Bob,

The problem is most of these people in the preservation movement love to throw money into the dumpster without their membership even knowing. They love to lie.

Many of the people who spend their time at museums are a true gift to their non profit institutions. But some of the leadership are a real pest and done some irresponsible damages...

Take for example, the Nevada Northern. I've never seen a more arrogant and snooty leadership when I tried to volunteer a few years ago...

They are throwing at least $20.00/hour into the dumpster. Why? Because they treat people like if they were slaves and encourage them to beg and kiss butt... Fvck them!!!

Looks like GGRM had their own plans. I dont see why they were a problem with PLA... The GGRM guys were really nice to mee too.

And that is the main problem with preservation. If much of the blissfully ignorant good intentioned folks that pay membership dues and give donations each year, really knew the TRUE colors of their Boards of Directors, impeachments would happen ASAP! Many leadership volunteers are ego maniac know it alls and treat teens that want to volunteer like Kleenex...

Hopefully the generation replacing some current selfish dinosaurs would be more proactive and TRANSPARENT.

Joe Cullum in Exeter ca

BOB2 Wrote:
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> Going up to Windsor is an interesting idea. And,
> with a sensible source like Zark, maybe it has
> become a matter of "any port in a storm".... And
> yet, some of you sound like you'd rather have
> nothing at all, and cut 'em all up for scrap...?
> Wow!
>
> Windsor, too far away? How far away is Rio Vista?
> How did that affect folks volunteering? I
> remember going to OERM when you still didn't have
> complete freeways to get you out there, yet. How
> did that affect volunteers (it was actually
> easier, we had so much less congestion back then,
> when that was still out in the "country")? And,
> you can eventually take SMART to Windsor, maybe
> "some day", right?
>
> Yeah, it's a shame that ego driven factionalism
> apparently caused this "rupture" and required this
> move. If people can't keep externally focused on
> the "mission" (to preserve, maintain, operate, and
> educate the public about our rail history and
> heritage), and can't learn to work together, many
> of these collections are in danger. This is
> especially true where this kind of infighting and
> lack of focus have the effect of turning off
> participation, funding, and recruitment of the
> next generation, which will have to take on that
> "mission".
>
> Yeah, many of these need to think about "merging"
> instead of "breaking up", as the pool of folks to
> sustain these efforts, and place to do them are
> both a limited resource.
>
> Yeah, we are losing a lot of rail preservation
> "assets", including places to keep them and run
> them. So we'd better figure out what there is
> left out there that can be "saved" and/or
> "salvaged", and how it might be leveraged to
> create that space for these trains to operate
> on... Maybe, like on the unused remaining
> segments of the NWP, right? Oh wouldn't that be
> just horrible? I guess to some of you it would be,
> from some of these posts I've read, right?
>
> Yeah, tying these to other operations and other
> type of historic and/or cultural tourism, that
> could help to sustain preservation and operations
> is definitely something to think about. People,
> other than a certain segment of folks on RR
> Boards, mostly like trains. And, there have been
> some good examples of operations, that have shown
> this can work (like the Grand Canyon Rwy. for
> example).
>
> Yeah, these organizations getting their s#it
> together, and having some kind of realistic
> business plan, with a long term financial,
> fundraising, and recruitment strategy, that can
> effectively preserve, "market" and "operate" these
> museums in a more business like way, is
> imperative.
>
> Those are all important, and necessary, if there
> is to be any future at all, for some of these
> collections.
>
> Unfortunately, it is a shame to see a handful of
> these folks, on a Train Board, who supposedly like
> trains, yet seem to spend most of their time trash
> talking these kind of efforts, and coming up with
> even completely absurd reasons that nothing can
> ever happen...
>
> Of course, if we actually did listen to some of
> those nattering nabobs of negativism peddling this
> kind of nonsense, and do nothing, as they would
> seem to have us do, then they're going to be
> right, and these collections will be lost....