The fact is that folks do have less and less contact on a daily basis with the RR. This is especially true of the RR of our youth, where branch lines, box cars, and locals were the norm.

The RR world today, for most kids and adults, is of Amtrak, Commuter Trains, and light rail. Today's youth know the RR from the Gold Line and Union Station, not the 2nd District local. Today's RR is a restricted environment, and the days when I rode home from school and got dropped off at Santa Anita, on the caboose with Shack are long gone...... and those memories are fading, buried under the 210 Freeway.

Education, outreach, and relevance will be critical to keeping RR organizations going. Unfortunately, all too often, many groups are made up of aging curmudgeons, who tend to be insular and even insolent, which turns off neophytes and the public at large.

Getting involved in things like Scouting through the RR merit badge program is one way to reach out. More "junior" memberships and active mentoring are another way for RR clubs and museums to reach out. And, more cooperation, rather than hostility or antipathy, all too common toward other "competing" RR groups, would go a long way toward preserving our RR legacy.

Change is constant, but so is the desire to know, and to learn, at least among most of us. So find a friend, and take a ride on the train..... I don't know many folks who hate riding trains..... at least outside of Marin...