Nelson and group-
I do not know what the answer is for the Burlington Route Historical
Society. There are many railroad historical societies and they are all over
the map as far as level of activity, success in attracting and maintaining
membership, and impact on preserving and promoting interest in the history
of their lines.
I do know that several railroad historical societies .. PRR, B&O, C&NW ..
support significant online free access high-quality digital modeling
magazines. The N&W group has usable resolution quality images of a huge
amount of the photos and drawings in their archives. I think some degree
of promotional free material is beneficial to these groups. Because of the
interchange inherent in the North American rail network modelers cannot only
model their favorite railroad, even if they concentrate on building accurate
models only for "their" road they need some degree of knowledge about other
roads. Exposure to the Burlington through free material will raise the
general level of awareness of the modeling public (and as someone involved
in the Model Railroad Industry) I would assess the balance of Tyco
Trainseters to Prototype Modeler much more to the modeling end..even if not
all scratchbuild, most prefer to buy accurate models and try to build a
roster that is reasonable for their modeling interests.
I would disagree with Nelson about the BRHS archives being for historians
and not modelers. What the ratio of "Historians" to "Railfans/Modelers" is
in the society is an unknown. Also, we don't have any experience with "the
archives" so don't know what access will be, what the collection has, what
the access experience will be like or how much it will cost. Clearly, the
Society cannot fund out-of-pocket access expenses such as drawing
reproduction and mailing and will have to somehow fund any expenses related
to individual requests incurred beyond approved budget expenditures approved
by the board and membership (normal funding of the archives by the society).
IMHO in no case should volunteers be compensated for their time or usual
out-of-pocket expenses such as travel, lodging, meals, etc., so the time
spent in running the archives should not be factored into the cost of access
and reproduction as it is in institutions with paid employees. Having an
archives is a necessary function of the society in preserving the history of
the Burlington Route.
>From my industry experience I do know that groups that establish an archives
run by a tight knit group of insiders that consider themselves Guards of the
Keep and limit access to Those Who are Worthy discourage interest in their
railroad. Manufacturers have choices in their product offerings and
practically often have to take the path of least resistance in creating new
models. I have had direct experience with some railroad historical
societies that just make it too difficult and lengthy of a process to get
information they hold..and therefore researchers will move on to other
prototypes that the material is more readily available for. Witness the
wide range of PRR prototypes...I know firsthand that the support the PRRHTS
Modeling Committee and Archives gives to manufacturers is a huge factor in
the availability of PRR equipment.
I would also disagree about the lack of CB&Q pre-1959 paint jobs, having
caused the introduction of a number of them on any suitable client model
that I've worked on (Kato, Broadway Limited) and many have been made for
manufacturers that I don't work with. While there are many CB&Q prototypes
yet to be done I would be hard pressed to think of any existing tooling that
has not been offered in both pre- and post- 1959 CB&Q paint (the the
possible exception of C&S and FW&D sublettered equipment. and InterMountain
just announced F7s for C&S in both HO and N).
I do suspect that the success of a Railroad Historical Society is directly
tied to the participation in volunteer positions of people who have the
skills and experience in areas that support a full range of activities that
promote the dissemination and preservation of the history of their road.
There are opportunities for members to step up to the plate to help in
existing areas where the same few individuals have been shouldering the load
for years and in new areas where the society has had very little activity.
For example, the previously mentioned digital modeling magazines that the
PRR, B&O, and C&NW have are due to a group of maybe five or so members who
have the interest, skills, and volunteer to do the work and turn out a
professional-quality product. AFAIK, other than the website, no society
funds or approvals are necessary for their efforts and they tremendously
impact the interest in their railroads and societies. Nothing would prevent
members from seeking out others in their area and starting informal BRHS
chapters to promote the society and interest in the Burlington. We need to
jack up the level of active participation in the BRHS and that will lead to
success.
Charlie Vlk
I take exception to the philosophy that something of value assumes more
value if it is purchased, rather than given away. The corporate world
understands that free samples up front hook consumers for the long term.
Costco has made a new art form out of giving away free samples, and nobody
will argue their success. Excluding the Sign data sheets as Gene suggests,
there are 12 data sheets for a total of 56 pages remaining. That's hardly
giving away the store, and it's probably not enough material to warrant
producing a CD. Post those data sheets on the web page for free download in
high resolution, and you just may attract some new members, which is
guaranteed to enhance BRHS revenue far more that any modest sale of data
sheet CDs.
The BRHS archives are for historians, not modelers. Most modelers aren't
strict prototype modelers, and few modelers scratchbuild structures, much
less freight cars. Fewer modelers are choosing to model the CB&Q as
evidenced by the paucity of models offered in pre-1959 paint schemes; the
marketplace follows the demand. The future of BRHS depends upon attracting
new members, so what's wrong with providing some value up front via the web
site? I recently joined the La Masa Model Railroad Club in San Diego, since
I spend substantial time out there visiting my grandchildren. They model the
Southern Pacific, Union Pacific, and Santa Fe from Bakersfield to Mohave
including Tehachapi Loop. I've used the ATSF Historical Society web site as
a source of information for deciding on motive power purchases to run on the
club layout in the San Diego Model Railroad Museum. The web site provides a
lot of free information, but it also steers users to society publications
and society membership. Some material is available to members only, but it's
free to members. Unless BRHS joins the 21st century, I just may have to 'Go
Santa Fe All the Way".
Nelson Moyer
|