RMQ Fall2004 Real Issue
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railway museum quarterly TRAINLINE Number 7 Published cooperatively by the Tourist Railway Association Winter 2012 and the Association of Railway Museums Before the ARM/TRAIN convention in Chattanooga, host Tennessee Valley Railway Museum ran an excursion to Summerville, Georgia, over shortline Chattooga & Chickamauga behind recently restored Southern 2-8-0 #630. TVRM regularly runs to Summerville and has installed a turntable, out of the photo at left. #630 is about to pull across the street where it will be watered from Requested a fire hydrant before coupling on for the Service Address return trip. For more on the PERMIT NO. 1096 NO. PERMIT Chattanooga convention, see page 16. MN CITIES, TWIN Confers, GA 30012 GA Confers, Aaron Isaacs photo. PAID 1016 Rosser Street Rosser 1016 U.S.POSTAGE PRSRT. STD. PRSRT. ARM 2 3 ASSOCIATION OF RAILWAY MUSEUMS TOURIST RAILWAY ASSOCIATION The purpose of the Association of Railway Museums is to The Tourist Railway Association, Inc. is a non-profit lead in the advancement of railway heritage through corporation chartered to foster the development and education and advocacy, guided by the principles set forth in "Recommended Practices for Railway Museums" and operation of tourist railways and museums. incorporated in other best practices generally accepted in the wider museum community. TRAIN Membership ARM Membership Membership is open to all railway museums, tourist Membership in the Association of Railway Museums is open railroads, excursion operators, private car owners, railroad to nonprofit organizations preserving and displaying at least related publishers, industry suppliers and other interested one piece of railway or street railway rolling stock to the public persons and organizations. TRAIN, Inc. is the only trade on a regularly scheduled basis. Other organizations, businesses association created to represent the broad spectrum of and individuals interested in the work of the Association are invited to become affiliates. For more details, or to report what is called “creative railroading”. address changes, please contact the Association of Railway Museums, 1016 Rosser St., Confers, GA 30012, or email to OFFICERS [email protected]. President: Rick Burchett, Chehalis-Centralia RR Call us at (770) 278-0088 or visit our Web site: (360) 570-9191 (home/office) www.railwaymuseums.org. Vice President: Linn Moedinger, Strasburg Rail Road Directors (717) 687-8421 Richard Anderson, Northwest Railway Museum, Secretary: Syl Keller, Monticello Railway Museum, [email protected] Monticello, IL (309) 376-3361 (home) Scott Becker, Pennsylvania Trolley Museum Treasurer: Alan Barnett: Indiana Railway Museum [email protected] Bob LaPrelle, Museum of the American Railroad, (812) 936-2405 [email protected] Peter Murphy, Exporail, DIRECTORS [email protected] John E. Bush: Roaring Camp Railroads G. Mark Ray, Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, (831) 335-4484 Ext. 138 [email protected] Ken Rucker, National Capital Trolley Museum, Steven M. Butler: San Luis & Rio Grande Railroad [email protected] (262) 853-9662 (cel) Jim Schantz, Seashore Trolley Museum, Jeffery D. Jackson: American Heritage Railroads [email protected] (970) 259-6505 Jim Vaitkunas, Minnesota Streetcar Museum Chris Bertel: Thunder Mountain Line [email protected] Kyle Wyatt, California State Railroad Museum, (817) 737-5885 [email protected] Richard N. Noonan: California State RR Museum (916) 445-3145 Officers G. Mark Ray: Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum President: Bob LaPrelle Vice President: Scott Becker (423) 240-1480 Secretary: Ellen Fishburn, Fenner Stevenson: Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad [email protected] (515) 432-4249 Treasurer: Ken Rucker, 1313 Bonifant Road, Silver Spring, MD 20905-5961, Meg Warder: Black Hills Central Railroad (605) 574-2222 [email protected] Erv White: Grand Canyon Railway. 928-607-1493 Frankie Wiseman: Middletown & Hummelstown RR (717) Committees Renewal Parts: Rod Fishburn, Chair, 944-4435 X-18 [email protected] STAFF Staff Suzanne Grace, Executive Director, 1016 Rosser St., Executive Director: Suzanne Grace (770) 278-0088 Confers, GA 30012 [email protected] [email protected] Editor: Aaron Isaacs (612) 929-7066, [email protected] Aaron Isaacs, Editor, 3816 Vincent Ave.. S., Minneapolis, MN 55410, [email protected] Webmaster: Bob Harbison (253) 833-2068 Web site: http://www.traininc.org The Association of Railway Museums is a Professional Affiliate Member of the American Association of Museums. To advertise in Railway Museum Quarterly/Trainline, contact Aaron Isaacs at [email protected]. To download an advertising rate sheet, go to www.railwaymuseums.org/Static/documents/RateCard.pdf 4 5 PRESIDENTS’ REPORT 2. Do you run a museum? 2 Vendor exposure at conferences, Yes 80.0% access to vendors By Bob LaPrelle, ARM and No 20.0% 1 Recommended Practices Rick Burchett, TRAIN 1 Fellowship 3. Do you operate a railroad? 1 Supplier info The joint ARM/TRAIN conference Yes 78.6% 1 Regulatory advice in Chattanooga was perhaps the most No 21.4% 1 Grant info ambitious to date, with an extra day of 1 Legal advice activities, plus an extra pre-conference 4. How did your 2011 ridership or 1 Professional recognition excursion. Our thanks to the Tennessee visitor count change compared to 1 Maintenance support Valley Railway Museum for putting on 2010? 1 Restoration a great show and doing it in style. Increased greatly 9.8% 1 Cataloguing You’ll read more about it in this issue. Increased somewhat 25.5% Stayed about the same 43.1% For anyone who has attended an *** Decreased somewhat 19.6% ARM or TRAIN conference, it will Decreased greatly 2.0% come as no surprise that networking is With the ARM/TRAIN merger the number one benefit, followed by the imminent, it seemed like a good idea to 5. How has your ridership or visitor sharing of information. Networking take the temperature of the membership. count changed in the last decade? leads to longtime friendships among the A survey was handed out at the Increased greatly 28.3% attendees, and those relationships pay conference. It asked our members to Increased somewhat 30.2% huge benefits when it comes to doing evaluate how they are doing, what Stayed about the same 17.0% what we do. The conferences provide ARM/TRAIN services are most Decreased somewhat 17.0% plenty of good information and that was important, and what new services they Decreased greatly 7.5% the number two benefit cited in the would like to see the new organization comments. Number three is the provide. 6. How would you describe your information provided at other times of According to the survey, our organization’s financial situation? the year by Trainline/RMQ, the Parts membership is heavily non-profit, even Large surplus 3.7% Letter and other initiatives. on the tourist railway side. Four of five Modest surplus 29.6% As part of the merger, both Boards respondents run both a museum and a Break even 50.0% have committed to greatly increasing tourist railway, a strong indicator of the Modest deficit 13.0% their advocacy role. The survey shows overlap between the two. Despite the Large deficit 3.7% that the membership values the widespread perception that ridership is advocacy efforts to date and wants declining, those surveyed said 7. Do you use volunteers? more in the future. We certainly agree. otherwise. Ridership in the last year Yes 89.1% increased for 35.3% of respondents, No 10.9% 11. Is there a member need that while only 21.6% said it had declined. neither association is currently Looking back over the last decade, the 8. If you use volunteers, how have your addressing and which you trend is even more pronounced, with volunteer hours changed in the last believe the new organization 58.3% citing an increase versus 24.5% decade? should provide? who saw fewer riders or visitors. Increased greatly 16.3% 3 Stronger regulatory Advocacy Even after three years of the Great Increased somewhat 40.8% 2 More on marketing Recession, most of us are holding our Stayed about the same 24.5% 2 Marketing members to the public own financially. 16.7% said they are Decreased somewhat 14.3% 2 Repository for parts, publications, running a deficit, while 50% were Decreased greatly 4.1% used equipment, regulations, breaking even and 33.3% were doing past seminars better than break-even. 9. How would you describe the future 1 Mechanical competency with Volunteers are clearly the lifeblood viability of your organization? newcomers to industry of our member organizations, used by Secure and will grow 55.4% 1 More information sharing nine out of every ten. We often worry Secure but will not grow 28.6% 1 More industry data (ridership, that the existing volunteers will “age Long term viability in doubt 16.1% revenue) out” and not be replaced, yet the survey Long term survival unlikely 0.0% 1 More FRA updates tells a different story. 57.1% said their 1 Less expensive conferences volunteer hours had increased in the last The last two questions were open- 1 More job enrichment programs decade, compared to 18.4% who saw a ended rather than multiple-choice, so 1 More visibility in broader museum decline in hours. here are the comments in rank order. community When we asked attendees if their Responses that were basically the same 1 More on websites, electronic organizations would remain viable into were grouped. communications the future, 16% said their long-term 1 Thinking ahead to the future of viability was in doubt. That’s never 10. What are the two most important our members good to hear, but the other 84% benefits you currently receive from 1 Group buys of services (insurance, predicted a secure future. 55% saw ARM or TRAIN? payroll, HR policies, bylaws growth as well as security in their 28 Networking development, legal) future.