I was never asked to leave, and I still talk to Bob on occasion. Its hard to get to Minersville when I work weekends.

That said, the fact that you think I was asked to leave informs me that you're not getting your information from anybody who knows what the hell they're talking about.

404

I'm sorry your grapes are so sour. I'm not worried about what angry foamers made up about me, I know where I'm welcome.

404

The good news for the rest of reality is that your idea of a sucessful 10 year plan only applies to you. I'm sure that whatever is achieved will be ruled a failure in your eyes.

404

Respectfully, can the two of you take this fight elsewhere? I made this post to try and show what I hope is the start of a positive turnaround for Steamtown; I’d rather not have the thread locked because the past and the present are butting heads.

The facts are this: Yes, Steamtown’s budget has increased in actual dollars since its inception. Yes, the increase in budget has not kept pace with inflation (an item purchased for $5.9m in 2015 would cost $8m in 2025 per usinflationcalculator.com) so the argument that Steamtown’s budget has not increased has truth in it. Yes, the park was mismanaged and mishandled over the last 20 years or so. Yes, there are people there now committed to correcting those mistakes.

Everyone has their opinion on the subject; can we please stick to what’s happening now and what hopefully will happen in the future?

Amen.

404

Take a reality check on comparisons between Steamtown and Age of Steam Ohio. Look at the two photos in the prior post. Steamtown has a crowd of people. Age of Steam does not. Steamtown has between 60-100,000 visitors a year. You have to clean the toilets, air condition the museum, answer their questions, keep them safe, maintain the parking lot and grounds, and more.

Steamtown does not charge an admission fee. It is free. A lot of that budget goes to just providing a free visitor experience to anyone who shows up.

Age of Steam is essentially not open to the public.

Being open and receiving visitors is really Steamtown's first priority, not the various locomotive restorations.

There’s also the fact that Age of Steam was set up with an endowment to keep it going, something Nelson Blount was never able to do. Realistically, the only difference between Steamtown and Age of Steam is one untimely passing.

Pretty sure steamtown operates steam more than age of steam anyways. So pretty sure they “win” by any metrics if there is some competition

If actively wearing out a preserved asset is your only measure, maybe............

If “preservation” means we can’t operate historic steam locomotives then I want no part of it and I don’t support it.

I don't think comparing one (well-funded, privately-owned, great preservation and quality of buildings/grounds are great) vs the other (government-funded, volunteer-run, certain chunks of the collection rusting away - but operates equipment much more often and over much longer distances than just within a "small" yard complex) is something that's fair to do - to both places.