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Re: (erielack) Steamtown 10th Anniversary
Dear Rick,
You said it better than I did...steam and diesels can co-exist...as can
traction, which is also represented by the trolley museum adjacent to
Steamtown. I think if the average visitor walks away with an appreciation
of how it all fits together--and had a good time getting this
appreciation--the museums have done their job. My fear is that Steamtown
is squandering its resources on activities that satisfy the interests of
the fewest people. Having just come off the July Fourth holiday I'll use
the fireworks analogy: What activity is the real crowd-pleaser on the 4th
of July? Potato sack races? Hot dog eating contests? Of course not, it's
fireworks. And rail excursions are the "fireworks" of a rail museum. The
static stuff is equivalent to the potato sack races. Yeah, they have their
enthusiasts, too--and there's nothing wrong with potato sack races--but the
level of general interest is incredibly different between the two. This is
why I think Steamtown needs to be running excursions EVERY weekend rather
than occasionally as they do now. Most families don't plan that far ahead,
so they need the flexibility of knowing that the train will always be
running. And the more visitors that are attracted to ride the trains, the
more spillover there will be to the static museum. It's the classic
win-win scenario which I have difficulty understanding why Steaamtown
hasn't figured out yet.
Chuck
Njricky2_@_aol.com
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07/06/2005 02:57 AM Subject:
Please respond to Re: (erielack) Steamtown 10th Anniversary
Njricky2
I also visited Steamtown this weekend and Chuck makes very good points. The
museum factor is very much in place and works very well. But the static
museum
cannot stand alone.
The key is live steam motive power and purists be damned, backed up by
deisel
when necessary. While the roots and focus are steam, desiel evolved from
steam, thus if it's packaged right, the two work well as they appeared to
this
weekend.
NPS is very good a marketing national parks but Steamtown is unique within
the National Park System and NPS doesn't appear to know how to market
Steamtown.
People I spoke with at Steamtown are very enthusiastic. They have the
knowledge and love for what they do but they are not in a position to enact
a good
marketing program without NPS taking the lead.
In the parking lots, I noticed license plates from NY, NJ, MD, DE, NC, VA,
OH, IL, ON, MA, TX, WV, KY and of course, PA. That tells me that people
know
about Steamtown and went to Scranton to experience the railroad as it once
was.
Did they find what they were looking for? Hopefully so. In my opinion, they
probably found a good part of a static museum with steam playing a minor
role.
Having watched Steamtown grow in Scranton, I think NPS has it reversed. NPS
has certainly taken care of the "static'" part extremely well, but without
major steam action (deisels included if and when necesary), Steamtown
becomes
nothing more than a quiet place to contemplate what was.
Late this morning, while I was waiting for the commuter bus (still can't
take
a train from Scranton to New York) to bring me back home to NYC, I couldn't
help but smile watching people riding in two Lackawanna passenger cars
within
the yard powered by steam and during a thunderstorm. Storm be damned, they
were
riding rails, maybe for the first time.
Something good continues to happen at Steamtown but as was mentioned, what
about the politicians from the local to state to the federal level? My
question
is simple. Where are they? Why are they not doing what they can do to
ensure
the success of a unique National Park?
With a government that cut Amtrak funding, a government that ignores the
importance and expansion of commuter rail systems, a government that choses
what
part of our history will be in the forefront, a government that tries to
outlaw
people from smoking but allows increases in industrial polutants, tells me
that Steamtown is not high on the priority list. And I don't care who is in
the
White House.
It's been this way for decades but this time around it appears to be
heading
to extremes and the current government is leading the charge.
If we want to see a unique part of the national park system be all that it
can be, it's time to contact the Scranton area elected people from the
local to
federal levels.
Case in point. A few months ago, Sen. Rick Santorum from PA enquired about
the status of the Cut-Off. After years in Washington he finally got around
to
looking for rail votes. The response to him was "Where have you been?" On
that
issue, he hasn't been heard from since and he hasn't spoken a word about
Steamtown.
Being a favorite son in the White House, what can one say? We know.
If we want to see Steamtown and other issues be all that they can be, it's
time to contact the likes of Sen. Santorum and the others. Regardless of
what
state we live in, it's time to let them know that they are not preserving
our
country's roots and that they are not properly planning for our country's
future.
Rick
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