It is currently Fri Mar 29, 2024 9:40 am

All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ]




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 23 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2
Author Message
 Post subject: Re: WW&F - Truth amidst the Whimsical, Weirdness & Foolery.
PostPosted: Tue May 17, 2022 1:00 pm 

Joined: Mon Aug 23, 2004 12:53 pm
Posts: 292
Location: Alna, ME
RCD wrote:
Didn't I see something about some shopping mall selling some 24-in train equipment?

Amusement Park railroad equipment on 24" gauge track is much, much, much smaller than a "full size" Maine two-footer. Even if the wheel profile of amusement park trains like those made by Crown, Chance, and Severn-Lamb were changed to be compatible with the heaver rail and frogs used on a Maine two-footer, the equipment would be grossly underpowered for use on the railroad.

Even most mining equipment and industrial railroads gauged to 24" are too small and underpowered for use on a Maine two-footer.

Thus, getting a small standard gauge locomotive, and sizing it down is really the only practical option for gaining a mainline, two-truck diesel suitable for the WW&F mainline.

Meanwhile, said locomotive arrived this morning at the WW&F. We look forward to "kitbashing" it over the coming years - as time and resources permit. (Unless time and resources materialize, this will not be a "front burner" project for the time being.)

_________________
-Ed Lecuyer
General Passenger Agent, WW&F Railway Museum, Alna ME.
Please help the WW&F Build Locomotive 11!


Offline
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: WW&F - Truth amidst the Whimsical, Weirdness & Foolery.
PostPosted: Tue May 17, 2022 10:57 pm 

Joined: Wed Jan 20, 2016 1:15 pm
Posts: 1477
Brian Norden wrote:
JR May wrote:
Non-profits have to make money to stay in business with a bottom line just as a for-profit organization does. Too many years in the red and its over.
About 35-40 years ago at a presentation during an Association of Railway Museum annual conference, I recall hearing Ray Crapo of Shore Line (East Haven) say something like the only difference between for profit and non-profit organizations should be the tile of the bottom line of the P&L statement. For a non-profit it would be "reserve" instead of "profit."


That is not accurate. A non-profit has to have a mission that is for the greater good. With railroad preservation it is usually educational or historical. It has to have a nominated board of directors that assures that it stays on its mission.


Offline
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: WW&F - Truth amidst the Whimsical, Weirdness & Foolery.
PostPosted: Wed May 18, 2022 2:18 pm 

Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2004 1:51 pm
Posts: 11482
Location: Somewhere east of Prescott, AZ along the old Santa Fe "Prescott & Eastern"
The more succinct live I've heard, here and elsewhere, is:

"Non-profit status is a tax category, not a mission statement."


Offline
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: WW&F - Truth amidst the Whimsical, Weirdness & Foolery.
PostPosted: Wed May 18, 2022 2:33 pm 

Joined: Wed Jan 20, 2016 1:15 pm
Posts: 1477
Alexander D. Mitchell IV wrote:
The more succinct live I've heard, here and elsewhere, is:

"Non-profit status is a tax category, not a mission statement."


Actually it is a mission statement. It means the mission is for a greater good (again in the case of rail preservation it’s almost always either historical or educational).

The mission is not to create a profit for the owner / investor and rather it is to educate and / or preserve and interpret history. That’s extremely important and something that all non-profits should be making clear to their members and customers.


Offline
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: WW&F - Truth amidst the Whimsical, Weirdness & Foolery.
PostPosted: Wed May 18, 2022 6:40 pm 

Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2005 9:06 pm
Posts: 2530
Location: Thomaston & White Plains
It's actually a little more like: "Not for profit is a tax status, not a business plan".

The organization needs to generate a surplus, to be able to continue the stated goals of the mission statement.

Howard P.

_________________
"I'm a railroad man, not a prophet."


Offline
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: WW&F - Truth amidst the Whimsical, Weirdness & Foolery.
PostPosted: Thu May 19, 2022 9:43 am 

Joined: Wed Jan 20, 2016 1:15 pm
Posts: 1477
Howard P. wrote:
It's actually a little more like: "Not for profit is a tax status, not a business plan".
Howard P.


That is incorrect. If you choose to create a non-profit only for the tax status you are deceiving the government and stealing from tax payers.

A non-profit must be organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit. It must be operated to carry out a charitable, educational, religious, literary or scientific purpose.


Offline
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: WW&F - Truth amidst the Whimsical, Weirdness & Foolery.
PostPosted: Thu May 19, 2022 12:13 pm 
User avatar

Joined: Fri Oct 24, 2008 9:05 pm
Posts: 1053
Location: MA
Every time I go to Portland Maine I think to myself I bet I could move those cars by hand. Have you ever tried a mining locomotive? I know you guys have way more experiences to foot gauge and I do I just find it hard to believe that you need that much power to move it.


Offline
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: WW&F - Truth amidst the Whimsical, Weirdness & Foolery.
PostPosted: Thu May 19, 2022 1:07 pm 

Joined: Mon Aug 23, 2004 12:53 pm
Posts: 292
Location: Alna, ME
RCD wrote:
Every time I go to Portland Maine I think to myself I bet I could move those cars by hand. Have you ever tried a mining locomotive?

Thanks RDC for getting us back on topic.

We needed a two-truck diesel locomotive that could traverse a 4% grade at mainline speeds (15-20mph); no mining locomotive fits that requirement.

Moreover, mining equipment tends to be too short to comfortably carry passengers or crew. At the very least, it would not be in scale with Maine two-foot equipment.

As far as moving equipment using an "0-5-0" (by hand) - yes, and we sometimes do. It is usually very easy for 2-4 people to move lighter cars (such as an empty flat car) on level track. A group of folks can push our smaller locomotives in and out of the engine house, but that practice is discouraged.

_________________
-Ed Lecuyer
General Passenger Agent, WW&F Railway Museum, Alna ME.
Please help the WW&F Build Locomotive 11!


Offline
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 23 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2

All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ]


 Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot] and 129 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: