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Bulletin 37

To: <BRHSlist@egroups.com>
Subject: Bulletin 37
From: "R Gamlen" <gamlenz@i...>
Date: Wed, 1 Nov 2000 20:41:10 +1300
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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