Re: (erielack) Steamtown 10th Anniversary

[secbyte_@_squarework.com]

My .02 cents

What would be nice is if they used the times when the diesel was 
necessary as a learning experience for those riding the train.  All of 
the steam railroads had to turn to diesel at one time or another or go 
under.  Explain the crew size, and the fact that you are not getting 
cinders on your clothes right now.  What is the money involved in 
crewing a diesel as opposed to a steam engine? Get a collection of NPS 
people to stand in a group on the platform and count them, now send away 
the ones that are not needed by the diesel crew, Why did passenger 
diesel engines have steam boilers in them? explain that. Diesels are a 
part of our steam heritage as they were the end of it. If it is 
presented as such I as a rider would find that exceptable.  Once I am 
moving and in car # 10, I really can't tell if I am behind a diesel or a 
Steamer anyway.  The same cars were pulled by either the diesel or the 
steamer, and on this railway.  I know it is STEAMTOWN and that means 
STEAM but a quote I have always liked is: "It is good to understand the 
end of a subject as well as its beginning". and diesels are the end of 
steam.

George

Njricky2_@_aol.com wrote:
> 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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