Robert L. Vaughan wrote:
>
> Here at the Smiths Falls Railway Museum we are
> planning our programming for our 1997 season.
>
> As an all volunteer organization it can be a
> challenge to simply keep the doors open, let
> alone have any sort of activity on the site.
>
> I am looking for suggestions for our programming.
> We will be constructing exhibits and operating
> equipment on a limited extent but I am particularly
> interested in programming that will assist with the
> interpretation of railroad history.
>
> Interpretation of any large industrial process can
> be tricky--many members of the public have only a
> vague idea of how railroads work and people
> restoring and operating these artifacts are rarely
> in a position to provide interpretation.(While driving
> a locomotive past a station platform is NOT the time
> to explain the difference between steam and diesel
> propulsion to the group of tourists gathered trackside)
> Posting a person trackside with a bullhorn to explain
> the operation can hurt the process as much as help it.
>
> Sustainable operation is a must.  As a museum we
> are preserving equipment, not using it up.
>
> Some of the themes we hope to cover in 1997 are:
> steam locomotives, diesel locomotives, railway safety,
> railway station gardens, track cars and railway
> brotherhoods and unions.
>
> Any suggestions?  I am interested in both specific
> suggestions and general comments on the interpretation
> of industrial heritage.
>
> Please reply to the list if appropriate or E-mail me
> directly at [log in to unmask]
> --
> Robert L. Vaughan
> [log in to unmask]
> Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA

You can contact The Canadian Railroad Museum located in St-Constant, QC;
maybe they can help you.  122-A, rue St-Pierre; Saint-Constant (QC); J5A
2G9; FAX: (514) 638-1563; Telephone: (514) 638-1563