Question: Are you looking for museum collections to display or
working models to set up as a Train or Christmas Garden? If the
former the California collection mentioned before is sweet and I
would also recommend talking to the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore.
They also have a good collection as well. When I worked there, we had
an excellent little exhibition on train models that included patent
models and models of all scales and designs. None of them ran, or
would have been approved to run by the curator.
However, I think what you really want are working train models that
you can set up and run during the Christmas season. For this you need
to contact not museums with collections, although they will be an
invaluable resource, but your local model railroad clubs. Start with
the railroad museums as they will know who is in your area and many
times staff and volunteers are officers in the local clubs. The
Association or Railroad Museums web site has searchable database of
museums. I have no doubt your area has both a local railroad museum
and a local model railroad club. They are both everywhere.
Bear in mind that although I have found model railroaders to be among
the nicest and enthusiastic outside experts I have ever worked with,
they are like every other small and specialized population. They have
their own internecine squabbles and animosities, schisms, and
peculiarities. (In Baltimore the issue was over whether you should
run your trains in mint condition or weather them to make them look
used. You might not care, but they do. A lot) They take their hobby
VERY seriously and are enthusiastic to a degree that can make them
high maintenance. This is of course a generalization, and does not
apply to all of them. Just be prepared.
Have fun. Around here Christmas Train gardens are a huge tradition
and every firehouse has one and they are all popular.
Enjoy!
Matthew White
Director, Hands On Science Center
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of American History
202/633-3698
[log in to unmask]
On Aug 8, 2006, at 4:02 PM, Olivia Anastasiadis wrote:
> Dear friends, I am tasked with putting together a show with model
> trains for the upcoming Holiday Season - Christmas and New Year's.
> I would like to know if there are any model train buffs out there
> that can direct me to a nice collection/s that we can set up in our
> exhibition space - we have about 4,000 sq. feet that we can fill
> with various train setups. Time frame to display would run November
> 11 or 18th, 2006 through January 7, 2007. Any guidance you can
> provide will be of great help! O Olivia S. Anastasiadis Supervisory
> Museum Curator Nixon Presidential Materials Staff (NLNS) National
> Archives and Records Administration 18001 Yorba Linda Blvd. Yorba
> Linda, CA 92886 (714) 364-1184
> ========================================================= Important
> Subscriber Information:
> The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/
> museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the
> listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to
> [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read
> "help" (without the quotes).
>
> If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail
> message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message
> should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).
=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:
The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).
If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).
|
