[PRCo] Re: CAR #39 AND FUNDING RESTORATIONS

[Fred W. Schneider III]

ROGER Jenkins wrote:
> 
> You are right Fred Schneider in everything you said about what the
> trolley museums need to do to stay in existance . I was wrong on the WP
> car that is up for restoration and it was #722 I think .

Sorry, is none of the two car bodies.  The archives committee proposed
placing the best of the two bodies on shop trucks in the display
building.  The best is 739.  The other could very well be scrapped for
parts.  Remember, it too is nothing but a body.  

There is another point here Roger that I didn't bring out earlier. 
Times have changed.  There isn't anyone left in command at PTM that
remembers West Penn in a warm, fuzzy, friendly way. I was 12 when it
quit.  John Swindler was about 6 or 7.  Ed Lybarger was 6 or 7.  Most of
the PTM Board of Directors are in that same age range.  Mention
rebuilding West Penn 832 to them and the eyes glaze over.  But
rebuilding another PCC makes sense because it was their era.  Their
car.  We will be lucky if we can get enough interest today to take the
body of 739 and mount it on dummy trucks with wooden track brakes  I'd
like to go one step farther and use the inside to house a permanent
display of material on West Penn, but that too takes work.  At 61 I
don't feel too ambitious.
This helps to explain my feelings that railfans are our own worst enemy.
We care not about true history, only about what we remember.

> No I don't have
> $500,000 but wish I did  but more than that.  Trolleyville has to move
> out of Olmstead Falls so that is one that nobody ever thougt was in
> danger . Perhaps they can merge with the Northern Ohio group .  The
> other one is Worthington Ohio that was written off before but sprang
> back a little lately. too bad but as you say we are all getting up there
> in years , and I'M 65 .  The younger generation sometimes is brought in
> as sons and daughters of membes which hopefully continues the interest ,
> but they have to be welcomed with open arms , not frowned at and ignored
> by us. They need to be involved in the everyday operations of the
> museum.
> 
> Seashores problem as I see it , even tho they have taken the Grant road,
> is the fact that the tourist season in Maine is two or three months long
> and they cannot exist on the ticket sales of such a short duration and
> expect to survive for the other nine months .  Too many people on the
> payroll is another problem. You do need employees but you also need
> volunteers as well. Alot of them !

You might also be able to use a substantial amount of paid help (never
all) if you gear your business to serving the public.  The last time my
wife and I visited Seashore, we both came away feel that they didn't
care for our business.  It was a holiday weekend and the operators were
busy chatting with each other on a park bench.  It was clear that this
was old home week and the public was in the way.  She felt, however,
that their gift shop was run right because it contained all those items
that made kids scream "gimme." 

A great example of too many people is the group in Crich England.  I
think they were up around 30 paid help two years ago.  They've trimmed
some.  However, I imagine there will be a tendency to rehire because
they had 9% growth so far in 2001.  

I am a railfan but I also try to be realistic.  A lot of fans around the
world went out and created places where they could go on weekends and
play with their toys.  Most permitted the public to come if they didn't
get in the way.  I strongly believe that those of us in the museum game
need to take a look at what other museums are doing ... what is the
formula for success ... and also try to see if we really belong in the
big picture.  Were electric streetcars important enough in the
development of our cities that they deserve a place in history.  The
public will tell us if they were not important.  And if the public turns
thumbs down, there will be no trolley museum in the future.  The general
public will need to show enough interest because the railfans who
remembered won't be around.  

I believe that we should give something back to society.  We cannot just
take.  Your plea for support should not fall in deaf ears.  I was merely
trying to redirect it to something other than cars.  But support doesn't
stop there.  Cash helps.  Volunteers help.  I'm tied up with PTM, BSM,
the church ... all things that keep me living in retirement.  My wife
runs the local DAR chapter. She was involved in a local plantation home
preservation scheme until the entire board resigned in mass over
policies.  She has given substantial time and money over the years to
the local symphony orchestra.  I think we should all be in there
somewhere according to our financial and skill resources.