Mike:

Thanks for your thoughts. Some responses:

Mike: “First, to those who seem to have some animosity towards our organization, some of the comments regarding what seemed to be implying incompetence or general lack of interest interpreting to the public are not appreciated. We do not have a perfect organization by any stretch of the imagination, but we are still people, volunteers trying to run it. As a young railroad enthusiast hoping to make a difference in the disposition of our collection, said comments are very discouraging. Please consider this when commenting on the aspirations of an entire group.”

No animosity here. Maybe some regret that certain decisions were made in the past that were counterproductive.

Mike: “The biggest reason, as many here have already noted, is a great lacking of "new blood", or dedicated volunteers. Right now, we are down to possibly as many as five or six regular shop hands, and few others elsewhere on the property tending to other museum needs. With so few active volunteers with a complete skill set for maintaining 80+ plus year old equipment, it can sometimes be difficult keeping up with it.”

This seems to be a problem everywhere. I hope the museum treats their volunteers well. One time I answered a call-for-volunteers at a club (not RVJ) and they declined my services. Not a big deal, but nobody even bothered to send anything resembling a rejection letter.

Mike: “Another issue that has been brought up is how we have been perceived by recent visitors. I apologize on behalf of our museum for any offenses or inconveniences you have experienced. As I said previously, we are not trying to drive visitors or potential volunteers away. Sometimes our members do not always conduct themselves appropriately, but with this knowledge please consider this; I hope we might make it up to you in the future.”

Thanks for the explanation. Maybe there should be additional training for staff who interact with the public.

Mike: “Our "Railfan Day" event was the brainchild of a few of our more active members in order to better market the museum to new visitors. A combination of poor advertising and a lack of qualified volunteers to operate the number of trains that were planned resulted in last weekend's event. We had planned to operate probably close to a half-dozen more cars than were out that day, but we had too few volunteers signed up. Our 2015 "Members Day" event had over a dozen pieces of equipment operating throughout the day, however poor advertising and weather plagued the day, in my opinion. We are planning more new events in the future to better appeal to visitors, new and old, but feedback from participants is essential in order to make them enjoyable to everyone.”

I mentioned this before, but would like to address it directly to you in hopes you’ll take it back to the powers-that-be: Next year, combine “railfan day” with “member’s day” and use the former name. Have the event in the spring or fall when it is not so hot and promote the heck out of it. Take out ads in Trains and Railfan & Railroad and let all the railfan groups in Northern California know in advance so they can advise their membership. Send flyers to hobby shops. Th 2014 member’s day was well done, use that as an example.

Mike: “Car House 3, as some have mentioned, is closed to visitors quite often. The reason for this, as at least one person pegged, is that we do not have enough active volunteers to supervise the Car House while it is open. As a result, it is usually only open when our "Interurban" returns from its 12 Mile Round-trip ride back to the museum, and riders are let off at the Car House and led through the building. The doors are often only open during that short window when the car is stopped at the Car House to let people off, however if you ask one of our volunteers on-duty, we may be able to open the doors and allow you to either look inside briefly, or join a tour.”

This makes total sense. I also get your point about overextending your track crew by trying to maintain two sections of track. Are there any plans to install a turning loop at the south end of track so that single end cars can operate?