaning out the smoke box of 509). But, it lets everyone get the idea that there is really something going on at these places and they are not like the average museum they have visited before. And, for those really into all of the previously mentioned shows it gives them the idea that they can actually see the same sort of thing going on in person that they have been watching from there sofa.

Just an observation guys.....

Hey, what about bondo? We demand equal time! ;-)

Because it is impossible to keep the keyboards clear of kudzu long enough to do so. By the time we cut it back, fix some BBQ and sweet tea, rotate the cinderblocks under the pickup in the front yard and count to make sure all the coonhounds are still under the porch it has grown back again.


Hey, what about bondo? We demand equal time! ;-)[/quote]

BOOOOOOOOOOOOORing!

dave

Though I know you jest, sanding down a repaired area on a car would work just as well........so long is there is a LOT of dust, both in the air and on the person;-)

What JAC said.

Remember that in all volunteer organization, most of the volunteers have regular full time jobs. Jason spends most of his spare time (he and his wife have a little one to take care of too) updating the banners for the various trains we operate throughout the year. He is hard at work on expanding the website which will include some new things for the membership and railfans.

All of that said, I would think the #1 reason the work in progress never gets updated is that none of us ever remember to take pics! I took some this past Saturday and I will try to get them to Jason tomorrow.

Actually, this ain't far from the truth. We're so busy cleaning up and cutting brush we haven't had much time for the one restoration project going on right now, SOU diner 3157.

Oh man...... don't we have bigger issues out there?????? Aw, I'll bite.

Call me crazy, but while websites are wonderful, if its between spending time updating the site and spending time making sure the equipment is repaired, under cover, or looking for/ writing grants/ keeping volunteers happy with said equipment takes the precedent. In an ideal world, there is time (and money) for both, and a single paid staff person/ marketing person would be updating it DAILY.

Most of us who work in museums, either as volunteers OR staff, don't live in an ideal world. We have to make choices ---- all the time, hourly it seems. Hmm, do you work the gift shop with goup of 100 school kids who just came in, or do you fix the frame the just fell off the wall; do you take the tour that another volunteer dropped out on cause they suddenly decided their alergic to kids, or do you eat lunch?

The other thing that hasn't be mentioned is the "marketing/ let's make money via it" quality can also work seriously in the reverse; while no names of orgs will be mentioned, in the past, some have spent more time and effort on putting money into marketing excursions, over and over even, while their OWN histoirc equipment rusts/ sags into oblivion.

And a few of them even have/ had REALLY flashy websites!!!

Look, I could post photos up the ying-yang of our yearly repainting of ever surface on the Bramble and the Huron; the Tuesday work parties/ lunches we have, etc. But the truth is, they would be really old in DAYS, and within a year, you'd think you were seing double, cause were doing it all over again........

Try taking care of a couple of ex-Coast Guard ships if you think that the time in marketing/ webiste versus the perpetual rust scrape/ needle gun thing is only a rail preservation issue, or that the website needs to be first priority. Trust me, I'd glady trade a needle-gun job on a tender / 360 feet of hull plate any day for a date updating the website! (and I LOVE to needle-gun!)

TJ

And yes, our website isn't what it could be either --- but we're getting there.

TJG

Seems like the pm-man once again was faster at the keys....anyway, I do agree that this could be perceived as nit-picking. I agree the web-sites are good, but they are a literally an assignment that needs attention, the kind that may not be available. Most of these sites are in their rarest form, forums of basic info as to the individual organization. The web is not one of the highest "hierarchy of needs" when compared to the other objectives of the group. I do recall our web-master asking on many occasions if anyone was photographing our most recent project, and on many the answer was no, everone was just pre-occupied. Many groups don't post every item that's going on, but once membership is acquired, may pass it on in either individual E-Mails to it's members or mailed periodicals. I know that at least one of those mentioned in the main thread here does just that.

One thing not mentioned is the fact that the website may very well be maintained by a member of the organization that is NOT ACTIVELY INVOLVED in restoration/maintenance/operation. The website is his (her) way of contributing to the museum.

Les

As TVRM’s webforeman (joke turned title) let me put a few pennies in too.

With a 40 hours/week job (45-50 counting commute time) and a wife and a 20 month old, my free time has become premium. Until 20 months ago, I was getter greasy in the back shop frequently, along with working on the website and training for fireman. Thus I had the time to take photos during the day and was able to get them onto the site usually within a day or two. However, as outlined to me at the time of taking over the website, and which has since developed into a site development document, the primary focus is to attract riders. Donations only get you so far, without riders we lose the ticket capital. Eventually we will add a railfan/restoration projects section, but for now, the additions are for revenue generation potential.

From mingling with the passengers on days that I fire, I see many an eye glass over when restoration is brought up. Most of them are there for the experience of a train ride, or, frequently, for their children to ride, not to preserve history. Thus keeping restoration status updated isn’t at the top of my to-do list, letting people know what trips are still available is.

I’ve got to chuckle at “never update their websites.” I’m constantly tweaking the code behind the site. I spend a good 2 hours a [week]day updating files, adding content, managing the email accounts, hunting bugs, scouring the internet for clues as to why something didn’t work like it should have or to find a good tweak on something; and on top of that, I’ve been working on a major upgrade that should make my life easier. Weekends see even more time. So I’m putting a good 10-20 hours a week into it. Just because it doesn’t jump out that something has changed doesn’t mean it hasn’t (and most of the time you’re not suppose to see the changes).

Now, if somebody would be willing to come down quarterly and take pictures and get them properly post-processed so that all I have to do is plug and put, I’d be greatly appreciative.