Giving Twice

‘Tis the season both to shop for Christmas and to make those end-of-the-year charitable contributions. Here is a way you can do both kinds of giving with one stop.

The VMT museum gift shop, Destinations, offers a great selection of special items for the transportation aficionados in your world. In addition, every dollar you spend there helps the museum.

Destinations stocks a delightful variety of gifts: T-shirts, sweatshirts and caps for the grownups and the young’uns. Calendars, mugs and clocks. An electic selection of videos, dvds and cds.

You’ll find puzzles, games and and throws (including one featuring the J611). A variety of toys including colorful, large wooden trucks that children can both assemble and then operate.

There are Christmas decorations and key chains. Badges and playing cards. Prints and posters and postcards. Magnets and maps.

And how could we forget the books? Books with rosters of locomotives and rolling stock. Books of railroad timetables. Coffee-table-sized picture books about trains and other types of transportation. Histories of various railroads in Virginia, the South, and across the U.S. Books that entertain or inform or inspire or all three.

The VMT museum store features products made in the USA. When you purchase one of our Made in USA products, you are helping the museum and helping to keep jobs in America.

Shopping for a child? Think beyond Thomas. We carry a line of beautifully made wooden engines and cars that are totally compatible with Thomas and Brio. Made in the USA and painted with lead-free paint, they are painted to look like real train cars. Children who are thrilled by the trains that rumble through Roanoke can now have the same NS or CSX cars on their home track.

Come on by. Or call the gift shop at 767-4651. Or roll on over to: http://www.vmt.org/destinations_museumshopRev.html You can ord-er items and have them shipped to your address. Make your trip to the VMT gift shop a challenge. See how many people on your Christmas gift list can be taken care of with one stop.

Destinations is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm and Sunday from 1-5 pm. Come in VMT’s main entrance and turn to the right. You do not have to purchase museum admission just to shop. Of course, if while you're there you find this irresistible urge ....

Streamlining Into the Past

The year was 1934. Tough times for trains. Tough times for everyone. In the heart of the Great Depression, the unemployment rate was 25%. American railroads had laid off about one million people, 40% of its work force,

Even before the stock market crash of ’29, railroads had been hurting due to the rise of the automobile. Car registrations increased almost tenfold in ten years. Passenger and freight revenue both shrank. The Depression just deepened the wound.

Then came the Burlington Zephyr. Along with the Union Pacific’s M-10,000, which actually made its debut two months earlier with a nationwide tour, the Zephyr helped revolutionize train travel and industrial design. That spring the gleaming stainless steel passenger train set a new nonstop distance record for trains, traveling a thousand miles from Denver to Chicago in 13 hours, a blistering average speed of 77.5 mph.

The era of streamliners and diesel-electric locomotives had arrived. Even steam got streamed. Many steam passenger locomotives added sleek new hoods, including the prestigious New York Central’s 20th Century Limited and the Pennsy’s Broadway Limited. The Norfolk and Western’s beautiful J series locomotives joined the parade. By the late 1930s the ten fastest trains in the world operated in America.

It was a short celebration, however. Not even the sleek new equipment could stop the demise of American passenger travel. How ironic that the automobile, which drove the railroads out of business, now costs so much to operate that the nation is yearning to ride the tracks again. Will it ever become more than talk, here in Roanoke and elsewhere? We will see. It’s a beautiful image, however: new coaches filled with people rolling right by our VMT, the J-611, and the ghosts of passengers past.

That original Zephyr train made Chicago its destination one final time. After 26 years and over three million miles of service, it entered its retirement home at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.

Next week I will relive the original historic 1934 trip and it will take me only 20 minutes. At the sprawling museum I will board the revered train for a tour and computer-simulated ride. The train won’t actually go anywhere, of course, except back in time.

My real train ride will also take me into the past as I roll through the mountains of West Virginia and the plains of the Midwest. I will relive the days of the streamliners while riding their heir, Amtrak, the stepchild of the divorce between America and its longtime great love, still valiantly chugging along in a country that has forgotten its transportation roots.

During that journey, including the hours of layover in Chicago on my way to visit family in Missouri, I will experience railroading past and present, large and small. The Museum of Science and Industry also houses The Great Train Story, an HO-scale layout that includes about 58 scale miles of trackage, depicting the train journey from Chicago to Seattle.

I will ride. And look. And remember. And dream.

Riding on the BB&T

For the past three months Roanoke Valley locations of Branch Banking and Trust have doubled as the BB&T Short Line Railroad. Each branch has trumpeted VMT to their customers for a month, selling gift shop items and museum memberships, displaying images from our collection, giving out brochures and discount ticket coupons and boosting the museum’s offerings to customers.

Each branch has also hosted a VMT Feature Day with free hot dogs, snacks and drinks. A museum rep has been on hand at each one to greet customers and answer questions. Bob Hudson has joyfully given rides in his 1924 Ford Model T Huckster Wagon. Bank employees have been both good cooks and great sports.

I worked one of the Feature Days last week. Some customers, doing their banking during their lunch break, glanced briefly at the displays and grabbed a bag of Doritos or a ‘dog on their way out. Others took more time inside and out and climbed aboard the Model T for photos or a ride.

Those who had time to talk offered interesting stories. A mechanic at Norfolk Southern’s Shaffers Crossing shops talked enthusiastically about his work, a reminder that playing with trains can be a hoot regardless of its size.

One woman asked detailed questions about VMT’s exhibits to help plan an extended family outing. Her sisters and their families will visit from Sweden the end of this month, and she wants to take them someplace interesting and “real,” with authentic slices of area history. Her comments highlighted again the museum’s popularity with international visitors.

Since the beginning of the year, we have welcomed guests from at least thirteen different countries. Many of them read about us on the Internet and visit our web site. They plan their trip to America to include a visit with the 611, 1218 and our other exhibits. The passion for trains reaches around the world, and nothing in Roanoke offers anything more unique and intrinsic to our area than those giants slumbering in our rail yard.

Conversations with other customers underlined another reality. Too many residents of this area know little or nothing about VMT. We must do a better job of getting our story out in Virginia. As we promote the history of the high iron, we face the high irony of German, French and Japanese tourists traveling thousands of miles to see what area residents won’t drive across town to visit.

My favorite encounter of the day was with an elderly woman who animatedly described the train day trips she made from Bedford as a child with her father, visiting the market and other downtown Roanoke spots. This was the depression and apparently many of their rail jaunts were done sans tickets, on freight rather than passenger cars. The two of them often interacted with other non-paying travelers and she reveled in the sights of the hobo camps, though dad refused to allow her to sample the contents of their open-fire cookpots.

“How I cherish those memories—if only I could make that trip once more,” she bubbled. “I would gladly pay the railroad and sign any liability waivers they demanded for one more chance to ride to Roanoke in a freight car.”

Thanks to BB&T management and staff for treating us so well. And thanks to that lovely lady for reminding us of what we as an organization are really about: reliving history and rekindling priceless memories.

Listening Again

Blogs without readers are sad, sad creatures. I have been writing this one since late February and appreciate so much those who bother to show up here time after time. Here is a look back at some of your comments. (Feedback regarding whether VMT should be a transportation or railroad-only attraction I will defer until an upcoming blog on that subject.)

Welcome back
When I took over the blog in February, several of you were kind enough to say you were glad to see it back on line—and those of you who weren’t glad were kind enough not to say so. Derek wrote, “As someone from Indiana who has never had a chance to come and visit but has many fond memories of 611, this is the place to keep up on the action. Please keep the updates coming! Would also like to get the newsletter.

From Indiana? Cool. I hope you can visit in person soon. As the May 12 blog points out, you can see a lot of other railroad stuff in addition to VMT.

Wishin’ and hopin’
Several people have shared items from their personal wish list. Chief among them is the desire to have more intimate contact with the outdoor exhibits. Martin said, “I personally would like to see the Virginian Railway 0-8-0 #4 be painted up and have the cab open to the public. “ Emmo213 dreams of being able to “actually sit in the engineer's seat of 611 and 1218 …. Maybe even have an air source hooked up so there's a noon-time whistle or something similar.”

Phillip thinks one of VMT’s biggest selling points is allowing visitors to “climb all over the collection,” even though “curators in their various ways would pull out their hair.” And Anonymous applauds “how the railroad exhibits are not roped off. There is something special about touching the artifacts that I have read about or seen on video for years.

Anti-q8 wishes we could get even more up close and personal. “It seems almost criminal that [the 611] sits idle, with little or no possibility of coming back to life. My kids love trains and are just in awe when they see a regular diesel engine. I can only imagine what they’d think if they could actually see 611 under power. With the steam, smoke and the driving rods, I’m sure it would seem to be alive and breathing.”

We all ache for that to happen. More likely to occur is Philosofik’s idea.

In conjunction with a map of area railroad attractions, he (or she?) suggests cell phone tours. “Basically, the map provides visitors with a unique local or toll-free phone number they can call at the various landmarks noted on the map. The phone call will access a pre-recorded message talking about the site they're viewing with as little or as much detail as you want. Each site could have its own extension in the phone so you could even track which sites get the most traffic.”

Cell tour calls. That’s a different kind of CTC.

Thanks for the Memories

Anti-q8 loved the comments I included from a staff member about the impression 611 makes on people. He reminisces, “My grandfather was a Pullman conductor on the Powhatan Arrow and the Cavalier back in the 40’s and 50’s. When my mom was in college at Longwood in Farmville, she used to deadhead home to Norfolk when her dad was on the train. She said that when they pulled out of the station, by the time they were at the town limit, they were almost at speed. I have heard that at one time on the flats between Richmond and Norfolk, the engineers tried to see how fast she would go but had to throttle back because they were afraid the track wouldn’t hold up; so they were never sure exactly how fast the J-series really was.”

Recollections like that need to be preserved and shared, Phillip mused. “What if the VMT set up a computer terminal where guests could record their recollections of riding behind #611 or any of the other vehicles? Then have them stored so others can view them and share their own. There are so many great stories out there, it’d be a shame to lose them to time.”

“Just the Facts”
An anonymous blog reader feels “more people would read it if you posted about what's going on at VMT. Ya know, like the exhibits, what's being done to restore various pieces of equipment, things like that. Just because it's a blog doesn't mean you have to try to be poetic. I personally want information, not poetry.”

Some folks like poetry,
Some folks like prose
Thanks for your view
Though it steps on my toes.
Here’s who I write for
When I have my druthers.
Sometimes it’s one group
And sometimes it’s others.
So when one column
Leaves you at the station,
Maybe the next will
Provide stimulation.

Too Much Talk, Too Little Action
Another Anonymous (or the same one?) also groused about a piece on stories: “Yes, there are so many stories. Why are we telling them on a blog that few read instead of at the museum itself? Perhaps the museum would be in better shape if it had been telling them there.”

“That few read?” You break my heart.

Isn’t that part of the reason for a blog? To talk about what we can do better, especially when readers join the dialogue, is a vital step toward putting new ideas into practice. Sometimes we throw things out there to get your reaction and to see if you have better ideas. We would love to do lots of things that we cannot right now due to a lack of manpower and money. So we do what we can and continue to dream, with your help.


It’s Everywhere
Finally, Barbara wrote to say, “Hello, I just entered before I have to leave to the airport. If you want here is the site I told you about where I type some stuff and make good money (I work from home).”

How about that—not even blogs are immune from spam.

Listening to the Museum

Stories. In my last blog I highlighted the need for stories. Museums need to tell the dramas of people and their interactions with the exhibits on display.

Part of the genius of Winston Link’s photographs of Norfolk & Western steam trains was that he didn’t merely take “train pictures.” He captured the railroad’s interaction with the environment around it, a way of life that was disappearing as quickly as those steam locomotives.

VMT has plenty of stories. Some of them are already being told vividly and elegantly, such as the exhibit, “African American Heritage on the Norfolk & Western Railroad, 1930-70.” Others lie there like undiscovered treasure. I have already suggested some possibilities. Here are others.

Though the Museum of Transportation focuses on the N&W more than any other railroad, much gold remains to be mined. Consider this. What other rail museum lets you stand next to mammoth locomotives, gaze just steps away at the tracks along which they once stormed, then glance a few blocks down the street where those fire-bellowing creatures were created.

What about the drama of the big little railroad that “ran from nowhere to nowhere,” as someone characterized its lack of access to major metropolises, succeeding because it did almost everything more efficiently than its competitors? Then there is the story of the mouse that ate the cat—how the N&W, once owned in part by the Pennsylvania RR, turned the tables when Norfolk Southern bought half of Conrail, the successor to the Pennsy and other bankrupt northeastern roads.

Even the former freight station that houses VMT tells tales, as the words of a newer staff member describe:

When the museum is calm and I sit in the quiet of the building, I feel that old freight station trying to communicate with me. It speaks audibly in groans and creaks, bumps and bangs. The building seems to be telling a silent story, too. The floor fascinates me. I want to know the story of the holes, the chips, the ruts in the concrete. How about the wooden bricks and the scales? Who or what chipped the floor; what was weighed on the scales? How many times did those baggage carts transport goods from a box car to the loading dock? Light floods through the upper windows today, just as it did 80 years ago. Today it illuminates the artifacts that tell a story about transportation. But in 1918 it illuminated the people and machines that wrote the story.

Then there are the stories that our guests bring to us. That is what I like best about the museum: meeting our guests and listening to their stories. For so many people, coming to the museum is more like a pilgrimage than a tourist stop. They remember the 611 when it passed through their town or behind their home. They remember their daddy or granddaddy who was an engineer, a fireman, or who worked in the shops. They remember the last excursions of the 611 and still experience a shiver of excitement when they recall riding behind the majestic locomotive. The stories people tell about the trains are an absolute delight. I have learned so much from them.

Perhaps the thing that has surprised me most is the passion our guests feel for trains, especially the 611. Actually, passion is not a strong enough word. People have bonded with that engine. It is not an inanimate machine; it is a piece of their lives and an anchor that ties them to their own family history. They love that engine!

So many stories.

Sneak preview

Given today's date, it seems appropriate to announce the opening of our #1218 to the public. We've had #1218 at the museum since 2004, but it has not been open to the public in that time. The reasons for this are myriad, ranging from safety considerations to laziness. But, we've overcome these challenges, and you can now step into the cab of Norfolk & Western's Class A, #1218. Almost.

We'll be opening the exhibit permanently starting on January 2nd of 2008, but we'll host two sneak preview events before that. One will be on Christmas Eve, the other on New Year's Eve, each running from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. We'll have a reduced general admission rate of $5.00 per person. Also, we'll be giving away a free copy of our book, From Here to There to the first 1,000 visitors at each preview.

Ok, so that's the press release stuff. Now for the good part (see; you knew you read this blog for a reason).

We're working on several elements of this exhibit. The first is a diagram showing which knobs and levers served which functions in the operation of the locomotive. We'll also include a narrative in the cab detailing the significant role the Class A locomotives played during World War II. We hope to have lights in the firebox to simulate a fire, and in time, we would like to add an interactive element demonstrating how the articulated aspects of the locomotive worked. How much of this will be done by the sneak previews, we're not sure, but we hope to at least have the light and narrative in place for the grand opening on January 2nd.

We're very excited about this, and we're hoping to create a very different kind of experience for our visitors from that they receive inside #611.

Carol of the Bells

I couldn't help myself. I read over some of the old posts here, and noticed a trend -- we complain about money a lot. I'm not saying there isn't a good reason for that, nor that there isn't some interesting stuff there. Just an observation, that's all. So, in our continuing effort for consistency, here's another rant post about money.

Hark! how the bells, sweet silver bells, all seem to say "Throw cares away."

Last year, we sold a locomotive (a sentence I never thought I'd use before I started working here). By the calendar, that happened this year, but as far as our finances are concerned, that was last year. Anyway, if not for that sale, we'd have ended up in the red. This year doesn't look a lot better, and we're all out of locomotives to sell.

Christmas is here, bringing good cheer to young and old, meek and the bold.

The situation isn't terrible, as we've still got some chunks of local money and other donations coming in, but the outlook is not good. Citizens of Virginia are well-aware of the budget crunch facing the Commonwealth, and the murmurs in Richmond say that there will be no state funding for non-state agencies. As a tax-payer, I can't personally fault this sentiment, but working for a struggling non-profit, it's a dark cloud. It's also worth noting that your Virginia Museum of Transportation is the Official Transportation Museum of the Commonwealth. That designation isn't just fluff -- it came directly from the legislature in Richmond years ago. While the title is nice, it does not make us an agency of the state. Ergo, when goes the money, so goes the show.

Ding, dong, ding, dong -- that is their song, with joyful ring, all caroling.

The City of Roanoke hasn't been much help, either. We expected and accepted that long ago, so this is no great surprise. Our funding from the city is at an all-time low, but the city has its own budget needs, too.

So what does that mean for the 44-year old caretaker of Virginia's transportation heritage?

One seems to hear words of good cheer from everywhere, filling the air.

It means we've got three possible futures.

In the first, we receive a substantial donation from a major player, to be continued in perpetuity. The B&O Railroad Museum receives substantial funding from CSX. They get a lot of donations, too, of course, but this is an example of what a large corporate partner can do. Last year, Norfolk Southern very generously contributed tens of thousands of dollars to us. This year, they're again doing so with the caveat that we now match their donation. However, in neither case was the money enough to get us through a year. We're no less grateful; merely honest.

In the second, we become a state agency. This is probably the most ideal course for us. State funding ensures our continuation, and provides resources beyond our current means. This would resurrect our restoration, curatorial, and education departments -- three neglected and presently inactive areas of our operation forced into dormancy by a lack of funding. It would also help us cross the hurdle we've been stuck on for a while, and get out of the rather regional focus we have in our collection and exhibits. At its last meeting, the VMT Board of Directors voted to pursue this course, but their consent is not the only cog in this wheel.

In the third, we continue as we are. The only end game for this particular circumstance will be the closing of our doors. We could get by a few more years, but if we made it to a 50th birthday, it would surprise everyone involved.

O, how they pound, raising the sound, o'er hill and dale, telling their tale.

Virginia's Explore Park just shut down, largely for the same reasons. The brand new Art Museum of Western Virginia has not yet opened, now costing nearly double its initial $40.5 million price tag. The History Museum of Western Virginia resembles a ghost town. Despite some [reasonably] successful events and increased attendance, your VMT in the same trenches.

Gaily they ring, while people sing songs of good cheer. Christmas is here!

During the holidays, everyone has a hand out, asking for toys, clothes, money, food, time, prayers, and company. There's never enough to go around, this is true. What we don't seem to realize is that this holds true during the rest of the year, too. We just don't notice it unless we stand outside in a Santa suit and ring a bell.

Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas!
Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas!

And we're back

After too long, we're back and better than ever, coming in over your FM dial. That last part's not right, but we're back nonetheless, so let's get you caught up on some recent events at your Virginia Museum of Transportation.

On October 27th, we hosted our first annual Iron Horse Tug of War, a joint fund raiser with Special Olympics Virginia. We were fortunate for some fantastic weather, coming off three consecutive days of rain. Six teams competed in the event, pulling our #611 in heats. We very nearly killed the first team. Despite tugging with all they had, they weren't able to budge the engine an inch. After some investigation, we discovered that one of the tender brakes failed to disengage, so the team was pulling a 800,000 pounds of steel with its brakes on -- ouch. After releasing the brake, we had no difficulties at all, and #611 rolled back and forth easily. Below are some photos from the event, taken by Mr. Martin Moorefield.

We had not seen these blue skies since early this week. We were glad to have them for the event.













Local band Key West played for us through the event.














The competitors and spectators line up as the final preparations are made.














Teams pose for pictures after the awards are given out. Awards were given for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place teams, as well as the last place team which earned the "Caboose Who Got Loose" award. Our thanks go out to Creations in downtown Roanoke for helping us with the awards plaques.








Just two weeks later, we hosted a lecture and book signing by Rush Loving, Jr., author of The Men Who Loved Trains. This event was the first in a series of collaborative efforts involving the N&W Historical Society, the C&O Historical Society, the Blue Ridge and Roanoke Chapters of the NRHS, the O. Winston Link Museum, and of course, your Virginia Museum of Transportation. Attendance was, admittedly, light. Despite the small crowd, Mr. Loving fielded excellent questions, and took a tour of the museum after signing copies of his book. We thank him for his time, and hope to have him back soon.

In other news, the first step in bringing the Zoo Choo to VMT is underway. Next week, we hope to receive the track upon which the train will run. Because the Mill Mountain Zoo will be replacing its train, they opted to keep their track in place, and simply purchase a new train. Their old train comes to us, along with brand new track that we'll lay down in our rail yard outside. We'll be renovating the Ellett Station, and old combination freight-passenger station formerly used on the Virginian Railway, as our ticket office. Check back for more information on this in the coming weeks.

There's one last topic brewing that needs to be addressed, but this isn't the right post for it. Look for another post soon on a more serious subject. I'll give you a hint -- it starts with "M," rhymes with "honey," and is synonymous with "somethin' we ain't got."

A sight not seen in some time

Roanoke celebrates its 125th anniversary this year. This means that Norfolk Southern, after a fashion, also celebrates its 125th anniversary this year. As part of the commemoration of the latter, two of Roanoke's glory girls may be showing off their stuff at Norfolk Southern's Roanoke Shops.

Norfolk Southern is hosting an open house at its Roanoke Shops on September 8th. The term "open house" is a misnomer as the event is open by invitation only. Nonetheless, the open house at the shops is a big deal, and to emphasize it, #611 and #1218 may be making an appearance.

Now, the event is closed to the public, which is too bad, really, but not surprising. The shops are in various states of repair, and safety concerns should and do prevail. These concerns only grow as the number of attendees does. However, your Virginia Museum of Transportation will offer exclusive photos of those engines at the shops, if they are part of the event. The photos will go up on this blog. The sight of a J Class steam engine on the turntable at the Roanoke Shops has not been seen in over a decade, and might not ever be seen again.

We're holding our breath, crossing our fingers, and knocking on every piece of wood we can find.

Merrily we roll along

Friday, June 15th was a big day for the museum. We didn't have a ton of visitors. We didn't raise a bunch of money, or receive anything new to the collection. What did happen, though, was a sight too rare in our time. #611 moved.

We've been ramping up to our big tug of war fund raiser for a few weeks now, and in order to make sure that #611 could not only still roll (as we all knew it could), but that it could do so safely (of which we weren't quite so sure). So, on June 15th, we decided to try it out.

Our thanks go out to Robert Young's Towing for helping us with this project. We absolutely couldn't have done it without them.

Someone let the monkeys out

No, Oops is still up on the mountain. We're talking about the other small, energetic primates -- kids.

With school out for the summer, VMT is entering its busiest time of the year. We'll see as many people through our doors in the next two months as we've seen since the year began. It's a favorite time for us, not just financially, but also because the fun of this place really comes out when kids are here.

The old rail fans (affectionately known as "old farts") are some of our best customers, but a large portion of our museum is devoted to providing fun and educational experiences for children. We have a playground, hands-on exhibits, trains the little devils darlings can climb on, and a transportation safety room geared directly toward them.

One new experience in the works is a train simulator so that kids and adults can get a sense of what it's like to sit in the cab of a locomotive rolling down the line. We're hoping to install this simulator in the cab of one of our diesels sometime soon, though the all-important dollar, the hinge around which our museum turns will dictate the time table for that.

Not to forget the kids during our tug of war fund raiser, while the adults are pulling on #611, the kids can pull on a 1950 Studebaker Land Cruiser. We might even let the parking brake out for them.

Tales from the front [office]

We get a lot of different people here at the museum, and they get here a lot of different ways, coming for a lot of different reasons. We'd like to share a few of our favorite stories with you.

We'll begin with a man from Switzerland. He had never been to the United States before, so he decided he wanted to see as much of it as he could while he was here. He bought a car in Vermont, plans to drive all over the country before ending up in California where he'll sell the car before flying home. He stopped here along the way today.

Next up is an Australian gentleman. He befriended a Canadian couple some years ago when they were on holiday in Australia. Since then, they have taken an annual holiday together, choosing different countries each year. This year, they chose the United States, specifically Virginia for the 400th anniversary of Jamestown. They saw Jamestown, Colonial Williamsburg, Richmond, Appomattox, and Roanoke before heading up to D.C. to make their separate ways home. Their previous holidays took them to Bali, England, Eastern Europe, Chile and Argentina, and China.

One of this blogger's personal favorites is a couple from Hawaii. They got married in Hawaii, but chose to come to Roanoke, Virginia on their honeymoon. Why? Each was a die-hard train buff, and they wanted to see our own #611. Now, in the interest of full disclosure, they were only in Roanoke for one day on their way to Bermuda (still, why go to Bermuda if you live in Hawaii? What do they have that you don't?), but they stopped here just to see us.

The following story is one we hear almost weekly. Let's paint a picture. An older couple, retired, show up in an RV. The husband collects model trains, may have worked for the railroad, or just likes trains. The wife could probably care less, but through an osmotic process, she's as knowledgeable as he is. Usually, he'll spend a few hours in the rail yard whilst she wanders the museum, lingering in the gift shop for a while. This happens at least once a week, nearly every week of the year.

Then there are the hikers and drivers. South of Roanoke is the Blue Ridge Parkway, one of the most scenic and beautiful drives anywhere in the country. Roanoke is a natural stop, being located centrally along the Parkway. North of Roanoke runs a portion of the Appalachian Trail. People stop in town for much the same reason. During the summer, hikers abound. In the spring and fall, the Parkway may as well be I-81 with all the traffic on it to see spring blooming and fall foliage.

Let's not forgot the Hobo King, who graced the museum with his Presence not so long ago. He traveled in here in an old Jeep (which may or may not have belonged to him; just kidding... we hope) out of which he seemed to live as there were many clothes and odd items in the vehicle.

The most touching story this blogger has encountered involves an older gentleman. He met his late wife riding on the Cavalier behind our #611. They were married for many years and enjoyed a large family. After his wife passed away, he brought his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren to the museum to see #611, without which none of them might exist. The man was originally from West Virginia, though he and his wife met somewhere over the rails on a 60 miles-per-hour train ride to the rest of their lives.

In our lobby, on one of the walls is an old saying. It reads:

No matter how you got here, transportation brought you.

Indeed.

Show me the... wait, where'd it go?

Museum life has its ups and downs. Saying something that trite is not only painful, but also painfully true.

An article in last week's Roanoke Times reports that the City of Roanoke has promised up to $500,000 in matching funds to the Mill Mountain Zoo for capital improvements. That is great news. We have some good friends at the zoo, and those facilities have been in need of repair and upgrading for some time. This was a long time coming for them, and hopefully worth the wait.

Meanwhile, the new Art Museum of Western Virginia is churning along, unfurling like a cross between the Flying Nun's habit and a vague monument to bourgeois taste (that's alright, because it fits in so seamlessly with Roanoke's general architectural scheme). All of this at $66 million. All kidding aside, we have some good friends at the art museum and we're happy they're receiving a new facility.

Naturally, one might think that with the city being so generous to the Mill Mountain Zoo and the Art Museum of Western Virginia, your Virginia Museum of Transportation might be on the eve of a great windfall, a financial bonanza that would be a new sunrise for the museum.

Not only was our grant proposal answered with a mere $24,900, but the latest kick in the teeth came when the city began soliciting bids for a strategic plan for the museum, funded by the Norfolk Southern Corporation. Let us be more clear. We're happy to receive a strategic plan, but the city has so far kept us out of the loop on the bidding process. We're sorry, City of Roanoke, but the last time we checked, we were still a private organization. Unless you're creating a strategic plan for the locomotives themselves, we think we've got a more than legitimate right to input on any and all decisions relating to this museum.

The City of Roanoke owns about 45% of our collection, including the only surviving Norfolk & Western Class J and Class A locomotives, and the largest collection of diesel locomotives in the south. The City of Roanoke, which cut our funding from $60,000* two years ago to $52,000 last year, already has a sizable investment in our museum. In many ways, our museum better than any other, tells the story of Roanoke. Further, admissions figures show that nearly 80% of our patrons come from out of town. How many other museums in Roanoke can boast that?

The building that houses that collection, tells that story, and draws those tourists was built in 1918. Some of the electrical wiring inside is original. More than 75% of the roll-down doors that line the front and rear of the building are in horrible states of repair, and their improper seals make for extremely inefficient heating and cooling. Moreover, damage from the storm last summer that ripped off about 10,000 square feet of our roof left two offices, a conference room, and a bathroom condemned due to water damage in the electrical system. Further, it forced the complete replacement of two HVAC units to heat and cool the building, not to mention a new roof which still hasn't been installed (it took nearly six months to receive the first check from the insurance company after lengthy negotiations and adjustments). If you came by the museum this winter, you discovered what those of us working here encountered daily -- no heat. That same storm tore the main gas line off the building like an old band-aid and permanently damaged the heaters up there.

Census data tells us that the Roanoke metropolitan area is home to roughly 200,000 people. If it costs 66 million dollars to build a new art museum, half a million dollars to restore the zoo to a high level of quality, and if there are more than 35 non-profit organizations in that same metropolitan area, the question is this:

Just how much money will be left for anybody?

We don't think we're more deserving than any other institution in town. Except, maybe we are. Roanoke's investment here has already been illustrated. So maybe we should ask, how much is it worth to protect and develop that investment? It's becoming increasingly clear what the city thinks.

* To put this figure in perspective, $60,000 covers slightly less than two months of our operating expenses.

Tug-of-war

The last time our Norfolk & Western J Class #611 ran under its own power was in 1994. When it finally came back to us, the crowds along the tracks were several people deep on both sides.

Currently, #611 is the closest thing we have to an operational locomotive. The current estimate to restore it to running condition is less than $250,000 -- a drop in the bucket for anybody willing to shell out the kind of money it would take to run #611 in excursion service. This is sort of like the people who buy expensive sports cars; if they can afford the car, they can probably afford the gas and taxes.

Like #1218 and #763, we don't own #611; it belongs to the City of Roanoke, and we lease it from them for $1.00 per year. As part of our agreement with the city, and the city's agreement with Norfolk Southern, we are required to move #611 about once a year to keep its wheels and bearings from flattening under the weight of the engine. The last time we moved it was more than a year ago.

Our Executive Director had a fantastic idea to accomplish this task this year -- a large-scale tug-of-war tournament. #611 is registered as a national engineering landmark, in part because it is very well-balanced, so much so that a small group of people (perhaps as few as two or three) can pull it with a rope over level track.

The idea would be to clear the track in front of and behind #611, and have competing teams pulling in opposite directions. The first team to pull the engine beyond a certain point would win that round and it would proceed in a tournament style.

We'd solicit prizes from local businesses, get some live music, throw some burgers and dogs on the grill and charge a nominal admission fee, also collecting group entry fees from the teams. The turn-out could be tremendous, and it could easily become an annual fund raiser. There are a lot of people locally and abroad that would pay just about anything to see this engine move.

If nothing else, we'd get somebody to move the engine without Norfolk Southern having to come in with a switcher just to move the thing a few feet in either direction.