Glad I was not the only one to perceive the limited access and lack of action, although it is disheartening to see that is the direction a once great museum may be going, especially if it supposedly is sitting on $ millions.

Maybe it is due to fear of injury lawsuits or disability complaints. There is a story just today about the famed Falafel's Drive-In in San Jose being the latest target of a serial ADA plaintiff. When Daddy Bush signed the ADA into law it was thought that it would bring equal access to the disabled, but like all things that are enacted with little thought, it has morphed into an uncontrollable bureaucracy. It has succeeded in bringing equality beyond anyone's wildest dreams by shutting down anything that "abled" people can use that is not new or rebuilt nearly beyond recognition.

Someone mentioned OERM earlier. I was there a few weeks ago on a normal Saturday and there is a stark difference between the two museums that are/were similar in almost every way including the temperature. There was no one hassling you to go to the gift shop. In fact, you are free to roam the grounds and car barns without even purchasing an admission ticket. A ticket is only required to ride the equipment, of which there was plenty. The Blimps were MUed and running on on the interurban line. They were put away when the day started to heat up and the air conditioned San Diego LRV took the place for the rest of the day. There was a variety of standard gauge streetcar and narrow gauge LARY cars running on the duel-gauge trolly loop. Plus, the newly restored SP U25 was pulling a train to Perris and back every hour or so in-between the interurbans.

All the car barns were open and inviting. In fact, they pipe in swing and big band music to the barns which makes it more enjoyable. The UP e-unit was even open with a docent giving cab tours. I was uncertain if it was okay to go into one of the barns because there were switching moves going on outside. The answer with a smile was, "Yes! Please do."

The grounds are well kept and there was a nice BBQ from a local restaurant set up with food to buy. I have to disagree with the hot dogs of WRM being tasty and satisfying.

I understand that OERM may have the advantage of being the only museum of its kind in the LA Basin and that probably helps the manpower situation. But the attitude there is also one of the desire to share the knowledge and history with the public, whereas my last few visits to WRM gave me the impression that it is more of a club and the visitors are more of an inconvenience. That's fine because it's their museum but, as it was said, how long will it last if new and younger people are not given the opportunity to gain an interest?