Please consider a RR museum that has more vehicles than can be accommodated in the public viewing areas. The best vehicles are displayed. Best may have many definitions: best preserved, most appropriate for the geographical region or the museum's goals, good educational value, uniqueness, etc.

What about the other vehicles that cannot be displayed and are hidden in the outback, maybe under traps, maybe in non-public storage sheds, or even exposed to the elements? What value do they have? Yes, many members are satisfied that they are there and preserved. But preserved for whom? Especially if there is low probability they will be renovated within the lifetime of the museum.

Are they museum pieces if they are never seen by the visitors? Are they occupying valuable space?

I ask just to generate opinions and because these questions have been bugging me. Thanks.

I believe that the focus on "vehicles" in this question narrowly defines the purpose of the Museum. In the same regard, how/why would you not consider an archival and library collection "museum pieces" since at most railway museums these valuable collections are not often readily accessible to the visitors.

In the broader scope, what is the value of artwork held in storage by a museum, or the reels of film in cold storage held by the National Archives that are not shown on the screen?

Wesley

Speaking of vehicles, we recently started working on two pieces of equipment that have been "rusting in peace" for a while. N&W coach 538 has been back in the corner for over 25 years, and VGN caboose 322 hadn't been touched since we aquired it about 5 years ago. While storage space and stabilization are important considerations, you can't restore it and interpret it if it is gone. I'm a firm believer in saving everything you can. Yes, some of it may be eventually lost due to the ravages of time and weather, but some of it may also survive to be projects for the future.

Chris DeWitt once told a group of us - I think at a TRAIN convention or at a NSRM symposium - about how after working very hard to restore a car to like new condition, which impressed the casual visitors, his colleagues and knowledgeable professionals within the business always wanted instead to inspect the very similar unrestored car in dead storage. There's a lot which can be learned from the untouched things the general public has no interest in viewing, and maintaining a study collection available only by special appointment for scholarship is a part of the mission of almost every serious accredited history museum. Whether it needs to be a part of your (or anybody's) specific mission is for your BOD to determine.

dave

Wesley, I purposely limited my question to vehicles instead of all artifacts at railroad museums. But, as you point out, it is obviously a much broader issue.

Gary, was the N&W coach you are beginning to work on accessible to a visitor interested in it?

Thanks.

Marty, To answer your question, it is both yes and no. We don't have a facility that is "open to the public" in the sense of regular hours, but anyone who can find us on a work day is welcome to visit and we do host an occasional open house for both the public and groups upon request. Our other two N&W coaches are in regular service on the train ride at Spencer.

If a tree falls in a forest and nobody hears it, did it make a sound?

Although they might not be on display because there is no room, they are no less museum pieces. And the thought of the museum may be that one day they will expand their visible area and put those pieces on display.

Later!
Mr. Ed

Most museums in other fields can only display a portion of their holdings. The rest of the collection is either in storage, in conservation, or loaned to another institution. Changing the content of exhibits on a regular basis is a common way for museums to be able to cycle through their collection, tell different stories, and attract repeat visits from those that would have otherwise seen it all.

Railroad museums should be less afraid of displaying artifacts in a state of arrested decay. As long as these pieces are well presented and can be contrasted with restored equipment, there is no need to worry about it being confused for junk. Many people actually find chipped paint and rust to be very attractive.

This "well presented" bit may be difficult for many railroad museums. Few of them have the sort of well-lit indoor space that is appropriate for viewing something the size of a rail-vehicle. I am looking forward to the day when one of our many private non-profit museums finally builds a proper indoor display gallery.

Of what use is an old automobile?

If it's in bad condition, you may have to pay someone to haul it away. In not so bad condition, someone may take it for free, or even pay you $100 for the privilege.

I once bought an entire wrecked automobile for $400 because the body shop and I needed the back end to repair my car which someone else had hit (yes, it was their insurance paying, but we made a nice deal). We took the parts we needed, and I turned around and stripped more of the parts and put them in reserve, and sold off other parts before the shop scrapped the remains. And that was pre-Internet.

If you need that special compound-curved windshield and back window on a 1960 El Camino....... only one way you're getting it, I'm betting.

If you legitimately have the room to stash a car/etc., it's not going to get the NIMBYs rioting on your doorstep or to the city/county, and there is a realistic plan in place for either the reuse/restoration/resale of said piece........... more power to you. ("Realistic" means, for example, that you're not shoving a fireless steam locomotive into a trolley barn, or looking to pull home-kitbashed coaches built from SPV-2000 shells behind a Climax or Berkshire, or hoping to raise the money to restore three wooden "chicken coop" cars with trees growing through them with the proceeds from bake sales and raffles.....)

No kidding. As has been discussed at length on this very forum, proper display is a VERY deep subject.

This is an invitation to all of the people from the left coast to visit the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum and see our Trolley Display Building. I think that we have done the best job of any non-profit museum in providing a good display space.

Also, even a "chicken coop" can be an effective display if properly presented.

Sounds about right. All you need is proper planning and display...

[quote="artschwartz"]This is an invitation to all of the people from the left coast to visit the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum and see our Trolley Display Building. I think that we have done the best job of any non-profit museum in providing a good display space.

Also, even a "chicken coop" can be an effective display if properly presented.[/quote]

I second Art's comment above about the Penna. Trolley Museum's "blimp hangar." There are wide aisles between tracks and very effective lighting that allow visitors a wide-angle view of the cars on display. They have also been doing cosmetic paint jobs on some of the unrestored cars on display, which spruces them up quite a bit. But fear not -- there are also some very interesting "chicken coop" exhibits as well.

Wayne Laepple

Hey now! That example hits close too home.... but don't underestimate the power of bake sells and raffles... it kept our dream alive (on life support, but alive nevertheless) when it came to restoring our Newton, NC depot... While miniscule in the scheme of money matters, it kept us in tarps and plywood and other lumber to keep the structure stablized.

Still your point about a having a realistic plan, both short term and long term, is well taken.


Matt Bumgarner
Alexander Chapter-NRHS