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  • Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New Jersey
Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New Jersey

Moderator: David

 #1181888  by Ken W2KB
 
JSF01, these are all good suggestions. The Black River Railroad Historical Trust http://www.flemingtontrain.org does have members young through senior, and they participate in restoration, train service, etc. It helps keep interest when there is an operation carrying passengers. The URHS http://www.urhs.org is an umbrella organization of many of the NJ rail historical societies and it does look for ways to have larger events. Unfortunately, just as with other volunteer organizations such as fire, EMS, etc. it is becoming increasingly difficult to attract volunteers.

With respect to social media, see Facebook sites for URHS and BRRHT:

https://www.facebook.com/UnitedRailroad ... NJ?fref=ts

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Black-Ri ... 22?fref=ts
 #1181921  by kilroy
 
Thank you very much JFS, that was a very detailed, well thought out response with many good ideas. I will certainly take these to our Board for further discussion. The groups in the area have a number of interlocking officers so this can and should find its way to all of the groups in the area.

We've discussed trying to get more involved with the Boy Scout railroading merit badge but hooking up with the vo-tech schools for assistance on restoration projects is a good idea if we can work thorugh the lawyers and insurance concerns of everyone (a grim reality of today's world). Trying to start a historical society of younger members is an interesting concept but would they be willing to help out the old men on various projects? That's a good question.

Getting out to other events is a good idea but runs into the same issues we have with everything else, getting existing members to help. I can't get anybody to sit on their butts in their living room and pick up phone messages on the answering machine let alone get in a car and drive somewhere.

Lots of good ideas to work on and I greatly appreciate the feedback.
 #1182032  by 3rdrail
 
Just one thing that I thought that I would mention that I have noticed is that the older "guys in the know" often get into a clique that younger kids find hard to penetrate. Having "been there, done that" and now probably being looked at as an "older guy", I've seen it from both sides. I've always tried to share my knowledge for that reason. Clubs should be pro-actively encouraged to do the same.
 #1182320  by Ken W2KB
 
3rdrail wrote:Just one thing that I thought that I would mention that I have noticed is that the older "guys in the know" often get into a clique that younger kids find hard to penetrate. Having "been there, done that" and now probably being looked at as an "older guy", I've seen it from both sides. I've always tried to share my knowledge for that reason. Clubs should be pro-actively encouraged to do the same.
Absolutely! That may be why our operation is less clickish. There is always more work - restoration, trainmen, you name it, than there are folks ready willing and able to work doing it. So the older fellow who chairs a project of restoring an car always needs help, and sand paper and paint brushes can't tell how old the person using them may be. ;-) As to operation, when I am conductor, it is most helpful to have a trainman on each car to interact with passengers and look for unsafe conditions, as well as collect tickets, man the traps at stations, etc. Age, unless too young to qualify for train operations legally, doesn't matter.

But for organizations whose primary aspect is historical, with little or no museum or restoration work, cliques would tend to be more problematic I suspect. Good old boys club, so to speak. That seems true in so many organizations, not limited to historical groups.
 #1184095  by GSC
 
Some older members need an attitude adjustment, however that can be done. Yes, if you have two or more members, you'll have cliques. Just human nature. There will always be the "Olde Guarde" or the "Oldtimers" or whatever you might call them. They just need to be a little more open to new people. Not easy to change the status quo, even impossible at times. That's where you need to have "mid-range" members there at the door to welcome new folks in. As a longtime (21 years) membership chairman of an operating railroad museum, I did everything I could to talk up the organization and once I got them in, I made sure I paid attention to them. In many (not all) cases, that seemed to work. They came out a few times, met some of the crew, and got involved. Bring them in, make sure you introduce them around, and make them feel comfortable. No one wants to be the new kid unless he can make some new friends.

In a perfect world . . .