Erik H. Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This is from the Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation's
> website:
>
> " The locomotives are each maintained by their own
> group of volunteers. In all cases, the members of
> these groups have worked together for many years
> and have learned to trust each other while
> performing complicated or dangerous tasks. It is
> very rare that new members are added to these
> groups. However, if you have advanced skills as a
> welder, machinist, or other highly specialized
> area, you might be invited to discuss how you
> might contribute.
>
> We also have a responsibility to develop the next
> generation of volunteers to maintain these
> publicly owned treasures. If you are young and
> strong, mechanically inclined, are willing to get
> dirty, perform any assigned task, and have the
> passion to dedicate the next 20 to 30 years to
> learning about steam locomotives, one of the
> engine crews might consider you as an apprentice.
>
>
> And yes, this is intentionally worded to sound
> discouraging as the reality is the number of
> people who express interest in working on the
> locomotives far exceeds the opportunities. Only
> those showing the most passion and dedication to
> the ORHF mission may earn that opportunity. If you
> are willing to work at special events and/or spend
> time at the enginehouse helping with any task that
> needs to be done, it affords an excellent
> opportunity for people to get to know you and see
> your passion. Ask to be notified of general
> projects or sign up for one of the above Rail
> Heritage Center roles."
>
> [www.orhf.org]
>
> Basically this says "If you want to get up close
> and personal, forget it. We don't want you. But,
> we'll gladly use whatever free skills that you do
> have, but it won't get you up close and personal
> with the train."
>
> Needless to say, my household donation budget goes
> elsewhere. And my - and my wife's - company
> matches donations which I gladly will do the
> paperwork for.

Let me translate that for you:

"It takes untold hours of behind the scenes, hard, dirty,
thankless work to run of these things a couple of times
a year. We all had to do that. That is how we learned
what makes it go, what needs to be inspected and repaired,
how, why, and million other things. It helps a great deal
to be here when things are in a thousand pieces so you can
learn how to know when something needs attention and how
to get it apart, what to fix and how, and how to put it
back together gain and not have any leftover parts.

If your idea of volunteering is to show up the morning
of a trip, with fire lit, the steam pressure on the peg,
the switch lined and then get in the way and ask a lot
of questions that could have been answered had you bothered
to get your hands dirty, then jump off at the end of the trip,
do nothing toward bedding the beast down, but run home and put
your pictures on the internet along with claims of how hard
you worked and how important you are, then you are correct.
We have hundreds of people like that and we don't need one more."