After reading the thread on the Sacramento TRAIN-ARM meeting, I thought I'd post on the NRHS Board of Directors meeting, which took place this past weekend, Nov 10-12, in Huntsville, AL. The North Alabama Chapter hosted, and roughly 65 or so directors attended. This is a normal turnout.

Although Huntsville doesn't host a museum on the scale of the California State RR Museum, it does have a neat little set up at the Historic Huntsville Depot located in a city park. A Civil War campground was staged for the weekend, plus a man in the station showed us the portable telegraph he used. A woman displayed medical implements that were common during the war, too. We took a 10 mile round trip on the Mercury & Chase RR, and toured some of the nicer equipment in the display train.

A day was set aside to explore another type of museum, the Space and Rocket Center, where SpaceCamp is held. Many of us took the chance to sample some of the space simulators, such as the control room and the shuttle cockpit.

RailCamp came up as a topic of discussion, and expansion is on the way, but not for 2007. Barry Smith and a handful of helpers are trying to expand the franchise without cheapening the experience. Obviously, not every rail museum has the same capacity to do the same things, and to call any experience RailCamp would not be good. Positive changes for both camp locations are coming, such as rescheduling the Nevada Northern camp to begin on a day when a flight reaches Ely, NV and to end on a day when a flight departs. This type of stuff isn't always in the playbook before you start a camp.

The NRHS is more aware of the situations discussed in other threads than we think. Just like they are looking to SpaceCamp for inspiration, they are also looking to other non-profits for execution of projects. Relying on the existing volunteer manpower is not always working and it shows.

However, the 2006 New Philadelphia convention was a great success, and it looks to be the same for 2007 in Chattanooga. 2008 will be held in Dallas/Fort Worth wherever a host hotel will be booked.