More good points. I suppose in sticking with the "fantasy" theme I should not have made that gon comment; money and volunteer effort would not be critically scarce resources. My pragmatism was coming through. Going to places like the IRM out here in IL saddens me. With respect to the museum folks, it seems to be about quantity, not quality. And there are not enough resources to restore and maintain it all, so everything suffers. To Stag's point, railroad preservationists really need to rethink rationalization... and maintain a balance between historical importance and crowd pleasers. Unfortunately as time goes on, railroad equipment from the "golden era" will become increasingly irrelevant in the minds of the average tourist... or even fan. (Look no further than Trains Magazine: How many articles about pre-1940s railroading do you see? Heck, even Classic Trains only goes back to the 20s.)
Cowford wrote:C'mon Mr Malone, this thread certainly is in the "dreaming" category (uhhh, see title). And speaking of dreaming, you think that people would be compelled to visit a museum that featured a bottom drop gon?A rusted, unrestored drop-bottom gondola? No.
A restored, pristine drop-bottom gondola, maybe, but probably not (I'm talking Joe and Jane Public and their kids).
A restored drop-bottom gondola that was part of a display explaining how the railroad moved goods, how homes were heated with coal that might have come to the coalyard in that gondola etc etc, well now you might be in business.
And that display would cost a lot less than restoring the gondola, assuming you have space for it. Which in this fantasy B&M museum would not be an issue