Weekend Survey #2 Train Museums

[Andy Fekete]

question 1: yes i do  ( does'nt everybody?
question 2: a couple times a year
question 3: no but if there was a CNR museum near by i would live there
question 4: any museum where there is a lot of canadian equipment my all time fav is the canadian national museum of science and techknowlogy in ottawa ont scince it has my fav loco of all time CNR 6400 YAY!!!!!!!!!!! coming in for a close second explorail in montreal where there is so much equipment you need 2 days to see it all plus there is a cpr 2-10-4 selkirk
question 5: if i was to start a museum it would be a museum consisting of all surviving cnr locos and the location would be in downtown toronto inside/outside the old cpr roundhouse (kick the micro-brewery out!!!)

[Magoon]

I manage to visit a few museums every year, some more than once, dpending upon my travels.  I've yet to see a museum (or its contents) that I haven't liked, but I much prefer those with adequate viewing room, a variety of locos and rolling stock, and explanatory signage or interpretive settings to enhance the historical aspect of the equipment.  For those locations with "warehoused" displays, such as the outdoor ones at the B&O Museum and the indoor and outdoor ones at IRM, I try to take comfort in the fact that at least they've been saved.  Perhaps someday money will no longer be an issue at any museum and all railfans and history enthusiasts can fully enjoy every piece of equipment to its fullest.  Yeah, I know -- I'm dreaming...

I'm a member of the California State Railroad Museum and the Nevada Northern Railway Museum.  I volunteer as a car attendant and brakeman at the former, and I'm anengineer/brakeman/fireman/conductor/trackman and mechanic at the latter.  At NN, we operate a 4-6-0 and 2-8-0 (both coal fired) on a 14 mile, standard gauge 2.5% grade with 2 tunnels, and a couple of Alcos (RS2 and RS3) and an EMD SD9 on another 12 mile line.  Lots of other stuff to tell later. 

By the way, Yorkie and Woody:  next time you're in the UK, skip York and go to Didcot.  It's about an hour north(?) of London and is a lot like NN, except they only have a short operating line within the confines of their property.  The museum consists of the entire Great Western Railway's service facility, and it's all still there: plenty of locos, cars, and facilities.

After several years with both CSRM and NN, I'd NEVER consider running my own museum:  never enough money, a lot of railfans unhappy because whatever is done isn't what THEY want, and never enough time to enjoy what you have because you're too busy trying to keeps things running!