Some Museums and Preservation groups do a fine job. OERM and SBRHS are two examples of fine groups. Volunteers are a very significant part of making these organizations work well. Not all organizations are geared to deal with volunteers of varying knowledge and skill bases.

CSRM is a bureaucracy and its training requirements are not appropriately tiered *(based upon testing, knowledge, and safety), and have the appearance of being maintained at 80 hours to assure that volunteers do not compete for paid jobs with State Parks employees. That being said, as a former RR Engineer, it is important to train adequately for reasons of safety and liability. I have been to too many accidents and incidents and seen too many people killed in my career to not take safety seriously. And, if you want to put an organization out of business real fast, have unqualified personnel in safety sensitive jobs incur a lawsuit!

As to appropriate training, not all docents need to be trained to run locomotives, and when one is being taught by those significantly less qualified than those being forced to sit through it, it is just plain stupid and insulting to the intelligence. Many groups use a tiered training approach with appropriate levels of training for various classifications of work. You don't get to be an Eagle Scout without going through the appropriate rank advancements, and this approach is very appropriate to training volunteers at Museums. As you learn more, you are able to safely take on more responsibility, as a volunteer.

Just a contribution to the discussion.

BOB2