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
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Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA