The 2011 ARM/TRAIN Spring meetingwas hosted by the Indiana RailwayMuseum, which ran a special train forthe attendees. It traveled 25 miles fromFrench Lick to Jasper, Indiana, where80-tonner #6 is running around theconsist. It included private carIndianapolis. Don Evans photo.

TRAINLINErailwaymu seumquarterly

Number 5 Published cooperatively by the Tourist Railway Association and the Association of Railway Museums

Summer 2011

PRSRT. STD.U.S.POSTAGE

PAIDMINNEAPOLIS, MNPERMIT NO. 1096

ARM1016 Rosser StreetConyers, GA 30012

Address ServiceRequested

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ASSOCIATION OF RAILWAY MUSEUMS

The purpose of the Association of Railway Museums is tolead in the advancement of railway heritage througheducation and advocacy, guided by the principles set forthin "Recommended Practices for Railway Museums" andincorporated in other best practices generally accepted inthe wider museum community.

ARM MembershipMembership in the Association of Railway Museums is opento nonprofit organizations preserving and displaying at leastone piece of railway or street railway rolling stock to the publicon a regularly scheduled basis. Other organizations, businessesand individuals interested in the work of the Association areinvited to become affiliates. For more details, or to reportaddress changes, please contact the Association of RailwayMuseums, 1016 Rosser St., Conyers, GA 30012, or email toscg@lagniappeassociates.com.Call us at (770) 278-0088 or visit our Web site:www.railwaymuseums.org.

DirectorsRichard Anderson, Northwest Railway Museum,

richard.anderson@railwaymuseums.orgScott Becker, Pennsylvania Trolley Museum

scott.becker@railwaymuseums.orgBob LaPrelle, Museum of the American Railroad, bob.laprelle@railwaymuseums.orgPeter Murphy, Exporail, peter.murphy@railwaymuseums.orgG. Mark Ray, Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, mark.ray@railwaymuseums.orgKen Rucker, National Capital Trolley Museum, ken.rucker@railwaymuseums.orgJim Schantz, Seashore Trolley Museum, jim.schantz@railwaymuseums.org

Eric Sitiko, Oregon Electric Railway Historical Society,eric.sitiko@railwaymuseums.orgKyle Wyatt, California State Railroad Museum, kyle.wyatt@railwaymuseums.org

OfficersPresident: Bob LaPrelleVice President: Scott BeckerSecretary: Ellen Fishburn,

secretary@railwaymuseums.orgTreasurer: Ken Rucker, 1313 Bonifant Road, Silver

Spring, MD 20905-5961, ken.rucker@railwaymuseums.org

CommitteesRenewal Parts: Rod Fishburn, Chair,

parts@railwaymuseums.org

StaffSuzanne Grace, Executive Director, 1016 Rosser St.,

Conyers, GA 30012 scg@lagniappeassociates.com

Aaron Isaacs, Editor, 3816 Vincent Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55410, rmq@railwaymuseums.org

The Association of Railway Museums is a Professional Affiliate Member of the American Association of Museums.

TOURIST RAILWAY ASSOCIATION

The Tourist Railway Association, Inc. is a non-profitcorporation chartered to foster the development andoperation of tourist railways and museums.

TRAIN MembershipMembership is open to all railway museums, tourist

railroads, excursion operators, private car owners, railroadrelated publishers, industry suppliers and other interestedpersons and organizations. TRAIN, Inc. is the only tradeassociation created to represent the broad spectrum ofwhat is called “creative railroading”.

OFFICERS President: Rick Burchett, Chehalis-Centralia RR

(360) 570-9191 (home/office) Vice President: Linn Moedinger, Strasburg Rail Road

(717) 687-8421 Secretary: Syl Keller, Monticello Railway Museum,

Monticello, IL (309) 376-3361 (home) Treasurer: Alan Barnett: Indiana Railway Museum

(812) 936-2405

DIRECTORSJohn E. Bush: Roaring Camp Railroads

(831) 335-4484 Ext. 138 Steven M. Butler: San Luis & Rio Grande Railroad

(262) 853-9662 (cel) Jeffery D. Jackson: American Heritage Railroads

(970) 259-6505 Craig H. Lacey: Heber Valley Railway (435) 654-5601 Richard N. Noonan: California State RR Museum

(916) 445-3145 G. Mark Ray: Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum

(423) 240-1480 Fenner Stevenson: Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad

(515) 432-4249 Meg Warder: Black Hills Central Railroad (605) 574-2222Erv White: Grand Canyon Railway. 928-607-1493Frankie Wiseman: Middletown & Hummelstown RR (717)

944-4435 X-18

STAFFExecutive Director: Suzanne Grace (770) 278-0088

scg@lagniappeassociates.orgEditor: Aaron Isaacs (612) 929-7066, aaronmona@aol.comWebmaster: Bob Harbison (253) 833-2068 Web site: http://www.traininc.org

To advertise in Railway Museum Quarterly/Trainline, contact Aaron Isaacs at aaronmona@aol.com. To download an advertising rate sheet, go to www.railwaymuseums.org/Static/documents/RateCard.pdf

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IT’S THE BIGGEST ARM/TRAIN CONFERENCE EVER AND A TURNING POINT IN RAILWAY PRESERVATION

DON’T MISS IT!

To download the conference program or register, go to www.railwaymuseums.org, www.Traininc.org or

contact Suzanne Grace at ARM/TRAIN 770-278-0088 or scg@lagniappeassociates.com

NOV. 9-13

THREE PRE-CONFERENCEEXCURSIONS

NOV. 6-8

OPEN TOEVERYONE

16 SEMINARS

FINANCIAL HELP TO ATTEND THE CONFERENCE IS AVAILABLE

TRAIN Youth Scholarship: Application available at Traininc.org

ARM Stephen Patrick Stipend for museum volunteers and staff: Application available at railwaymuseums.org

PRESIDENTS’ REPORT

By Bob LaPrelle, ARM and Rick Burchett, TRAIN

This is a follow up to our columnin the last issue, to update all of youabout significant progress in movingforwards toward the combination of ourtwo groups into a single new supportorganization for Tourist Railways andRailway Museums. We are workingforward following the core premise anddecision taken at our joint boardmeeting last spring:

Fundamental Premise (fromStrategic Plan) “By joining togetherARM and TRAIN into a new singleorganization, we will provide bettervalue (more services for less cost) toour members and contribute to the longterm sustainability of our industry.”

Organization decision (fromStrategic Plan) “To create a single neworganization (using the simplestpossible legal path) by 2012.”

On July 14 and 15, ourOrganization Working Group met todevelop more details to the proposal,and to prepare a plan to communicatewith the members of TRAIN and ARMin advance of a presentation, discussionand motion of support that will occur atour conference in Chattanooga inNovember. This working group consistsof Bob LaPrelle and Rick Burchett asthe presidents of our two organizations,our treasurers Alan Barnett and KenRucker, board member (of bothorganizations) Mark Ray, counsel BobOpal and executive director SuzanneGrace. Don Evans acted as sessionfacilitator.

The group tackled and workedthrough many issues, reaching fullconsensus on an approach to each:

•Organization name – For now, thenew organization will be known as theAssociation of Tourist Railways andRailway Museums. This clearlydescribes the new association and itsconstituents. There will be a contestheld to select a name for thepublication.

•Incorporation and documents – Anew set of bylaws will be written for theorganization. The approach will be tohave these as simple as possible so thatthey enable, and not restrict, theoperation of the association. Detailwork on these will start following theChattanooga conference, and they willbe ready for review by spring 2012. Thesimplest possible legal process will befollowed to make this work as easy andas cost effective as possible.

•Board Structure andimplementation – The current twoboards of directors will operate as onefor the purpose of the new organization,while also carrying on the business ofARM and TRAIN in the interim period

independently. A single board of 15directors will be put in place for 2013.

•Membership – The Association ofTourist Railways and RailwayMuseums is an umbrella organizationthat serves a variety of enterprises thatoperate/preserve railway heritage. Thisincludes railway museums, touristrailways, and trolley museums of allsizes and scope. The goal is to providesupport to all those involved in theseendeavors to strengthen the industryand help preserve the railway heritageexperience for future generations. Therewill be two classes of membership,organizational (those engaged in thebusiness) and vendor/commercial(those engaged in supporting andselling to the organizations in thebusiness).

•Member benefits and services –Several of these have already beencombined, including our publication,conferences, administration, andregulatory advocacy. Also on the coreservices list will be museums advocacy,best practices, parts sourcing andsharing, standards, and support onissues of common interest to membersor groups of members. Services willalso support sectors within the overallmembership with special seminars,support materials and more aimed atmuseums, operating tourist railways,trolley museums and depot museums –to name a few areas of special interest.

•Dues approach – Organizationalmembership will have a graduated duesscale based on the organization’sfinancial size (as done today by bothTRAIN and ARM), with the goal ofhaving most members pay lower duesthan they do today.Vendor/Commercial members will havea fixed fee for membership. A proposeddues scale will be provided prior to theChattanooga conference.

These are among many items ofwork done in July, but this will giveyou a good indication of the directionthe new association is headed. We can

report that the boards of both ARM andTRAIN are united in their support forthe direction being taken.

There will be several steps that willnow happen. In early September, acommunications package will be sent toall TRAIN and ARM members with amore detailed outline of the keyelements of the proposal. Input will berequested and we will be open toanswer questions from members. At theChattanooga Conference, in PlenarySession A on Wednesday, November 9,a full presentation will be made. Againthere will be an opportunity forquestions and input. A straw poll forconsensus to proceed further will beheld.

Following this session, and withthe indicated support of thememberships, detailed work will thenproceed to create the bylaws and otherlegal documents, and prepare for theofficial vote of membership to be heldin the fall of 2012.

We encourage all of you to reviewour plans, ask any questions, and haveyour delegates in Chattanooga presentto hear the presentation and support thisimportant initiative.

WHERE THE HECK ISFRENCH LICK?

By Don Evans

Well, if you were at theARM/TRAIN Spring Board meeting onApril 26th you would know theanswer…..

The drive from the plane inIndianapolis was quite pleasant, not ona freeway, but rather the rural highwaydriving I much prefer. Not toointeresting as countryside goes,farmland etc. but nice enough. 2 1/2hours later, I should be gettingclose…….the countryside has turnedrolling hills, I round a corner and—holycow—what is this?

Suddenly the entire scene is

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The Organization Working Group: (left to right) Don Evans, G. Mark Ray, KenRucker, Bob Opal, Rick Burchett, Suzanne Grace, Alan Barnett and BobLaPrelle.

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changed and I am faced with anincredible huge and most elaboratedomed building that turns out to theWest Baden Springs Resort (built1901). Drive on another half mile, andhere’s another one, the French LickSprings Resort (built 1902).

So, where the heck (and what theheck) is French Lick? Well, it turns outthat in the early 1900’s the good (andbad) folks of Chicago needed a place togo where they could do things that werenot allowed back home—gamble anddrink. They discovered a little corner ofIndiana, constructed two great resortsaround some hot springs, built a railwayto the area that came right to the frontdoor of the hotels for their Pullmancars, and had at it.

Until 1939 that is…...when a newGovernor of Indiana determined thatcontinuation of these activities justcould not be tolerated and shut themdown. In doing so, he also pretty muchshut down the town…. The Chicagofolks moved their money west andstarted Las Vegas !

Meanwhile, the spectacular twohotels fell into decline. The West BadenSprings became a monastery and theFrench Lick Resort continued, but bythe 1980’s both were shuttered. TheWest Baden partially collapsed intoitself as they deteriorated. The grandeurThe Indiana Railway Museum’s line passes from one watershed to another via

this ex-Southern tunnel south of French Lick.

of the 1900– 1920 era was gone. Fast forward to 2000 and things

started to look a little different as alocal boy made rich came back anddecided he would restore French Lickto its former grandeur. ConvincingIndiana to grant a casino license, andthen spending almost a billion dollarsover the next five years, French Lick,Indiana, shines once again. Both hotelsare busy with meetings andconferences, the hot springs bubbleaway, and the grandeur is completewith a full restoration to their originalsplendor from 1901 and 1902!

To complete the visit, we need tomake a visit to the Indiana RailwayMuseum. Based at the French Lickrailway station, the little museum thatcould has actually relocated three timessince it was founded in 1961—50 yearsago. Alan Barnett was a foundingmember and remains the head of theoperation today, doing just aboutwhatever job needs to be done (he wasengineer on our private train on March26th. He also is a long time French Lickresident and has worked with the hotelsfor years.

The museum’s best pieces are inthe station area and some are open forinspection. However, this is more anoperating railroad than a static museum.The train ride is great and the 25 mileline to Jasper, Indiana is a joy. A pair of

80-ton centre cab GE’s do much of thework; the line also has an operationalGP-9 unit and an Alco S4. Steam locosare parked and not operational.

We get a private train for our groupto ride all the way to Jasper and back(regular trains only go about 10 milesthrough the Hoosier forest to the tunneland back). GE 80 ton #6 is in charge,and heads our four car train south. Inthe consist we have one coach, a bar—lounge car, a table car, and the privatecar Indianapolis. The matched greenconsist is very nice, several of thesecars sometimes serve on the dinnertrain operation out of Jasper.

The ride is pleasant—we followthe ledge of a scenic valley upgrade tothe 2,200 foot Burton tunnel, and thendescend and glide south until we reachJasper. On board, we were well fed andlooked after—nice way to travel. Thescenery is pleasant, mostly forest(winter bare), several bridges and nicerolling countryside. On the south end ofthe line, there is active freight servicefrom the BNSF connection south ofJasper to a couple of grain operations.Our 25 mile journey ends at Jasper(Indiana) that is, where the locomotiveswitches ends for the trip back toFrench Lick.

But the highlight is the openplatform heavyweight observation carIndianapolis (#500 of course!). The car

is privately owned and has beenupgraded and restored, meeting Amtrakstandards today. Owners David McLure(Vice President of the Indiana RailwayMuseum) and his wife are aboard. Thecar was built for the Seaboard Air Linein 1913 by Pullman Standard, and wasnamed Baltimore and assigned toChairman S. Davies Warfield.Subsequently the car carried the namesSouthland and then Birmingham untilsold to David in 1979.

The car is absolutely beautifulinside and nicely restored, and is adelight to relax in as you roll throughthe Indiana countryside. But the bestview is from a chair on the open reardeck, watching the track recede behindyou as you glide along this really nicelittle railway.

THE REBUILDING OFSOUTHERN #401

By Kent McClure, Chief MechanicalOfficer, Monticello Railway Museum

This locomotive was built inDecember of 1907, one of an order of25, a product of Baldwin LocomotiveWorks. It is a saturated engine,equipped with slide valves, 57" drivers,Walschaerts valve gear, and anoperating pressure of 200 psi. Two

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Not representative

examples of this class exist, with #385in Whippany, New Jersey, being theother of the two.

From the date of 401's arrival atMonticello in 1971, work was done on asporadic basis, depending on fund andlabor availability. During the mid to late70's, the tubes were removed from theboiler to further assess the condition ofthe locomotive. We found the bottomthree rows of tubes buried in mud, aswell as the blowdown in the bottom ofthe first boiler course packed full ofmud. Under the mud was extensive anddeep pitting of the bottom one-third ofall three boiler courses. The amount andthickness of accumulated scale was alsoextraordinary, with both water legs ofthe firebox plugged with loose scale.The firebox also had some interestingpatchwork done at some point in itspast, work that didn’t necessarily instilla lot of confidence. These discoveries,and the opinions of people with theknowledge and skills to assess thepracticality of rebuilding it led to itbeing relegated to display. For thefollowing 15 years, the locomotive wasmerely maintained cosmetically.

In 1995, a donor stepped forwardwith a proposal to return an operatingsteam locomotive to MRM’s stable oflocomotives. At this point, anassessment was made of both our 90-ton Alco 0-6-0 #191, as well as #401,

with our Alco 0-4-0 tank engine #1being out of the equation due to theMuseum having outgrown its abilities.We also discussed purchasing anotherlocomotive. In the end, the assessmentsled to rebuilding 401. In late 1995,work was under way with the removalof 401's drivers. The drivers were sentto Steam Operations Corporation ofAlabama, the contractor whichmaintained the steam locomotives usedin the Norfolk Southern steam program.Steam Operations welded up about 14cracked spokes uncovered when tireswere removed, and quartered all crankpins. Driver journal work was done atBayliss Machine in Birmingham, aswell as trueing of the wheel centers toaccept new tires.

Careful disassembly continued atMRM’s shops in Illinois, with thelocomotive being stripped to the frame.While much of the locomotive wasrusted or worn to such an extent torequire replacement, we made efforts tore-use anything that was still in asuitable condition for re-use. Anexample is the cab. While all the cabsides and floor were beyond re-use, thequarter round trim, the cab roof, androof purlins were still in goodcondition, though the lower 12" or soon both sides of the cab roof werereplaced due to rust. The purlins androof sheet were separated so all the

parts could be fully sandblasted, primedand painted. They were then hot rivetedback together. Many old, worn parts,such as the old lead truck axle, wereused as raw material to be machinedinto new parts where possible.

Extensive boiler measurementswere made, and autocad drawingscreated of the existing boiler. In Augustof 1999, MRM contracted withmechanical engineer Matt Austin ofHawaiian Steam Engineering Companyfor the engineering work required forthe new boiler. While engineering forthe new boiler was under way, workcontinued on the frame and runninggear. The frame was sandblasted andchecked for cracks with the dyepenetrant method, with, thankfully, nocracks revealed. We did find the framebent down badly in the rear, requiringsome judicious heating and jacking,then slow cooling to bring it back towhere it should be. ALL the holes in theframe for brake hangers, spring riggingequalizers, and rigging attachmentpoints were badly out-of-round/worn,requiring re-boring to bring them backto a usable condition. The same wastrue for the lead truck center pin holeand drawbar pin hole.

The stage from tearingapart/inspecting, to putting backtogether was finally reached in 2003with the installation of the new rear

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bumper steel and rear cab supportsheets. All of the spring rigging wasreplaced, with the exception of the T-hanger and the equalizer between the #1driver and the lead truck. New springs,both coil and leaf, were built byDendoff Spring of Surrey, BritishColumbia. A new lead truck wheel setwas designed and built by StrasburgRailroad at their well equipped shop.Special tools required for some of theboiler work were designed andmanufactured by Robert Franzen ofSteam Services of America. Robert alsoprovided all of the flexible staybolts forthe new boiler. Hollow rolled rigid boltstock was sourced by Matt Austin ofHawaiian Steam Engineering, who alsoarranged the mill run of steel for thenew boiler, from which the bulk wentinto Union Pacific #844 during itsrecent extensive rebuild.

We were fortunate to have bothinjectors from the locomotive, and topurchase three more identical ones atthe auction when NS closed their steamprogram. These five injectors weredelivered to Bernie Watts at BackshopEnterprises, who then disassembled allfive, inspected them, replaced parts asneeded, and delivered back to us threeusable injectors, the remaining twobodies and the remaining worn parts.Bernie also rebuilt a Pyle National M2Ndynamo, provided by us, to provide

electrical power on the locomotive (TheM2N is a 2KW 32V DC dynamo).

The air compressor was rebuilt in-house, requiring re-boring of the aircylinders, the reversing piston bore, andthe main valve cylinder bore. New airpistons were made, using the old lowpressure air cylinder piston as thesource for the new high pressure airpiston, and a disk of cast iron wasmachined into a new low pressurepiston. New valve cages were alsomachined to replace those worn beyondreuse, while Bernie Watts supplied newvalves where needed, as well as gasketsand jackets. New King metallic packingfor the pump was provided by BobYuill of Historic Machinery ServicesInc. The air pump governor wassourced from David Conrad, as were anumber of tapered bolt reamers, andpiston and valve rod packing. The slidevalve seats were faced by Steve Butler,of Midwest Locomotive, then lapped inby our staff.

The mechanical lubricators,terminal checks, steam turret, severaloriginal valves, and boiler stop andcheck valves were all rebuilt in house.The pop valves were also done inhouse. A known good Consolidatedpop valve was borrowed and the springin it taken to a custom spring winder fortesting and duplication. New blowdownrings were required for the pops, as well

as new center stems and spring seats.The rebuilt pops work very well,popping fully open and closed, and witha well controlled blowdown.

The new boiler design wascompleted and released to themanufacturer in April of 2004. Theconstruction firm was chosen with thehelp of Gary P. Bensman. There wereseveral competent firms available, withour choice finally being made based onthe firm’s abilities, and proximity toMRM, to allow trouble shooting tripsand inspections while construction wasunder way. The firm chosen wasContinental Fabricators of St. Louis,Missouri. They were excellent to workwith, and were willing to do our job at amore favorable rate as a filler project tokeep their employees busy during slowspells in their business. The new boilerwas completed in May of 2005, andsuccessfully hydrostatically tested to300 psi at Continental Fabricators forboth their ASME inspector and us. Thenew boiler was coated, inside and out,with Dampney Engineered Coatingsspecialty high temp coatings used onboilers and pipelines. The boiler wasdelivered in June of 2005, and placedon the locomotive frame.

Attention turned to the tender inlate 2003, with the scrapping of thecistern. Believe me, there was nothingleft to save, except the hatch, which we

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did reuse. The forward half of the centersill required replacement due tocorrosion, and the side sills neededsome reinforcement in the same area.All the bracing around the bolster at thefront of the tender also needed outrightreplacement. New trucks were also anecessity, particularly in light of theneed for a larger capacity cistern. (Theloco was last used as a yard engine, andhad one of the smaller tanks usedbehind these engines in their day.) Newdraft gear was also required, due to acrack in the gear housing. The newcistern and oil tank were designed in-house, and after being disappointed atthe bids for having the tank’sconstruction outsourced, we decided tobuild it in-house. A package of partswere made up for us by Wayne Metalsof Markle, IN., which includedeverything except the floor, roof, rearand side sheets of the cistern, which wehad flame cut as full size sheets atHagerty Steel in Peoria, IL. We thenused Strasburg Railroad’s method ofapplying rivet heads to the tank, whichworked out well. The tender was finallycompleted in 2009.

The lead truck, it turned out, was amicrocosm of the entire locomotive.The truck is made up of 79 parts,excluding nuts and bolts. Of those, 59

required outright replacement, with thebalance ALL requiring machine workof some sort to bring them back to ausable state. The truck frame itself wastwisted, as well as racked, and crackedin five places. After repairing thecracks, we cut the truck frame into foursections, setting the parts up on asurface plate, relocating and squaringthem up, and welding it back together.We also welded up all the worn pinholes and bolt holes. We then sent thetruck frame to a local forging house,Clifford & Jacobs Forging, for stressrelieving and normalizing.Extrapolating this out to the entirelocomotive gives one a pretty good ideafor the amount of work that ended upbeing necessary to bring this engineback.

In the Unexpected Developmentsdepartment, when doing one of theearly hydrostatic tests after the boilerwas installed on the frame andplumbing complete, a leaky throttlevalve had filled the cylinder saddle withwater... as we were inspecting on theleft side, water was running up out ofthe saddle and over the sides of thecylinders and into the pit. (Thevalves/steam chests were not yetinstalled.) When we got to the rightside, there was water running into the

pit, but not up out of the steampassages, but out of the rightEXHAUST saddle drain... Hmmm, howis water getting from the live steampassages to the exhaust passage withoutgoing over the valve seat... this is notgood, particularly AFTER you’ve spentsix figures on a new boiler. One hasvisions of new cylinder saddles, orstatic displays. Fortunately, it turnedout it was the result of a poor casting.There was a void in the casting betweenthe two ports, and the wall wasextremely thin on the live steam side.At some point in the past, the wallfailed, and the steam was slowly cuttingan ever larger hole into the exhaustside. The hole in the live steam sidewas about 1" x 2", and the hole in theexhaust side being big enough to poke afinger into. The void was far enoughout towards the right cylinder to be ableto see it, and more importantly, to beable to drill a hole from above downinto the void. Said hole was located anddrilled, then the void blanked off insidethe ports, and filled with an alloy ofmolten metals that would not shrink oncooling. The repair was water tightwhen done. The right saddle has furtherevidence of voids that were open on thesurface of the casting, as when it wassand blasted, these areas were darkgray/black, not the expected whitishtypical of freshly blasted steel or iron. Itappears something was poured intothese areas, likely at the foundry, tomake the casting usable.

The other unexpected developmentwas the valve gear. We had heardstories when we first purchased thislocomotive that it was easily recognizedby its “distinctive” exhaust. Now, thatwasn’t entirely unexpected as the rightside radius rod was bent in all kinds ofdirections, obviously being badly bentat some point, and a poor job ofstraightening having been done. Westraightened this rod as close to straightas we could get, and got its lengthcorrect, and checked the other rods forstraightness and lengths. We then wentabout the task of timing the valves.After correcting the right eccentriccrank position, we found the new valverods slightly long, and corrected those.When then checking eccentric rodlengths, the numbers came out to theright side eccentric being 9/16" long,and the left being 5/16" long. Naturally,errors such as those are immediatelysuspect, and were checked andrechecked several times, and after wecould find no other explanations for it,we set up a forge on the welding bench,anchored the rod to the bench, heated aportion of rod in it, and upset it therequired amounts for each side. Bothcame out where they were supposed tobe, amazing us. We were pleased uponhearing the exhaust for the first time, as

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Southern #401 in 1991 and 2010. Photos courtesy Robb Luckow

when they appear in internet auctions. Ithas become increasingly difficult tofind suitable originals for museumdisplay, and in some cases the risk offurther deterioration of originals mightpreclude their wall display and furtherexposure to sunlight.

Fortunately, modern computerpresentation software provides aconvenient way to design displayposters locally that can provide atraditional appearance while suitingindividual needs as accompaniments fordisplayed equipment at museums.Topics that adapt particularly well toposter presentation include diagrams

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it came out very, very close to square.This project, while not yet totaled

up, has reached approximately$500,000.00. This would not have beenpossible without the abilities anddedication of our volunteers, allowingus to do much of the work in-house.But, when necessary, we didn’t hesitateto go to those with the abilities orspecial equipment to do those things wecouldn’t. The locomotive has beenperforming very well, with a relativelysmall number of the usual punch listitems one runs into when doingrebuilds of this magnitude.

DESIGNINGINTERPRETIVEPOSTERS FOR

RAILROAD MUSEUMS

By Preston Cook

With much of the modern worlddominated by high tech computerelectronics, printed posters may seem asomewhat dated way of communicatinginformation. However, they are quiteuseful for certain interpretive functions,and are relatively low cost displays thatrequire minimal maintenance once theyare printed and framed. Unlike videodisplays, they do not generate noisepollution to interfere with each other inconfined spaces, and unlike electronickiosks, they do not create a blockage ofpeople waiting in line for access to aviewing screen. They also provide atraditional appearance that looks rightat home in most railroad museums.

Posters are particularly suitable forpresentation of the kinds of informationthat would have been adaptable to“distance learning” teaching techniquesused in correspondence courses, suchas those produced for railroads by theInternational Correspondence Schoolsof Scranton, Pennsylvania. This type ofteaching was a significant componentof railroad employee educationprograms in the first half of the 20thcentury, and consequently printedposters integrate well with the displayof locomotives and rolling stock fromthat popular period. Wall mounteddisplay posters were commonlyproduced for training use by the majorbuilders of diesel-electric locomotivesfrom the 1930s through the 1980s.Many of these manufacturer produceddisplay items featured color cutawayartwork of locomotives as well asmechanical and electrical components.Other widely distributed postersincluded maintenance and lubricationdiagrams of locomotives. With thepassing of time many of these paperoriginals have deteriorated and thosethat survive intact are often hotlycontested items between collections

Cutaway views of locomotives are particularly adaptable to poster presentation.This poster explains the machinery arrangement of an EMD F3A locomotive thatruns occasionally at Steamtown. This locomotive's details differ from commondepictions of Electro-Motive F3A units, as it does not have a steam generator.This arrangement has been correctly depicted in the poster art.

The poster discussing Ray Patten ispart of a series covering people whoinfluenced the way railroads lookedand operated. It was designed formuseums having locomotives styledby Mr. Patten.Posters are useful for telling thestories of the people who influencedthe appearance and operation of therailroads. This poster explaining therole of GE master designer RayPatten in the styling of the Alco-GEFA and PA locomotives makes use ofphotos, advertising, Alco-GEartwork, and images of the designer’scommercial and railroad patents.

and cutaway views of locomotives,rolling stock, and their components,storyboard presentations describingprocesses like the servicing oflocomotives, and displays that tell thehistory of railroad and industrypersonalities. It is both feasible andattractive to “customize” diagrams andcutaway views to specifically representequipment on hand at the museum. I

have produced a number of display andinterpretive posters for the museumswhere I am a member, some of them asoffshoots of published articles formagazines and using artwork that wasoriginally prepared for those articles.Poster production is not one of myprimary activities, since I work full timeas a professional instructor in thelocomotive building industry.

Consequently I am offering this articlein an effort to provide others with theinformation they need to producesimilar posters locally to meet the needsof their museums.

Planning production of a posterrequires sources of information andimages as well as knowledge of thehistory and the talent to be able to usethe selected computer software. Thereare many information sources that arenot well known to the general public orthe railroad enthusiast community thatcan be uncovered with a little detectivework, and frequently provide diagramsand artwork that have not seen muchcirculation outside of railroad shops.Particularly useful documents includelocomotive parts books, maintenancemanuals, operator’s manuals, and theElectro-Motive Maintenance Instructiondocuments. These are often illustratedwith cutaway views, but may haveviewing quality diminished by thepresence of callout numbers and otherobstructing text or lines. Someknowledge of the use of computer photoediting software consequently becomesa very useful supplement in the processof designing poster presentations. Otheruseful sources of images andsupplemental information includemagazine advertisements, US Patents,sales brochures, and other printedinformation documents that may besuitable for display.

Most of the equipmentmanufacturers’ publications we havementioned were originally issued aspublicly distributed information and donot carry copyright notices. Their useby a 501C3 non-profit organization foran “educational” application falls underthe “fair use” guidelines and generallydoes not require any permission orlicensing. However if your organizationwanted to sell any of the imagescollected from these sources, orproducts employing those images, theymight want to get a more accurate legalopinion of the options for their use.Some railroads are particularly diligentin enforcing licensing requirements fordisplay of their trademarks.

Once you have researched yourintended subject and collected theinformation and images that you feelare suitable for use in preparing aposter, you can begin the scanning andprocessing of the images that is usuallythe most time consuming part of anyposter project. Regardless of the type ofpresentation or desktop publishingsoftware that you intend to use for thefinal layout, the images shouldgenerally be scanned in at least a 600dots per inch (DPI) format, andpreferably in 1200 DPI mode. Since theJPEG internet file format tends todegrade with each successivegeneration of editing, I would suggest

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Detailed mechanical topics can be explored through the use of posters. Thisposter explaining the design and function of the EMD F-unit truck designed byMartin Blomberg was produced using diagrams adapted from a variety of EMDmaintenance publications and locomotive servicing charts.

scanning in the TIFF file format, doingyour editing, then converting to JPEG(if needed) for the final posting. Thiswill result in rather large image filesizes, but will provide better sourcefiles for the editing that will follow.Most poster layouts will be a singlepage or single slide file, and any goodpresentation or desktop publishingsoftware is able to work with file sizesup to 100 Megs without difficulty, solarger image files generally are not aproblem in producing a display poster.

If you are scanning line art,particularly cutaway views oflocomotives or rolling stock, it isparticularly important to get theartwork parallel to the axis of thescanner. Having “climbing” lines thatchange pixel traces as they cross theimage is very distracting for viewingand immediately advertises that theimage was processed through a scanner.It may require several attempts atscanning in order to get the imagealigned properly so that lines do not“climb”, but doing this at the scanningphase can avoid a lot of image editinglater.

Many images can be scanned in“millions of colors” setting on thescanner, but some black and whiteartwork may look better when scannedin grayscale mode. If you use grayscale,be aware that you will probably need tochange the image mode from grayscaleto RGB (red-green-blue) color modewhen you edit it and clean it up.Grayscale tends to record everything inshades of gray including any whitebackground, and this can leave adistracting “beard” of gray around theimage when you post it onto a page toprint, unless you intentionally go in andpaint the background to pure white withyour image editing software. However,if you are going to put a line framearound all the images on your poster,this step can usually be skipped.

You usually will not need the veryexpensive professional software like thefull-featured Adobe Photoshop for thiskind of image editing. I have found thatthe less complicated Adobe PhotoshopElements software that usually sells forless than $100 is quite suitable for theimage editing work required in posterproduction. Photoshop Elements is alsocapable of doing area “painting”,allowing you to fill enclosed areas of animage with either gray tones or areas ofcolor. This is ideal for providing someimpact to black and white line artworkto get it to stand out better on a poster,or for color-coding cutaway artwork tohighlight particular systems orcomponents.

Once you have completed thescanning and editing of the images youintend to use, the next issue is theselection of the software that you will

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use to do the poster layout work.Generally speaking, most well knownpresentation, desktop publishing, andword processing software packagesmay provide the necessary capabilitiesfor this job. However, my personalpreference is the use of MicrosoftPowerPoint as the layout software, dueto its widespread use in the generalbusiness community and its ability towork with odd sized pages and allowpositioning, rotating, and sequentialordering of any element of artwork ortext anywhere on the page. My favoriteversion of PowerPoint is the 2003issue, which uses entirely text-basedmenus, I find this one easier to workwith (visually) than the newer versions.Consequently from this point on in thearticle I am assuming the use ofPowerPoint, and if you use differentsoftware you will need to made suitableadaptations on your own.

To begin the layout of a posterworking from a new document inPowerPoint, first select whether youwant the page to be in profile (vertical)or landscape (horizontal) orientation.Then under the page setup options,select a custom paper size, and set yourpaper dimensions to 24 inches by 36inches, or whatever dimensions suityour preference. I use 24 by 36 fornearly all posters because it is astandard poster frame size, making theframes readily available at officesupply stores, and the 24 inchdimension is short enough to alloweasy transportation in shorter mailingtubes.

Once you have your page sizeselected, you will may want to chose alayout template, or select the blank

page if you intend to position all yourtext manually. My own preference isalways the blank page, I do not want allthe posters to end up with the text linesin exactly the same places. Using thetext insertion tool, position your maintitle for the poster, then work your waydown through the images andcomponents you intend to use, placingand positioning the largest viewingelements first, and working toward thesmaller images and text blocks. Mypreference is to reserve about 1/6th ofthe poster area at the top for the maintitle, you generally want it positionedhigh on the poster so that people cansee it over any other folks that may bestanding in the way. I have noparticular preferences in layout of theelements, I have used two rows of threeimages and two rows of four imageseach, straight line arrangements acrossthe poster, and totally random layouts,and all of them can work well. Postersthat tell a story in a succession ofimages obviously have to maintain theproper presentation order, but postersthat use a variety of images of differingsizes can often use a very randomlayout.

You need to be very careful aboutthe choices of fonts for the text. It isbest to check with the organization thatwill print the posters to make sure thattheir computer has the same fonts thatyou are using on your posters. If thefonts on the computer used for thelayout work are not present on thecomputer used for the printing, theprinting computer will makesubstitutions of fonts, and you can endup with distorted or improperly fitting

The International Correspondence Schools poster was presented to SteamtownNHS and commemorates the role that ICS played in railroad education and itsprominent position as a leading business in the Scranton, Pennsylvania area.

text blocks, incorrect line endings, andwith text blocks interfering withimages.

Once you have the essentialelements positioned, you will want toobserve how they interact on the page,and whether any of the images blockportions of the text. It may be necessaryto make some adjustment with the“move forward” and “move backward”commands until everything is visiblewithout unwanted overlapping. If youplan on putting lines around images,this should be done at this time and thenthe poster should be viewed again todetermine if any images overlap eachother improperly. The final step in thelayout process should be the insertion ofarrows and callout numbers, if they areneeded.

Matte printing is generally the bestmode for viewing, since poster framesmay come with glossy cover sheets thatbecome a blur of reflections if the printis also done on glossy paper. Mattepaper is also usually the least expensiveof the printing options, with canvasfinish papers often being the mostexpensive.

Once you do a test printing of theposter you may find some elementsrequire adjustment. If you did not havelines around the margins of images, it issometimes difficult to tell exactly wherethe edges are positioned on the page ifyou need to edit and replace them.Getting an exact positioning for a re-edited image can be very critical if youhave arrows or number callouts pastedover the top of the image. One trick thatworks very well for removing andreplacing an image is to apply a linemargin to the older image on the page,then insert the newly edited version ofthe image over it. Stretch the new imageout so that it is positioned directly overthe previous version of the image, rightup to the edge lines. Then walk the newversion to the right using about fourclicks of the arrow key. Highlight theolder version and press “delete” so thatit is removed. Then highlight the newversion and walk it back to the left withthe same number of clicks of the arrowkey. Finally use the “send to the back”command to position the image behindany arrows or callout numbers that youinstalled.

Check to make sure that anyimages that require credits are properlyidentified, and also consider creditingyour design and layout work in the texton the poster. Preparing a poster can bea pretty time consuming project,particularly if it involves a lot ofcomputer artwork development andimage editing, and that effort is worthyof at least the degree of recognition thatwould be afforded to a photographer forthe 1/1000th of a second of work it tookto produce an image.

ONLINE TICKETING –CUSTOMER BENEFITS

By George & Marcy Williams, Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum

Many of us rail fans have movedinto the computer age kicking andscreaming! However, current and futuregenerations have never lived in a worldwithout computers. In fact, with theadvent of smart phones and tablets,they’ve advanced beyond having acomputer at home to having a computerin every pocket. The Internet hasdramatically changed how mostproducts are sold. These days, mostpeople assume that tickets for theaters,shows, and even train or trolley ridesare available for purchase online,ideally from your organization’s ownwebsite.

We implemented an internet basedticketing system at the Heart of DixieRailroad Museum five years ago, andeach year the number of passengersbuying tickets online increases. We arealso finding more and more of ourpassengers actually ordering theirtickets on their smart phones whiledriving to the museum. We’ve learnedthat there are distinct advantages to anonline ticketing system, and we’d liketo share them with you:

A ticket office that’s open 24/7With an online ticketing system,

customers have the option to purchasetickets from anywhere, at any time,allowing for a virtual ticket office that'snever closed. A web site is a great wayof promoting your organization, butyou're undoubtedly losing customers ifthey can't purchase tickets whilevisiting your site. Very often they'llmake a decision about attending anevent the minute they read your trainride description, so make it as easy aspossible to purchase tickets right at thatmoment. If you force them to wait untilthe next day to call your ticket office,they could forget, change their mind, orfind another way to spend their money.

SpeedAnother advantage of online

ticketing is speed, with ticket purchasesnow taking only a matter of minutes. Ifa decision to attend an event at yourrailroad can only be acted upon whenthe ticket office is open, or by callingand facing the risk of lengthy holdtimes, you risk losing business. With anonline ticketing system, your customerneeds only a few minutes on theinternet, along with the relevantpersonal and credit card details.

No long lines at the ticket windowAnother advantage of purchasing

rail tickets online is the fact that yourcustomers can avoid long lines. One of

the most unpleasant aspects of thetraditional visit to the ticket office canbe waiting in a long line before evenreaching the window, only to find outthat you just sold the last available seaton the train.

Advance planningOf course, for tourists from out of

town, internet booking can make itpossible to arrange tickets for a specificevent well in advance. Booking beforeeven arriving in the city helps tostreamline a busy family vacationschedule.

But it's not just about making iteasier for your customers to purchasetickets. With an internet based ticketingsystem, you can expect increased salesand attendance, increased efficiency,profits, passenger satisfaction andreduced costs.

An online ticketing system canmake it easier for your customers topurchase tickets to your events. Butthere are additional advantages, such asincreased efficiency and passengersatisfaction, reduced costs, andimproved sales and attendance.

Save time, reduce workloadAn internet-based ticketing system

greatly reduces the time you spendanswering phone calls, correspondenceand other ticket related matters, a hugebenefit if you are a volunteer runorganization. At the same time, you cangive your passengers an enhanced levelof customer service by offering themthe option of printing the tickets athome, printing a voucher to exchange atthe ticket window for a boarding pass,or even storing a “mobile” ticket ontheir smart phone.

Increase operating efficiencyHere’s a great example from our

railroad, the Heart of Dixie RailroadMuseum in Alabama. Our biggest eventof the year is our North Pole Express.Before we implemented our onlineticketing system, we took reservationsover the phone for our two departuresper night. We had 350 seats to sell pertrain, and we couldn’t manage anythingmore sophisticated than simply sellingthem as general admission (and eventhen we oversold and undersold trains).So for each departure, we had 350people all thinking they were going toget a seat in the upper dome car! Wespent a long time getting everyonehappily seated. Once we installed ourticketing system, we were able to sellseats by railcar and we never oversold.We set up boarding areas for eachrailcar and drastically decreased theamount of time spent boarding anddeboarding passengers. In fact, we wereable to add a third departure each night,thereby increasing our revenue by 50percent.

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Access your ticket office fromanywhere in the world

With the best internet basedticketing systems, you can access thefull functionality of your ticketingsystem from anywhere in the world.Set up events, sell tickets and handle alladministrative tasks, just the same as ifyou were sitting in the ticket office atyour depot. If you are a smallorganization, and especially if you relyon a handful of volunteers, you’llappreciate how this can spread theworkload, with everyone having accessto the same database in real time.

Better reportingIf you sell tickets online, you can

eliminate administrative headaches thatcome with using other ticketingmethods. No more spending endlesshours managing sales reporting withcalculators or spreadsheets. Need toknow the total passenger count for themonth for your FRA report? A fewclicks and you’ve got the number.Need to know the total tax/tariff due tothe state each week? A few clicks andyou’ve got the dollar figure. Comparerevenue for the Easter train this yearversus last year. Easily identify whichdeparture time sells best. You get theidea. . .

Just think of the time you couldsave! Wouldn’t you rather put yourefforts into coming up with new ideas,events and incentives for yourpassengers?

Now let’s take a look at themarketing advantages of an onlineticketing system.

Increase “brand” awarenessIntegrating online ticketing

capabilities will dramatically increasethe traffic generated by your web site.More people visiting your site meansmore referrals and more awareness ofyour organization. Displaying your webaddress on all publicity materials(brochures, posters, signage, printmedia, etc.) as the place to buy tickets ismuch more effective than simplyquoting a contact phone number. At theHeart of Dixie Railroad Museum, we’veshifted the emphasis in all traditionalmedia to our web address, and de-emphasized our phone number, whichhas resulted in increased “hits” on ourwebsite. And once you have someonelooking at your site, they’ll be able tosee all the events you offer, giving yougreater exposure.

Build customer loyaltyYour own web site is your

customer‘s primary choice whenlooking for event schedules or ticketavailability. People assume yourwebsite contains the most up to dateinformation and the best deals. Servingyour patrons well with a website that’s

not only informative, but allows them tobuy tickets online, is a great way tobuild loyalty. And your web site is byfar your lowest cost sales channel, plusthe one with the highest return.

Reinforce your imageAllow your customers to print their

tickets at home, and you can put acustomized piece in their hands.Include your logo. Promote upcomingevents at your museum. Partner withlocal merchants such as hotels,restaurants, and other attractions andadvertise them (could be a new revenuesource for you!)

Strengthen customer relationshipsAt the core of any ticketing system

lies a good customer database with afull record of all purchases. You can usethat information to offer specialdiscounts to your best customers, send afree ticket on the customer’s birthday,notify large quantity purchasers ofspecial group events, etc.

Take advantage of email advertisingEvery email address you collect

from those buying tickets on yourwebsite is a potential return customer.Email is generally a low-cost marketingtool that can be quite effective. Someonline ticketing systems incorporateemail “blast” capabilities that allow youto reach out to those who already knowhow great your museum is. Or, you candownload the email list you’vedeveloped and send emails through adifferent service. Or, you can downloadnames and addresses and sendbrochures or letters through good ol’fashioned snail mail!

Jump into social mediaSome internet based ticketing

systems will automatically integratewith Facebook, Twitter, and othersocial media technologies. Althoughmany of us have barely dipped a toe inthe pond of social networks, they willbecome more and more important.

We’ve outlined some of theadvantages offered by an onlineticketing system. But how to choose?Ideally you want one that will:

Keep your customers from getting distracted

Be sure your online ticketingsystem keeps your customers on yoursite. You want a system that isseamlessly integrated into your ownwebsite. Don’t risk driving yourpassengers away by sending them off toa different website that looks differentfrom your own. Don’t risk pushing yourcustomers into buying tickets to atotally different event that they may seeon a separate ticketing site.

Provide your customers with optionsDifferent demographics are more

comfortable with different purchasemethods. You want to be able to selltickets on your website, over the phone,at the ticket window, and even througha third party (such as the local hotel).

Provide yourself with marketing toolsYou want to be able to produce

customizable print-at-home tickets. Youwant access to your customer database.You want built-in email newslettercapabilities. You want built-in links toFacebook, Twitter, and other socialmedia tools.

Put revenue in your hands right awayYou want a ticketing system that

puts all ticket revenue directly into yourbank account, not a company that holdsyour money until after the train has leftthe station. You want an online systemthat allows you to determine whether ornot you are going to charge aprocessing fee for tickets, and what thatfee will be. The service fee shouldnever be a compulsory amount paiddirectly to the ticketing system.

Offer low-cost, yet secure, print options

If you want to print tickets for yourcustomers, you want a ticketing systemthat works not only with expensivethermal printers, but also with low-costlabelwriters or even a standard laser orinkjet printer. At the same time, youwant to prevent potential fraud with asystem that will produce a uniquebarcode on each ticket.

Provide the reports you needYou want a ticketing system that

easily generates relevant attendance,financial, and accounting reports.

Allow you to “set the rules”You want a ticketing system that is

flexible enough to adapt to the way yourun your operation, not one that makesyou adapt your policies or procedures tothe system.

Stop kicking and screaming aboutentering the internet age, and startkicking and screaming to implement anonline ticketing system at yourmuseum!

THE MARKET BASKET

By James D. Porterfield

Can you top this?Frank Fowler is a railroad man. His

broad and pleasant face offers asparkling gaze that seldom breakscontact, and a permanent if slight smile.He greets questions with a cocked headand deliberation before uttering a word.An orderly man, he can put his handson exactly what he’s looking for amid

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the papers arranged neatly around himon his desk, or boot it up and print itusing the computer sitting to his right. Itwas the third thing he said when wefirst met that should get your attention:“Last year we showed a 22 percentincrease in ridership.”

Fowler grew up around trains - hisfather worked for the PennsylvaniaRailroad. When he graduated highschool, but was too young at 18 to signon as a brakeman, he enlisted in the U. S. Army and was assigned to theRail Battalion. He saw duty here andabroad. When he was discharged hespent several years “booming” – SooLine, CB&Q, and FEC (this lateraborted by a strike as he awaited hisphysical) – before eventually finding ahome with the B&O, then C&O, thenCSX, where he rose to hold severalsenior management positions. Today heis the General Superintendent of theWestern Maryland Scenic Railroad(http://www.wmsr.com/), a positionhe’s held since 2007.

Today’s WMSR is a seasonaloperation, running early May throughlate December (There is a photo freightshoot in January and another in April).Steam excursions every Friday throughSunday feature a 1916 Baldwin 2-8-0,with an ex-Reading or ex-PRR GP-30hauling the excursions added onThursdays from June through

September (this schedule is expandedfor October’s fall foliage trips). All runsoffer coach seating (to a maximum of600 seats if necessary), and runs onSaturday and Sunday offer a First ClassDining experience seating an additional125 in two table cars, with overflowaccommodated in a dining car. On aSaturday in early June the train hauled10 cars with 240 coach passengers and133 First Class passengers. Specialevents, including 17 Murder MysteryTrains and the holiday-themed NorthPole Express, fill out the schedule.

An explanation is offeredAfter riding the train as a guest of

the railroad, a writer asked Fowler totalk about the dramatic growth theoperation has shown in a downeconomy. He settled behind a wrap-around desk in his third floor office inthe restored four-story 1913 WesternMaryland Railway Station inCumberland, Maryland, and had this toreport:

“Two changes we made had a bigimpact,” Fowler begins. “First, we nowpartner with a reinvigorated AlleganyCounty Department of Tourism(www.mdmountainside.com).”

Barbara Buehl, Allegany CountyDirector of Tourism, explains: “In 2003Allegany County added a 3% tax tohotel/motel charges to raise funds to

promote the county.A portion of thatrevenue goes to theT o u r i s mDepartment tomarket areaattractions.” Thisfunding allows allattractions in thecounty to worktogether to buildattendance withouthaving to pay a feeto join the group.“Services neededby the county’steam – web design,print copy and thelike – areoutsourced to localsuppliers, furthers t r e n g t h e n i n gcommunity ties,”Buehl points out.“We have a goodteam and goodpartners.”

“To takeadvantage of this,”Fowler says, “weturned the design,production anddistribution of ourbrochure over toBarb’s team. We’ddone it ourselves inthe past, and relied

on selling advertising to cover itsexpenses.” That was only marginallyeffective. “Now we have a slick, cleanbrochure that is all about the railroad.While there is a fee for this work, thework is also supported by countyrevenue.” The county department alsoworks to promote area attractions –including the WSMR – in print mediaand through attendance at conventionsaimed at tour group operators.

“A second change we adopted,”Fowler says, “was to make greater useof the internet in our marketingcampaigns.” With the Department ofTourism’s assistance, advertisementsfor the WMSR now appear on a numberof websites. “The banner ads on theweb pages of the Baltimore Sun andWJZ television are especiallyeffective.”

Web-based campaigns offer anumber of advantages. Their contentcan be modified quickly. “If I’ve soldout a Murder Mystery run,” saysFowler, “I can change the ad to focuson a future train or to another eventaltogether.” Also, you can determinewith accuracy how effective your adsare. At one point in the telephoneconversation with Barb Buehl, forexample, she could be heard tapping afew computer keys before saying, “Inour new Spring Campaign, Frank’s trainhas already had over 1,100 unique visits(A “visit,” for the uninitiated, issomeone who has spent time on the site,most commonly by having clicked tovarious pages within the site.), and thecampaign’s only two weeks old.”Further, you can learn quickly where inyour marketing area the greatest interestis shown in your content, which may inturn allow you to customize future adsto specific markets.

But wait! There’s more!The WMSR now partners with

other attractions in the area as well tobuild attendance at both. One of themost successful arrangements so far hasbeen with the Allegheny HighlandsTrail of Maryland, a segment of the150-mile Great Allegheny Passage rail-trail that connects Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania, with Washington, DC.For a $5.00 fee, the WMSR will haul apassenger’s bike in the baggagecompartment of a baggage/coachcombine from Cumberland 16 miles upto Frostburg, the town at the end of itsrun. From there, the trail offers aleisurely descent alongside the route ofthe train back to Cumberland. Anotherexample is a partnership with publicbroadcasting wherein WMSR ticketsare used as prizes for contributorsduring fund raising.

Tanya Wright, WMSR’s GroupSales Manager and Special EventsCoordinator, has engaged a new catererfor the on-board food service in the

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First Class section. The value of thismove was apparent on the empty platesbeing carried back to the dining carkitchen when the meal was over.

Greater emphasis is being placedon up-selling in the reservationsdepartment. “My catering contract callsfor a 25 person guarantee,” Fowler says.“If I only have 12 reservations severalweeks before the event, I can cancel therun and make a dozen people angry, orgo ahead with the run and lose moneyon the meals. Now word goes out to thereservationists to focus on upgradingthose who make a Coach reservation forthat date, or to suggest that date to thosewho call for information.”

Fowler, meanwhile, is looking foropportunities to cross promote withother compatible attractions insurrounding states. When his visitorcalled his attention to several railattractions in southern West Virginia,he quickly grabbed a sheet of paper tonote their web addresses, mutteringsoftly about them being potentialpartners.

The bottom lineAll of this effort has had two

effects:First, the aforementioned 22%

year-over-year increase for 2010. Infact, every category of ridership showedan increase: Murder Mysteries - up15.1%; Coach – up 20.2%; Club Car –up 12.7%; First Class – up a whopping37.3%.

Second, optimism about the future.“Despite terrible weather, gas prices,and concern about the economy,”Fowler says, “I’d like to show another5% increase in riders this year.” Hislonger-term goal is to attract 20% moreriders overall before seeing his numberslevel off.

Some suggestionsIf your local tourism agency is not

active in some of these areas, work toeffect a change in its direction.Meanwhile, seek out your own partnersto share printing costs, advertisingexpenses, and expertise. Scour yourvolunteer list to identify those capableof managing and measuring an internetpresence and of providing social medianetworking capability. Seek outcompatible tourist attractions – both railand non-rail, such as bed-and-breakfasts, restaurants and otherhistoric sites - within a 200-mile radiusand offer to do co-op marketing. Thiscan include anything from making each

other’s literature available to offering adiscount at your property or event forthose coming to you from a partner, orpackaging special events that includeyour partner(s).

And we’d like nothing better thanto profile your success in these pages.

About This Column: In eachquarterly issue, The Market Basket willaddress critical marketing issues facingthose who administer railroad heritagetourism sites. If you have a successstory to share, or questions you wantanswered, contact Jim Porterfield atjamesdporterfield@mac.com; or at 763Cricklewood Drive, State College, PA16803. Jim is a marketing instructor atPenn State University, was the Directorof Marketing for the New York Instituteof Finance and Vice President of Salesand Marketing for SMC PublicationsMarketing Group.

HERITAGE RAILNEWS

American Locomotive CompanyHeritage Museum, Schenectady, NY

The new museum opened June 11.The ALCO Historical and TechnicalSociety is leasing 3.34 acres, includingan 8000 square foot building in the old

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Alco plant complex. The goal is todisplay products produced at the plant.Besides railroad equipment, this willinclude World War II and Korean wartanks.

Baltimore Streetcar MuseumBaltimore, MD

It’s a cliché that there aren’tenough visiting railfans to keep yourmuseum or tourist railroad in business,but that doesn’t mean fun and profitcan’t be achieved together on occasion.On February 18-19 BSM put on a CabinFever Day event. Trolley museumvolunteers from across the northeastwere invited for an intensive two daysof riding and guest operations. Ninecars were deployed and dinner wasserved.

Bluegrass Railroad MuseumVersailles, KY

The Don Scalf collection ofrailroad china and glassware has beendonated to the museum.

Camp 6Tacoma, WA

Unable to find a buyer or investorto keep it open, the logging/railroadmuseum has permanently closed. Itoperated for 47 years. As this is written,the future of its rolling stock isuncertain.

Cass Scenic RailroadCass, WV

Cass carries its passengers inconverted freight cars and log flats thatdate from the line’s lumber haulingdays. Because they are older than 50years, keeping them in service nowrequires an annual FRA waiver, whichhas been received.

Cass has been scrapping anddisposing of surplus rolling stock thathad been physically isolated by a 1985flood that severed track between Cassand Durbin. The equipment was

determined to be of no future use to therailroad. U. S. Army 2-8-0 #612 hasgone to the Southeastern RailwayMuseum in Duluth, GA. Two formerChesapeake & Ohio heavyweightdiners, two Reading commuter coachesand a Canadian National caboose havebeen scrapped.

Colorado Railroad Museum Golden, CO

The museum has acquired a UnionPacific diner (ACF 1949), as well as aRio Grande lightweight combine. Bothran on the Rio Grande Zephyr and thecombine was used on the Ski Train as abaggage car. The seats in the passengersection were removed.

Connecticut Eastern RailroadMuseum, Willimantic, CT

The museum has constructed areplica of the unique “Gallows Signal”which regulated rail traffic at the BridgeStreet crossing in Willimantic.Originally built around 1850, itcontrolled the crossing of the NewHaven and the Central VermontRailroad. The two-armed signal was inuse until the 1950s.

“The lines crossed at grade justwest of Bridge Street, where theentrance to the museum is currentlylocated,” said museum spokespersonAdrian Atkins. “An employee known asthe crossing tender would set the signalsand also manually stop vehicular trafficon Bridge Street.” The crossing tenderworked out of a small building on thenorthwest side of Bridge Street.

The 26-foot-tall replica has beenbuilt as close as possible to the originaldesign, just inside the main gate of themuseum.

Connecticut Trolley MuseumWindsor Locks, CT

The Windsor Locks PreservationAssociation has donated $43,784 to the

museum. The money will help restore arecently acquired Bangor & Aroostookwood caboose, and the “Isle of Safety”,an historic streetcar waiting shelterfrom Hartford, CT. The Windsor LocksPreservation Association was frustratedin its efforts to get help from local andstate government to purchase a boardedup building on Main Street in WindsorLocks, and dissolved itself in March. Avote was held among the members todonate any remaining funds to anothernon-profit preservation organization inthe area.

Durango Railroad Historical SocietyDurango, CO

The society is known for itsrestoration of Rio Grande narrow gauge2-8-0 #315 (Baldwin 1895), which hasoperated periodically on the Durango &Silverton and the Cumbres & Toltec.Their latest project is a permanent homefor the locomotive in a building thatitself is a surprising survivor. TheSilverton Northern was one of threemining roads that fed the Rio Grande inSilverton. Abandoned in 1942, its two-stall engine house still stands in closeproximity to D&S rails. It wasnecessary to building a siding to reachthe building. This included thefabrication of a new stub switch,featuring a genuine Harp switch standowned by the San Juan CountyHistorical Society. Althoughstructurally sound, the engine houseneeds work. To that end, the historicalsociety is getting a grant to assess thebuilding. In the meantime, it houses#315, a Silverton Northern wood-bodied rail bus, and the truckless bodiesof a SN caboose and Silverton Railroadbaggage car #5.

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Seashore Trolley Museum has restored DC Transit PCC streetcar #1304 (St.Louis 1941) to service. The car had been used by General Electric as a test vehicleat its erie, PA plant and it had been heavily modified. Seashore photo.

The Connecticut Eastern RailroadMuseum in Willimantic, CT has builtthis replica “gallows”signal. CEphoto.

Fort Smith Trolley Museum Fort Smith, AR

The museum has received a$10,000 matching grant from the 20thCentury Electric Railway Foundation torefurbish the motors of Veracruz singletruck open car #9, acquired from theLake Shore Electric Museum. Most ofthe $10,000 match has been raised.

A library building has been createdin a former warehouse located next tothe museum’s streetcar line. It will alsohouse a display area, gift shop and willdouble as the depot for Arkansas-Missouri Railroad excursion trains. Atpress time two ADA-compliant restrooms and a snack kitchen were underconstruction. The library has recentlyreceived the donation of severalthousand 5x7 photographs of steamlocomotives by Louis A. Marre.

Great Smoky Mountain RailroadBryson City, NC

The railroad has created the W.J.Sawyer Educational Foundation as anon-profit to solicit and raise funds tosupport its steam restoration program.The foundation will seek grants,individual contributions, sellmemorabilia and have fundraisers fromtime to time. Monies raised by thefoundation will be used for therestoration and preservation oflocomotives 1702 and 722. The railroadwill transfer ownership of thelocomotives to the foundation and willlease them back.

Hawaiian Railway Museum Ewa Beach, HI

Navy 65-ton center cab diesel #65-00174 has run under its own power forthe first time since the Navy donated itin 1974.

Kentucky Railway Museum New Haven, KY

The State of Kentucky has granted$190,350 to the museum to repair andrehabilitate track and a crossing .

Lake County Historical Society Two Harbors, MN

The Society is receiving a$200,000 federal grant to cosmeticallyrestore Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range2-8-8-4 #229 (Baldwin 1943), which isdisplayed outside the former TwoHarbors depot.

Michigan Transit Museum Mount Clemens, MI

The museum has accumulatedgrants totaling $30,000 to repair andreplace the outer walls and brick facingof the 1856 Mount Clemens depot.

Minnesota Streetcar MuseumMinneapolis, MN

The museum has received a pair of$10,000 grants from the 20th CenturyElectric Railway Foundation and the

Winona Foundation to rebuild a powertruck for Winona streetcar #10 (St.Louis 1913). The truck’s two motorsare being rebuilt thanks to earlier grantsfrom the same foundations.

The extensive collections ofdeceased former members JamesKreuzberger and William Cordes havebeen donated to the museum. TheKreuzberger collection includesnumerous book, photos, models andDuluth Street Railway documents. TheCordes collection consists of 60 boxesof color slides and movies.

Museum of the American RailroadFrisco, TX

The Museum of the AmericanRailroad held a groundbreaking at itsnew 12.34-acre site in Frisco, Texas, onMay 31. The event kicks off the initialconstruction phase of extensive gradingand site preparation, along with theinstallation of nearly one mile oftrackage. BNSF has agreed to providethe switch connecting the museum totheir main line at no cost. Engineeringwas provided by Arlington-basedLunsford Associates, which donated aportion of their services to the project.

Northern Ohio Railway MuseumChippewa Lake, OH

Although it interprets the tractionhistory of northern Ohio, the museumhas never run a streetcar under wire.That will change soon—the goal is toaccomplish it this year. For some timesupplies have been stockpiled.Overhead materials from New Orleanswere salvaged following HurricaneKatrina. More were acquired from thePennsylvania Trolley Museum and theLake Shore Electric sale. Installationwill be funded by a pair of $10,000challenge grants from the 20th CenturyElectric Railway Foundation and anindividual museum member. As of earlyJune, much of the match had beenraised.

Northwest Railway MuseumSnoqualmie, WA

The world's first undergroundpower generating station, opened in1898, is located at Snoqualmie Falls.Puget Sound Energy owns it and in2010 began a major reconstruction ofthe plant. Unfortunately, efforts toconstruct a retaining wall above thewater intake did not go as planned. Soilconditions and other factors causedmovement of the hillside, which alsosupports the museum’s railway. Trainservice was immediately suspended andadditional geotechnical investigationbegan. Changes in constructiontechniques, longer soil anchors, someclean ballast for the railroad, and twoyears of monitoring are among themitigation measures that have beenadopted. In late March 2011

rehabilitation of the railway began.Crews from a commercial trackcompany dismantled the track,excavated and replaced the old ballastand rebuilt the track. Puget SoundEnergy paid for the work. Train serviceresumed April 2, 2011.

Orange Empire Railway MuseumPerris, CA

In 2008 the Scoular Company ofOntario, CA donated former U. S. AirForce 80-ton center cab diesel #1601(GE 1951). It has now been transportedto the museum. It was originally builtfor the Army.

Los Angeles Railways PCC #3072(St. Louyis 1938) has been acquired.The late Jack Richer bought it in 1963,transported it to his ranch in the OwensValley, and ran it back and forth on ashort piece of track powered bybatteries. The car is complete, butweathered.

Pacific Locomotive Association Sunol, CA

The association has acquiredPickering Lumber home-built woodcupola caboose #04. It was built in the1940s on the steel underframe of a shortlog car.

Pacific Southwest Railway MuseumCampo, CA

Readers may have heard about theModesto & Empire Traction replacingits long-lasting fleet of GE 70-tondiesels with new gen sets. One of theseretired units was originally built in 1955for the San Diego & Arizona Eastern,where it replaced steam on the SanDiego-San Ysidro part of the railroad. Ithas been purchased by the museum.

San Diego Electric RailwayAssociation, San Diego, CA

The Association is restoringvintage PCC cars for operation as adowntown shuttle on the tracks of theSan Diego light rail system. The firstrestored car is #529 (St. Louis 1945).The car was built for St. Louis and latersold to San Francisco. Upon retirement,it was one of a group of cars that wentto Lake Tahoe with the intent of startinga heritage trolley line there. The car hasbeen completely rebuilt and sports apantograph for LRT operation.Restoration of a second car isbeginning.

Western New York RailwayHistorical Society, Buffalo, NYThe society has accumulated 45

pieces of rolling stock over the years,including Pennsylvania Rail Road 2-10-0 #4483 (Baldwin 1923) and astring of former Empire State Limitedcoaches. These are currently scattered atseveral open air sites. That is about tochange.

The society is creating what it calls

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the Heritage Discovery Center, to belocated on 35-acre former BuffaloColor Corp. site in South Buffalo. Thecompany, once one of the world’slargest producers of food and clothingdyes, went bankrupt in 2003. The plantwas closed and abandoned. In 2009,Honeywell International agreed toremediate the property and the NewYork State department ofEnvironmental Conservation designatedthe property as an official Brown FieldOpportunity Area, making it eligible fortax credits to aid in the cleanup.

The site is divided into four majorareas. The society will be leasing eachof the areas as the remediation iscompleted. Area E and Area C are onschedule to be completed by March2011 and the Society will take overthose properties at that time.

On Area E, South BuffaloDevelopment and the City of Buffalowill leave four large concretefoundations from the old food dyebuildings in place so new car shop andequipment storage buildings can beerected on them. This will greatlyreduce construction costs. Plans are toerect the first building by the end of2011 and lay the first track.

In Area C three large structurestotaling over 125,000 square feet havebeen saved from demolition for re-useas the main museum display buildings.These are the former Power House, IceHouse and Engineering offices, all brickbuildings built in 1917.

Areas A and B are located alongSouth Park Avenue and the BuffaloRiver. Demolition work will becompleted later this summer andenvironmental cleanup is expected to becompleted by April 2012. There are fivebuildings that will be preserved in theseareas.

The association has purchased twoparcels within the site. One contains a22,000 square foot, two-story officebuilding, and three acres of pavedparking lots. The building was built in1985. It will house offices, temporarymuseum displays, meeting rooms and agift shop on the first floor.

Because the site is so large, thegoal is joint occupancy with a numberof other technology museums, includingthe Steel Plant Museum and IndustrialHeritage Museum. The result willresemble Brooks Powerland in Oregon.

To help fund the project, thesociety has formed a for-profitdevelopment corporation to takeadvantage of the tax credits associatedwith the brownfield and historicbuildings rehabilitation. These creditsprovide a minimum of 20% (and incertain aspects up to 60%) in refundabletax credits for every dollar spentbuilding the museum property over thenext ten years. The plan is to sell the

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The Wabash Valley Railroaders Museum in Terre Haute, IN has preserved HaleyTower (top), with its pistol grip interlocker, and Spring Hill Tower (middle andbottom), with its armstrong machine. They’ve also built a railfan observationplatform, and restored Pennsylvania Railroad N6b caboose #981741, built bysubsidiary Vandalia Railroad in 1900. Jim Vaitkunas photos.

credits to private investors seeking taxsaving investments.

Wiscasset, Waterville & FarmingtonRailroad Museum, Alna, METhe museum has extended its right

of way 1400 feet through theacquisition of perpetual leases on twoland parcels. A portion of right of waythat already has track was under a leasethat was to expire in 2025. That parcelhas been purchased for $10,000,ensuring permanent occupancy.

New Jersey Transit PCCs MoveWith the help of the Friends of the

New Jersey Transportation HeritageCenter, three of the Newark PCC carshave found new homes, with car 5going to the Seashore Museum, car 6 tothe Rockhill Trolley Museum and car10, which is en route for heritage use inSan Diego, currently being stored at theBaltimore Streetcar Museum, pending apossible rehab elsewhere before it goeswest. Also removed from the formerCity Subway (now known as NewarkLight Rail) was snow sweeper 5246,which is being given temporary securestorage at BSM for the Friends of theNJTHC. Car 6 has already beenthoroughly checked out at Rockhill andwas operated there for the first time onMay 21. It is planned to finishrepainting and other minor work andhave the car enter service this fall. Cars5 and 6 left on April 12, while car 10and snow sweeper 5246 left on April14. All were moved by Silk RoadTransport.

RAILWAY HERITAGECALENDAR

Compiled by the NRHS

September 7 - 9, 2011: Narrow GaugeConvention

Location: Hickory, NCEvent Type: ConventionFor more information:

http://www.tarheelpress.com/ngc/Event Status is firm.

September 8, 9, & 10 2011: SouthernPacific Historical & Technical Society(SPH&TS) 2011 Annual Conference

Location: Double Tree Hotel, Portland-Lloyd Center, Portland, OR

Event Type: ConferenceFor more information: www.sphts.org/Event Status is firm. Registration will

begin in July 2011.

October 7, 8 & 9, 2011 The East BroadTop/ Rockhill Trolley Museum- FallSpectacular Weekend

Location: 421 Meadow St., RockhillFurnace, PA 17249

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Rock Island 4-6-2 #886 (Alco 1909)and a Milwaukee Road openplatform branch line combine at theWheels O’ Time Museum in Peoria,IL.

Event Type: EventFor complete event schedule, visit

www.ebtrr.com or call 814-447-3011Event status is firm.

October 13-15, 2011: Train CollectorsAssociation Eastern Division YorkMeets

Location: York Fairgrounds, 334Carlisle Ave., York, PA

Event Type: MeetingEvent status is firm.

October 15, 16, 22 & 23, 2011: NewRiver Train Excursions-Collis PHuntington Chapter of NRHS

Location: Huntington C&O Depotlocated at 935 7th Ave. in Huntington

Event Type: ExcursionWebsite:

http://www.newrivertrain.com/events.shtml

Event status is planned.

October 20 - 23, 2011: B&O RRHistorical Society - AnnualConvention

Location: Youngstown, OHEvent Type: ConventionContact information: www.borhs.orgEvent Status is proposed.

October 27 - 30, 2011: NRHS FallConference

Location: Wilmington, DEEvent Type: MeetingEvent status is firm.

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First Class Railroad Pins and Patches

The Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad in Boone, IA has painted its ex-LakeSuperior & Ishpeming RS1 (Alco 1951) into one of the numerous Minneapolis &St. Louis color schemes. B&SV photo.

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Western Railway Museum recently fielded an all-interurban photo freight. Sacramento Northern steeple cab locomotive #654(GE 1930) leads Central California Traction boxcar #2001 (Holman 1910), a flatcar from SN predecessor Oakland, Antioch &Eastern and SN caboose #1653 (built as a boxcar by Pullman in 1916, rebuilt as a caboose by Western Pacific in 1937). WRM photo.

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