[PRCo] Re: PRCo. and WP film tips

[Edward H. Lybarger]

It's Fred 3 who uses the monopod, not I.  And the outhouse is a four-holer
(I covet that one for the museum).  I'm 56 but am told I look younger (my
mother and her father both lived into their 90s and both still had some dark
hair when they died).  Nonetheless, my time as a "museum developer" is
limited, just like the rest of us.  We need younger people to get in there
and learn what it's all really about so they can take over.  The other
alternative is to hand it over to the degreed museum "professionals" who
understand what's in the textbooks and not what's in the collection.

All the money in the world can't buy you the dedication that built the
place, but it's really nice to see the fruits of the labor recognized, let
me tell you.

-----Original Message-----
From: pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org
[mailto:pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org]On Behalf Of
Fredbruhn at aol.com
Sent: Friday, October 19, 2001 9:14 PM
To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
Subject: [PRCo] PRCo. and WP film tips


It may not have been mentioned in the recent discussions on film tricks, but
when we stopped in Mt. Pleasant on our WP trip last spring, Fred III and Ed
(I believe) pulled out monopods to mount to the camera to take shots of a
genuine two hole outhouse along side the WP right of way north of town.  No
better way to steady a camera.

Fred - is the 35 to 80 Nikor lens you mentioned the one that is supplied
currently on the N65 outfit?

Fred had some really good points on trolley museums.  We need to get him
wound up more often because he has the future of our museums correctly
stated.  (After a long days trip in a car he can also get very mellow with a
decent glass of wine, good company and a decent menu to look over.)  Roger,
you mentioned two museums
that I would suspect might go high on Fred's list.  We may take for granted
what success the PTM has had, and continues to have, and the vision for the
future.  Its not luck and not the old railfans.  Becker and the museum know
how to find money, and it is out there for the asking but you need to have
your ducks in line.  They have found a key in education in the schools, at
the museum, and in the media to attract
people.  Very few other museums have the organization, business management,
archive development and tools to achieve what PTM is doing.  Roger you
mentioned that Seashore has tried "the grant route."  I would question how
successful they have been.

  And remember what Fred said, the current guys running things are not the
first generation.  We are all 60 +, except for Ed who is ageless.  I don't
know much about the other museums today, but ORM has accomplished almost
nothing in 30 years, (my opinion) except bicker.  And what is so unfortunate
is they had some rare and interesting cars.  Roger mentions NORM.  A bunch
of
gun-ho guys who have stored a bunch of ragged cars in a field for 20 years.
A for effort, F for results.
Trolleyville as I remember was mostly financed by one man, the owner of the
park.
I was at Seashore 25 years ago, sounds like they are about the same today as
then.
I've only seen video tape of Orange Empire, but I like what I see of PTM
better.  I have not been to IRM but don't hear anything bad about them.
When
you look back at PTM and realize what has been done in 45 years, it is
constant improvement.
I worked there a lot from 1959 to about 1963.  All the original PERC
founders
were involved so you would expect a lot of progress.  We spent one summer
adding a turnout lead to the barn and raising the barn leads about 18" where
the new industrial park road would go.  That was the sum total of our
progress.  John Wilkens added the overhead one summer and got power just
before he run WP 1 into Rinneys Pay Car.  Today equipment is getting
restored
the right way, there are line extensions, a solid membership, and a solid
future.  Use PTM as a benchmark.  There are others for sure, maybe
Baltimore,
Halton County for sure, and I wouldn't want to exclude any but it won't take
long for anyone to develop a mental list as Fred might do and come to the
same conclusion. We all need to continue sending in those $10 and $20 checks
to our favorite car fund, and without them they won't get restored, but
beyond that be sure the museum your associated with is being run so it will
be around.

the other Fred