Paul
I can understand your frustration when a Bulletin doesn't match your particular
railroading interest. I guess the same could be said for every Bulletin
produced so far (with the probable exception of the one on Burlington itself)
that it didn't match every member's interests. The diverse material covered on
this List shows just how wide our interests in railroading and the CB&Q really
are. And there is no reason why a Bulletin can only relate to a single subject,
other than the fact that they are so well researched and produced that they
easily fill an issue. Bulletins have often covered several subjects in a single
issue.
BUT (and I can't emphasise this enough) please don't forget that the Bulletin
content is exactly what is written by the members, and that the Society doesn't
sponsor or control the articles being written. We, as members, rely on the
generosity of the author to devote the time and effort into researching a topic
and committting it to paper, and if it is not what we want, we should do
something about it. There was a call in the last Zephyr #42 - bottom of page 15
- for Maintainance of Way material for a future article. How many members have
responded to this? (Which reminds me to see what I can contribute)
Perhaps the BRHS could do something to encourage more participation, such as
pointing budding authors to research and archive sources, helping members get
together to jointly produce an article, identifying subjects worthy of
coverage, etc. Whilst preparing The Index, I noticed some gaps in the material
covered so far, such as EMD switchers (I'd love to see something about the
TR's), flat and tank cars, gondolas, BTL vehicles, TOFC operations, waycars,
dining cars, CTC, signalling (including hand signals of course). And why not an
article about Peoria? It wouldn't have to be book-length to get published.
A couple of personal notes to finish. I wasn't particularly interested in
Depots, but I got a thrill from reading this Bulletin as my wife and I visited
the Casper depot during our 1996 U.S. tour, and we remembered stopping at the
Amtrak depot at Galesburg. Seeing the Aurora depot reminded me of the Meet
there last year. As an aside, my BRHS membership "costs" me about three times
as much as yours, with the continuing strength of the U.S. dollar and the cost
of airmail postage. But it is still excellent value and I look forward to each
Bulletin to expand my knowledge and interest.
Finally, I'm not sure if it is relevant, but my Bulletin arrived safely (with
the envelope intact) last Wednesday by Aeolus Express (that's the winged
airmail version of Pony Express)
Rupert
Auckland
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