Monday, June 29. 2009
A Convenient Truth; With All Due Respects to Al Gore
By: Don Meyer, Manager
Of the many questions that have come my way over this past week, one in particular has opened a door of opportunity for me to write about a safe topic I know well. It also has the promise of being beneficial to others, so I am going to gratefully accept the request to do a virtual seminar on fund raising as a series of messages over the coming weeks.
The timing is somewhat convenient in that the publishers of Giving USA, a publication devoted to the topic of charitable giving in America, just released their annual report for 2008. Their findings provide an excellent backdrop against which to view our own results and strategies.
The report divides charitable giving into eight categories, detailing how much was donated to organizations within each category, the percent of change the amount represents from the prior year, and what percent of total giving this amount represents. For example people gave $106.9 billion to churches and religious organizations in 2008, making this the top ranking category. This represents a 1.6 percent increase over giving in 2007 and 35 percent of all donations made last year.
By comparison the arts and cultural institutions, of which Mid-Continent is a member by virtue of being an operating museum, was ranked seventh of the eight categories. Total giving in this area was $12.8 billion, a 9.9 percent decrease from 2007, and a mere 4 percent share of all donations made in 2008. (Note: donations declined in six of the eight categories based on the report’s method of classifying charitable organizations).
We are in a tough bracket when it comes to fund raising, as you can see from the objective criteria shared in this report. The outlook becomes even bleaker when you consider that historic preservation groups such as ours garner less than 1 percent of all donations made.
But there is one more factor that we at Mid-Continent must take into consideration even though it might add to the sense of doom and gloom about our chances of raising big money. We are in a remote section of an agriculturally-based county. Most institutional donors (foundations and corporations) restrict their donations to organizations within their communities.
The implication is that you have to be located either in or near a large population center in order to be eligible for the grants emanating from the foundations and corporations one tends to find there as well. So how did Mid-Continent, located in rural Sauk County on the fringe of the Village of North freedom, manage to have its best year ever when others were experiencing a major decline in giving? The answer can be found in one other statistic from the Giving USA annual report.
When you look at charitable donations from the perspective of the source rather than the recipients, you find that 82 percent of all the gifts made in 2008 came from individual donors, whether by outright gifts or bequests; 13 percent came from foundations and 5 percent came from corporations. If you have limited resources to devote to fund raising, are in a category that draws a relatively small share of all gifts made, and are in a physical location that is not conducive to attracting major gifts, where are you going to invest your time and energy in order to generate revenue?
Six years ago we made the conscious decision to focus our efforts on the individual donor. Even the foundations we have successfully received grants from were by comparison small in size of assets and had one person as the principal decision maker. So whether the appeal went out to a person or a foundation, we were still counting on the effectiveness of the number one rule in fund raising, which says that people give to people.
The human face at Mid-Continent, for better or worse, was typically that of the general manager, who cultivated relationships with an ever increasing number of people who liked what they were seeing and hearing about the museum. And in 2008 when we were shut down by the flood and tried to recover in the midst of a shrinking economy, we still found ourselves in the right place to be a prime recipient of peoples’ innate charitable impulse.
So my advice to anyone who has the responsibility of fund raising for their organization is to put your primary effort into building relationships with individual donors. Then as you expand your efforts in search of institutional donors start with smaller foundations and corporations where you are likely to find a single person who dominates the decision making process about giving.
These one-on-one encounters provide the best rate of return for the time invested in them. The bonus comes when you find that in the course of doing your job you are actually making friends with those who started out to simply be donor prospects. The relationship then elevates to a different level and you find you are entering the territory of the second rule of fund raising; people give more to people they know.
All of this begs the question of how you find a prospect to begin with and I will make that the subject of next week’s message.
Of the many questions that have come my way over this past week, one in particular has opened a door of opportunity for me to write about a safe topic I know well. It also has the promise of being beneficial to others, so I am going to gratefully accept the request to do a virtual seminar on fund raising as a series of messages over the coming weeks.
The timing is somewhat convenient in that the publishers of Giving USA, a publication devoted to the topic of charitable giving in America, just released their annual report for 2008. Their findings provide an excellent backdrop against which to view our own results and strategies.
The report divides charitable giving into eight categories, detailing how much was donated to organizations within each category, the percent of change the amount represents from the prior year, and what percent of total giving this amount represents. For example people gave $106.9 billion to churches and religious organizations in 2008, making this the top ranking category. This represents a 1.6 percent increase over giving in 2007 and 35 percent of all donations made last year.
By comparison the arts and cultural institutions, of which Mid-Continent is a member by virtue of being an operating museum, was ranked seventh of the eight categories. Total giving in this area was $12.8 billion, a 9.9 percent decrease from 2007, and a mere 4 percent share of all donations made in 2008. (Note: donations declined in six of the eight categories based on the report’s method of classifying charitable organizations).
We are in a tough bracket when it comes to fund raising, as you can see from the objective criteria shared in this report. The outlook becomes even bleaker when you consider that historic preservation groups such as ours garner less than 1 percent of all donations made.
But there is one more factor that we at Mid-Continent must take into consideration even though it might add to the sense of doom and gloom about our chances of raising big money. We are in a remote section of an agriculturally-based county. Most institutional donors (foundations and corporations) restrict their donations to organizations within their communities.
The implication is that you have to be located either in or near a large population center in order to be eligible for the grants emanating from the foundations and corporations one tends to find there as well. So how did Mid-Continent, located in rural Sauk County on the fringe of the Village of North freedom, manage to have its best year ever when others were experiencing a major decline in giving? The answer can be found in one other statistic from the Giving USA annual report.
When you look at charitable donations from the perspective of the source rather than the recipients, you find that 82 percent of all the gifts made in 2008 came from individual donors, whether by outright gifts or bequests; 13 percent came from foundations and 5 percent came from corporations. If you have limited resources to devote to fund raising, are in a category that draws a relatively small share of all gifts made, and are in a physical location that is not conducive to attracting major gifts, where are you going to invest your time and energy in order to generate revenue?
Six years ago we made the conscious decision to focus our efforts on the individual donor. Even the foundations we have successfully received grants from were by comparison small in size of assets and had one person as the principal decision maker. So whether the appeal went out to a person or a foundation, we were still counting on the effectiveness of the number one rule in fund raising, which says that people give to people.
The human face at Mid-Continent, for better or worse, was typically that of the general manager, who cultivated relationships with an ever increasing number of people who liked what they were seeing and hearing about the museum. And in 2008 when we were shut down by the flood and tried to recover in the midst of a shrinking economy, we still found ourselves in the right place to be a prime recipient of peoples’ innate charitable impulse.
So my advice to anyone who has the responsibility of fund raising for their organization is to put your primary effort into building relationships with individual donors. Then as you expand your efforts in search of institutional donors start with smaller foundations and corporations where you are likely to find a single person who dominates the decision making process about giving.
These one-on-one encounters provide the best rate of return for the time invested in them. The bonus comes when you find that in the course of doing your job you are actually making friends with those who started out to simply be donor prospects. The relationship then elevates to a different level and you find you are entering the territory of the second rule of fund raising; people give more to people they know.
All of this begs the question of how you find a prospect to begin with and I will make that the subject of next week’s message.
Monday, June 22. 2009
Under New Management
By: Don Meyer, Manager
Sunday morning I distributed the following message to all of Mid-Continent’s department superintendents, general foremen, and project managers. Obviously it went out with some regret.
At yesterday’s Board of Directors’ meeting the results of the voting on the proposed by-law changes were reported by the BOD secretary. All proposals passed by a significant margin and became effective immediately.
All superintendents now report to the Vice President, whom I have copied on this message. In the absence of a department superintendent, all general foremen and project managers report directly to him as well.
I will continue to handle the accounting, marketing and fund raising duties for Mid-Continent as an independent contractor. As such you will continue to receive from me monthly financial reports. Feel free to contact me about issues pertaining to these reports or to learn about the status of any restricted funds over which you have proprietary control.
One other function I am to perform is the preparation of the annual budget. My goal is to have a proposed budget to the BOD at their September meeting. I would appreciate your help with this by submitting to me your annual plan and budget by the end of August.
The BOD also approved proposed changes to the museum’s departmental structure. The Car Shop will once again become a separate function from the Mechanical Department, Buildings & Grounds will be moved into the Engineering Department, and a new Communications Department will be created. The Vice President will be handling the appointments to the leadership positions within each of these departments.
Thank you for your help in making this transition as smooth as possible.
don
Sunday morning I distributed the following message to all of Mid-Continent’s department superintendents, general foremen, and project managers. Obviously it went out with some regret.
At yesterday’s Board of Directors’ meeting the results of the voting on the proposed by-law changes were reported by the BOD secretary. All proposals passed by a significant margin and became effective immediately.
All superintendents now report to the Vice President, whom I have copied on this message. In the absence of a department superintendent, all general foremen and project managers report directly to him as well.
I will continue to handle the accounting, marketing and fund raising duties for Mid-Continent as an independent contractor. As such you will continue to receive from me monthly financial reports. Feel free to contact me about issues pertaining to these reports or to learn about the status of any restricted funds over which you have proprietary control.
One other function I am to perform is the preparation of the annual budget. My goal is to have a proposed budget to the BOD at their September meeting. I would appreciate your help with this by submitting to me your annual plan and budget by the end of August.
The BOD also approved proposed changes to the museum’s departmental structure. The Car Shop will once again become a separate function from the Mechanical Department, Buildings & Grounds will be moved into the Engineering Department, and a new Communications Department will be created. The Vice President will be handling the appointments to the leadership positions within each of these departments.
Thank you for your help in making this transition as smooth as possible.
don
Monday, June 15. 2009
On The Air
By: Don Meyer, Manager
This past weekend we achieved another first for the museum, at least a first during my tenure as general manager. We are now on the air daily with a television commercial promoting Mid-Continent as a summer destination.
TV commercials are nothing new for us. We have been doing them for several years but solely for our special events. And apart from our spot for the Santa Express, the focus has been on our dining services as a means to generate interest in our higher margin services.
The problem with putting so much effort into promoting our special events is that they are limited in capacity. The return on our investment is therefore equally limited. By comparison our summer trains depart the station with plenty of empty seats in a consist that usually has only a combine and one coach plus the caboose, leaving two other cars idle on the coach ready track.
Airing summer commercials has been a long held dream of mine. After all it’s really not a profound insight to see the need to boost summer attendance and to apply a medium that has worked well for us in the off-season. The drawback has always been cost.
Our summer advertisements in the form of brochures, distribution contracts, newspaper and magazine ads have always demanded the lion’s share of our advertising budget. But the circumstances we have had to endure over the past year finally prompted a decision to pursue the air waves, and cable networks, as a viable option for enticing more people to visit the museum.
When putting together the budget for this fiscal year, more dollars were committed to broadcast advertising than we have done in the past. This was in simple anticipation that we would use television to push summer attendance. It was not meant to be a leap of faith but an informed decision accompanied by the usual dose of calculated risk since the outcome has no guarantee.
We need ticket and merchandise sales to bear a larger share of the financial burden this year. In the current economy contributions will not attain the kind of rarefied results we have seen over the last two years. Sales must emerge as our number one source of revenue until the market improves, stock values recover, and the general public becomes more inclined to resume its support of their favorite charitable causes like Mid-Continent.
We also need ridership to jump up big, if only to provide a corresponding lift in the morale of our volunteers, staff and (yes) donors. The one statistic we have tracked since our inception is the number of passengers carried in a season. So after a devastating year when ridership was as low as it has ever been, the need to bounce back becomes all the more meaningful. More than being able to operate, or being able to operate better with the refurbished depot, track and rolling stock, we must operate bigger as a means of providing a reward to all of those who have helped us recover from last year’s flood.
Management’s solution is through advertising, utilizing an underused medium as far as our summer promotions are concerned.
What people are seeing this week is the first of three commercials designed around specific themes to help first time guests become oriented to what the Mid-Continent experience is all about. And the initial release of these three pieces will follow the simple chronological steps of how we engage people in that experience.
First up is the depot. This is where the journey begins. This is where you buy your ticket and, by the way, the depot store is a good place to shop while you await the next train departure.
Second is the train ride itself. We have three levels of service: coach, caboose and cab rides. Most people do not know that. You board the train in front of the depot (and you would be surprised just how many people do not know that either) for a fifty-minute ride through a pleasant rural setting.
And third are the exhibits, which have been woefully under-represented in any of our advertisements and promotional materials. People want to know (meaning looking for permission as to) where they can go around the grounds. And we need to take particular care to direct them to the Coach Shed, where they can view award-winning restorations. Now we will show it.
The overall presentation of these commercials brings in one other extremely important element. In the pursuit of money we cannot abandon our mission. So what people will be seeing in each of these commercials begins with historic images for each of these themes, dissolving into footage of how we perpetuate our railroad legacy within the framework of an operating museum.
Of course you well know that the placement of these commercials will be where we expect mom to have the best chance to see them and make the decision that Mid-Continent is a good place to bring her family. And over the course of the summer we will do our best to measure her response to what we are presenting.
I need to express my appreciation to Jeff Smith and his staff at Channel 43 in Baraboo for helping to make this dream of mine come true with a quality product that I think will serve our organization well for many seasons to come. And once we have digital copies of the commercials in hand we will post them on the web for all to see and (hopefully) enjoy.
Beyond that I hope that the commercials will engender in our members, donors, and staff a sense of pride in who and what we are and what we have accomplished together in our fifty years of preservation efforts. For it truly is about more than just the money. You’ll see.
This past weekend we achieved another first for the museum, at least a first during my tenure as general manager. We are now on the air daily with a television commercial promoting Mid-Continent as a summer destination.
TV commercials are nothing new for us. We have been doing them for several years but solely for our special events. And apart from our spot for the Santa Express, the focus has been on our dining services as a means to generate interest in our higher margin services.
The problem with putting so much effort into promoting our special events is that they are limited in capacity. The return on our investment is therefore equally limited. By comparison our summer trains depart the station with plenty of empty seats in a consist that usually has only a combine and one coach plus the caboose, leaving two other cars idle on the coach ready track.
Airing summer commercials has been a long held dream of mine. After all it’s really not a profound insight to see the need to boost summer attendance and to apply a medium that has worked well for us in the off-season. The drawback has always been cost.
Our summer advertisements in the form of brochures, distribution contracts, newspaper and magazine ads have always demanded the lion’s share of our advertising budget. But the circumstances we have had to endure over the past year finally prompted a decision to pursue the air waves, and cable networks, as a viable option for enticing more people to visit the museum.
When putting together the budget for this fiscal year, more dollars were committed to broadcast advertising than we have done in the past. This was in simple anticipation that we would use television to push summer attendance. It was not meant to be a leap of faith but an informed decision accompanied by the usual dose of calculated risk since the outcome has no guarantee.
We need ticket and merchandise sales to bear a larger share of the financial burden this year. In the current economy contributions will not attain the kind of rarefied results we have seen over the last two years. Sales must emerge as our number one source of revenue until the market improves, stock values recover, and the general public becomes more inclined to resume its support of their favorite charitable causes like Mid-Continent.
We also need ridership to jump up big, if only to provide a corresponding lift in the morale of our volunteers, staff and (yes) donors. The one statistic we have tracked since our inception is the number of passengers carried in a season. So after a devastating year when ridership was as low as it has ever been, the need to bounce back becomes all the more meaningful. More than being able to operate, or being able to operate better with the refurbished depot, track and rolling stock, we must operate bigger as a means of providing a reward to all of those who have helped us recover from last year’s flood.
Management’s solution is through advertising, utilizing an underused medium as far as our summer promotions are concerned.
What people are seeing this week is the first of three commercials designed around specific themes to help first time guests become oriented to what the Mid-Continent experience is all about. And the initial release of these three pieces will follow the simple chronological steps of how we engage people in that experience.
First up is the depot. This is where the journey begins. This is where you buy your ticket and, by the way, the depot store is a good place to shop while you await the next train departure.
Second is the train ride itself. We have three levels of service: coach, caboose and cab rides. Most people do not know that. You board the train in front of the depot (and you would be surprised just how many people do not know that either) for a fifty-minute ride through a pleasant rural setting.
And third are the exhibits, which have been woefully under-represented in any of our advertisements and promotional materials. People want to know (meaning looking for permission as to) where they can go around the grounds. And we need to take particular care to direct them to the Coach Shed, where they can view award-winning restorations. Now we will show it.
The overall presentation of these commercials brings in one other extremely important element. In the pursuit of money we cannot abandon our mission. So what people will be seeing in each of these commercials begins with historic images for each of these themes, dissolving into footage of how we perpetuate our railroad legacy within the framework of an operating museum.
Of course you well know that the placement of these commercials will be where we expect mom to have the best chance to see them and make the decision that Mid-Continent is a good place to bring her family. And over the course of the summer we will do our best to measure her response to what we are presenting.
I need to express my appreciation to Jeff Smith and his staff at Channel 43 in Baraboo for helping to make this dream of mine come true with a quality product that I think will serve our organization well for many seasons to come. And once we have digital copies of the commercials in hand we will post them on the web for all to see and (hopefully) enjoy.
Beyond that I hope that the commercials will engender in our members, donors, and staff a sense of pride in who and what we are and what we have accomplished together in our fifty years of preservation efforts. For it truly is about more than just the money. You’ll see.
Monday, June 8. 2009
What We've Been Waiting/Working For
By: Don Meyer, Manager
It has been a cold, wet weekend on this first anniversary of the great flood. This year’s rainfall, however, has only been a gentle reminder of what we endured a year ago when a series of storms raised the level of the Baraboo River to the point of making our location a temporary lake.
The difference in intensity has allowed me to feel safe (perhaps even smug) as to the consequences I will see when I drive through North Freedom each morning. My only expectation is that our attendance will be down as people will likely be deterred by the prospect of getting chilled at a time when flu strains seem so prevalent.
Our recovery efforts have been the dominant theme of these messages for the past 52 weeks. Descriptions of the damage done have provided the framework in which I have reported on the transformation taking place at the museum. The most recent development took place Friday when the depot’s new air-conditioning unit was installed, just in time for the anticipated warmer weather.
Here I must express a debt of gratitude to Larry Mjelde, president of the Top Hat Company in Baraboo, for accelerating our project and giving it priority on his work list. This is the type of service we have received from many of our contractors as the prospect of helping us get back into operating condition has transcended the usual commercial considerations. Making money has played a lesser role to that of helping a community asset pick up the pieces to get moving again, literally in our case.
We had high hopes for May as our first month of summer train operations and the first true test of our operating capability. This is what we have been working towards these past twelve months and we were not disappointed by the results. The actual head count in the number of passengers was not significant but the 12% growth over the prior years is. It is a reflection of the commitment made to having the depot open, the train functional, and the track in shape to provide our guests with the experience they have come to expect of our operation, then doing our best to promote the fact that we are open and ready to welcome visitors to our revitalized facility.
There is still much to be done and these messages will continue to chronicle our progress in those recovery efforts. We now know what nature can do to us in terms of using the beauty of our location to wreck havoc on our operations. But we have also confirmed what we already knew about our organization; there is no quit in our resolve to provide the public with a fair representation of its railroad heritage.
It has been a cold, wet weekend on this first anniversary of the great flood. This year’s rainfall, however, has only been a gentle reminder of what we endured a year ago when a series of storms raised the level of the Baraboo River to the point of making our location a temporary lake.
The difference in intensity has allowed me to feel safe (perhaps even smug) as to the consequences I will see when I drive through North Freedom each morning. My only expectation is that our attendance will be down as people will likely be deterred by the prospect of getting chilled at a time when flu strains seem so prevalent.
Our recovery efforts have been the dominant theme of these messages for the past 52 weeks. Descriptions of the damage done have provided the framework in which I have reported on the transformation taking place at the museum. The most recent development took place Friday when the depot’s new air-conditioning unit was installed, just in time for the anticipated warmer weather.
Here I must express a debt of gratitude to Larry Mjelde, president of the Top Hat Company in Baraboo, for accelerating our project and giving it priority on his work list. This is the type of service we have received from many of our contractors as the prospect of helping us get back into operating condition has transcended the usual commercial considerations. Making money has played a lesser role to that of helping a community asset pick up the pieces to get moving again, literally in our case.
We had high hopes for May as our first month of summer train operations and the first true test of our operating capability. This is what we have been working towards these past twelve months and we were not disappointed by the results. The actual head count in the number of passengers was not significant but the 12% growth over the prior years is. It is a reflection of the commitment made to having the depot open, the train functional, and the track in shape to provide our guests with the experience they have come to expect of our operation, then doing our best to promote the fact that we are open and ready to welcome visitors to our revitalized facility.
There is still much to be done and these messages will continue to chronicle our progress in those recovery efforts. We now know what nature can do to us in terms of using the beauty of our location to wreck havoc on our operations. But we have also confirmed what we already knew about our organization; there is no quit in our resolve to provide the public with a fair representation of its railroad heritage.
Monday, June 1. 2009
My Masters Thesis
By: Don Meyer, Manager
I am still learning.
Fortunately for me the railway museums I have worked for have provided the type of challenging classroom environments that have allowed me to grow in knowledge about an array of management subjects. Not that they can bestow an MBA on me with which I can pad my resume. But I have gained in proficiency in the areas of donor development, marketing, and customer service which I can add to the accounting and finance skills attained through the more formal means of education.
Based on what I have learned I have advocated changes at Mid-Continent, which you have seen described in fairly good detail in these weekly messages.
The first change was in our financial structure. This elevated contributions to the rank of number one in terms of our revenue streams while promoting diversity so that no one source accounted for more than 30% of total revenue. This moved the organization away from its traditional reliance on ticket and gift shop sales, which together were generating about 80% of annual revenue.
A further refinement to this strategy was the recognition that to fulfill all of our dreams and ambitions for Mid-Continent, contributions would need to generate about $1 million per year. That would require strong performances from our other revenue streams as well in order to maintain the 30% rule. We have not abandoned any element of our operation. We simply changed the priority in an attempt to drive about $3 and ½ million through the organization annually, which is the minimum of what we need to stay viable.
The second change was in repositioning the museum so that our target audience became young families instead of making an aimless appeal in the hope that someone, anyone, would come ride our trains. “Moms rule” became the mantra of our marketing effort in recognition that she decides what activities her family is going to engage in; she is the motivating force behind the largest market segment we can appeal to with our message of a safe, affordable, entertaining, and educational program.
Little things tend to happen during our special events that are pleasing to me in that I take them as an affirmation of the decision to make this kind of marketing change. One of them occurred this past Snow Train when one of our Life members, serving as a greeter, took the time to tell me that he could see a real change in the demographics of our audience. The telltale characteristics he identified were based on attire, age, gender and (presumably) marital status. For what struck him that day as he greeted the people was a preponderance of affluent, young women with small children in tow.
The third change has come as a consequence of the first two items mentioned above and has been less proclaimed by me as it has moved us away from another long standing and cherished tradition. Our focus has become outward, on the public, rather than inward on the member. This has not really altered what we do but why we do it. And to my way of thinking it has helped motivate us to achieve a higher standard since all of our projects and programs are for the benefit of others, not ourselves.
Sounds like a good Sunday School lesson and no doubt that is where it originated for me. I would like to lay claim to taking the high ground of having an altruistic motive in these endeavors but there is a more pragmatic and honest motivation behind these changes. The general public is the economic driver that will fund our many aspirations. The money needed to do all that we dream of doing – steam power, bridge repair, a fully restored collection under the cover of buildings rather than tarps, a functional operating fleet – will come from without, not from within.
In all of this the membership has not lost a single volunteer opportunity, but in all of this there exists a perceived threat that the proponents of the by-law change are attempting to counter. It is based on the fear that they are losing control so their solution is to diminish the role of the general manager and leave the decision-making power solely in the hands of a few members. We will be back to the days of management by committee.
This puts us at the crossroads once again of trying to decide who or what we are, a business or a club. The proposed by-law changes make an emphatic statement that we are a club. In my view Mid-Continent is a business, which puts me in the uncomfortable and unwanted position of having to oppose a movement that I recognize comes from the heart of those who fostered it but will have unintended, destructive consequences nevertheless.
So what is the solution?
If my on-going education is valid and the management gurus are correct in that the primary need of any successful business is to get the right people on board in places of leadership (the first who, then what scenario), then one more change needs to be implemented. And this one will require an act of trust that is uncommon in member-driven organizations; remove the constraints that prevent the organization from selecting the best people capable of leading regardless of their membership status. Selection would then be based on merit, not seniority.
At the board level this means having the freedom to choose community leaders with established business skills and direct access to the type of resources needed to propel Mid-Continent forward in fulfillment of its mission. At the management level it means making the concession that we need competent, full-time employees performing the administrative tasks that are essential to a successful business but not in the primary interest of the volunteer to do; marketing, fund raising, accounting, education and public relations all under the guidance and coordination of an executive director.
This change should actually enhance the number of volunteer opportunities within the organization, not reduce or eliminate them. An economically viable Mid-Continent, ensured of its future under the influence of capable leaders, will continue to be home to anyone who desires to be part of an operating railroad museum. And this is the one tradition we should most cherish and protect.
I am still learning.
Fortunately for me the railway museums I have worked for have provided the type of challenging classroom environments that have allowed me to grow in knowledge about an array of management subjects. Not that they can bestow an MBA on me with which I can pad my resume. But I have gained in proficiency in the areas of donor development, marketing, and customer service which I can add to the accounting and finance skills attained through the more formal means of education.
Based on what I have learned I have advocated changes at Mid-Continent, which you have seen described in fairly good detail in these weekly messages.
The first change was in our financial structure. This elevated contributions to the rank of number one in terms of our revenue streams while promoting diversity so that no one source accounted for more than 30% of total revenue. This moved the organization away from its traditional reliance on ticket and gift shop sales, which together were generating about 80% of annual revenue.
A further refinement to this strategy was the recognition that to fulfill all of our dreams and ambitions for Mid-Continent, contributions would need to generate about $1 million per year. That would require strong performances from our other revenue streams as well in order to maintain the 30% rule. We have not abandoned any element of our operation. We simply changed the priority in an attempt to drive about $3 and ½ million through the organization annually, which is the minimum of what we need to stay viable.
The second change was in repositioning the museum so that our target audience became young families instead of making an aimless appeal in the hope that someone, anyone, would come ride our trains. “Moms rule” became the mantra of our marketing effort in recognition that she decides what activities her family is going to engage in; she is the motivating force behind the largest market segment we can appeal to with our message of a safe, affordable, entertaining, and educational program.
Little things tend to happen during our special events that are pleasing to me in that I take them as an affirmation of the decision to make this kind of marketing change. One of them occurred this past Snow Train when one of our Life members, serving as a greeter, took the time to tell me that he could see a real change in the demographics of our audience. The telltale characteristics he identified were based on attire, age, gender and (presumably) marital status. For what struck him that day as he greeted the people was a preponderance of affluent, young women with small children in tow.
The third change has come as a consequence of the first two items mentioned above and has been less proclaimed by me as it has moved us away from another long standing and cherished tradition. Our focus has become outward, on the public, rather than inward on the member. This has not really altered what we do but why we do it. And to my way of thinking it has helped motivate us to achieve a higher standard since all of our projects and programs are for the benefit of others, not ourselves.
Sounds like a good Sunday School lesson and no doubt that is where it originated for me. I would like to lay claim to taking the high ground of having an altruistic motive in these endeavors but there is a more pragmatic and honest motivation behind these changes. The general public is the economic driver that will fund our many aspirations. The money needed to do all that we dream of doing – steam power, bridge repair, a fully restored collection under the cover of buildings rather than tarps, a functional operating fleet – will come from without, not from within.
In all of this the membership has not lost a single volunteer opportunity, but in all of this there exists a perceived threat that the proponents of the by-law change are attempting to counter. It is based on the fear that they are losing control so their solution is to diminish the role of the general manager and leave the decision-making power solely in the hands of a few members. We will be back to the days of management by committee.
This puts us at the crossroads once again of trying to decide who or what we are, a business or a club. The proposed by-law changes make an emphatic statement that we are a club. In my view Mid-Continent is a business, which puts me in the uncomfortable and unwanted position of having to oppose a movement that I recognize comes from the heart of those who fostered it but will have unintended, destructive consequences nevertheless.
So what is the solution?
If my on-going education is valid and the management gurus are correct in that the primary need of any successful business is to get the right people on board in places of leadership (the first who, then what scenario), then one more change needs to be implemented. And this one will require an act of trust that is uncommon in member-driven organizations; remove the constraints that prevent the organization from selecting the best people capable of leading regardless of their membership status. Selection would then be based on merit, not seniority.
At the board level this means having the freedom to choose community leaders with established business skills and direct access to the type of resources needed to propel Mid-Continent forward in fulfillment of its mission. At the management level it means making the concession that we need competent, full-time employees performing the administrative tasks that are essential to a successful business but not in the primary interest of the volunteer to do; marketing, fund raising, accounting, education and public relations all under the guidance and coordination of an executive director.
This change should actually enhance the number of volunteer opportunities within the organization, not reduce or eliminate them. An economically viable Mid-Continent, ensured of its future under the influence of capable leaders, will continue to be home to anyone who desires to be part of an operating railroad museum. And this is the one tradition we should most cherish and protect.
Monday, May 25. 2009
The Fatal Flaw(s)
By: Don Meyer, Manager
Last week’s message began with a description of my impending presentation to the Lake Superior Railroad Museum about the work done at Mid-Continent since last year’s flood put us out of operation. The kind folks assembled for their annual meeting and banquet were duly impressed by what they saw in our slide show of the before and after pictures of the property. Many were not aware just how severe the damage had been and were therefore all the more amazed at how much work has been done to recover from the devastating effects of becoming a lake, even though temporary, and rebuilding in time to commemorate our 50th anniversary.
It was doubly gratifying to me to return to Mid-Continent yesterday for our members’ annual Memorial Day picnic to learn about the favorable attendance we had both Saturday and Sunday. The numbers were no doubt helped by the incredibly good weather we are having and possibly by some well timed advertising and other promotions. The numbers through the first three weekends of May operations have surpassed those of the last two years. I will take this as a positive omen of what we can expect for the rest of the season.
Basking in the glory of Friday night’s applause for the show we were able to put on in Duluth about our recovery and the good news of our ridership numbers for the last few days, it is time to fulfill the pledge I made at the end of last week’s message about disclosing the fatal flaw of my management strategy. And it should not come as a surprise to you when you read that it is about money.
When I returned to Mid-Continent in 2003 I had acquired a good deal of experience working with three different transportation museums; Mid-Continent from 1995 to 2000, the National Railroad Museum in 2000, and the Minnesota Transportation Museum from 2000 to 2002. One of the insights gained from making the rounds through those three organizations is that only the names change, the challenges remain the same. And money, or the attainment of big money, is typically at the core of every conversation about what it takes to survive. The tag line to each of those conversations has been “That’s what we hired you for.”
Creating a successful organization is not quite that one dimensional, but when I returned to Mid-Continent I did resolve to make my number one goal the pursuit of money in the form of major gifts as our principal source of revenue. And based on experience my thinking followed a simple line of reasoning. If the members, or their board of directors as their surrogate, perceived that they had hired me to become Bill Gates’ newest best friend, then that is what I would become to the fullest extent possible, believing that when the cash flow started the members would be content and I would be permitted to fulfill the greater needs required for building a truly viable organization.
I have chronicled in these weekly messages for more than three years now our success at achieving this goal. The magnitude of our success was reinforced in my mind last Friday night when the treasurer for the Duluth museum acknowledged that they had had a rough year due to the decline in attendance, resulting in a loss of revenue. This in turn meant cutting cost in the current year. By comparison I spent forty minutes giving them a visual tour of the devastation and rebuild of Mid-Continent and concluded that we had had our most successful financial year ever as a result of following the single strategy of making donations our number one source of revenue. We did not experience a decline in attendance. We were closed! But we still managed to post stellar numbers on our audited financial statements that have endeared us to our bankers, contractors and others with whom we do business.
So what about that euphoric glow of contentment that was to come from the abundant supply of funds which would keep the trains running and the restoration projects humming in our shops? The fact that a group of members, however large or small in number, have been able to put before the voting membership a series of proposed by-law changes that would remove key elements of authority from the manager’s position has revealed the fatal flaw in my thinking. I too came to believe that it was all about the money; that it would buy me the opportunity to pursue other organizational goals to ensure Mid-Continent’s future.
The lesson learned, at least by me, is that it is first and foremost about people. My number one management goal should have been in recruiting the right people for positions of leadership within our operation. It is what Jim Collins in his book Good to Great calls “first who, then what.” But I thought I knew better.
There is no consolation in this next statement but I think it has to be recognized, if only as a good faith warning to my opponents. There is a fatal flaw in their thinking as well. For if they believe that they can hire someone to raise the large sums of money needed to underwrite a place like Mid-Continent while they handle the decision-making chores, they are mistaken.
Fund raising is not a stand alone function. To attract the must-have major gifts for an operation as complex as Mid-Continent has become requires integration with the rest of the business. In any organization all the parts must work together in a coordinated effort in pursuit of a common goal. And the people responsible for the oversight of each part or function must in turn work in harmony gained from a mutual respect for one another’s knowledge and skills. This is the way to demonstrate competence to your prospective donors as a means to instill confidence in your ability to fulfill the promises made to them; promises made in exchange for their contributions. We were there for a time. But I doubt the capability of a volunteer-driven operation to achieve that kind of unity over the long haul.
therefore next week I will offer my solution to this management dilemma.
Last week’s message began with a description of my impending presentation to the Lake Superior Railroad Museum about the work done at Mid-Continent since last year’s flood put us out of operation. The kind folks assembled for their annual meeting and banquet were duly impressed by what they saw in our slide show of the before and after pictures of the property. Many were not aware just how severe the damage had been and were therefore all the more amazed at how much work has been done to recover from the devastating effects of becoming a lake, even though temporary, and rebuilding in time to commemorate our 50th anniversary.
It was doubly gratifying to me to return to Mid-Continent yesterday for our members’ annual Memorial Day picnic to learn about the favorable attendance we had both Saturday and Sunday. The numbers were no doubt helped by the incredibly good weather we are having and possibly by some well timed advertising and other promotions. The numbers through the first three weekends of May operations have surpassed those of the last two years. I will take this as a positive omen of what we can expect for the rest of the season.
Basking in the glory of Friday night’s applause for the show we were able to put on in Duluth about our recovery and the good news of our ridership numbers for the last few days, it is time to fulfill the pledge I made at the end of last week’s message about disclosing the fatal flaw of my management strategy. And it should not come as a surprise to you when you read that it is about money.
When I returned to Mid-Continent in 2003 I had acquired a good deal of experience working with three different transportation museums; Mid-Continent from 1995 to 2000, the National Railroad Museum in 2000, and the Minnesota Transportation Museum from 2000 to 2002. One of the insights gained from making the rounds through those three organizations is that only the names change, the challenges remain the same. And money, or the attainment of big money, is typically at the core of every conversation about what it takes to survive. The tag line to each of those conversations has been “That’s what we hired you for.”
Creating a successful organization is not quite that one dimensional, but when I returned to Mid-Continent I did resolve to make my number one goal the pursuit of money in the form of major gifts as our principal source of revenue. And based on experience my thinking followed a simple line of reasoning. If the members, or their board of directors as their surrogate, perceived that they had hired me to become Bill Gates’ newest best friend, then that is what I would become to the fullest extent possible, believing that when the cash flow started the members would be content and I would be permitted to fulfill the greater needs required for building a truly viable organization.
I have chronicled in these weekly messages for more than three years now our success at achieving this goal. The magnitude of our success was reinforced in my mind last Friday night when the treasurer for the Duluth museum acknowledged that they had had a rough year due to the decline in attendance, resulting in a loss of revenue. This in turn meant cutting cost in the current year. By comparison I spent forty minutes giving them a visual tour of the devastation and rebuild of Mid-Continent and concluded that we had had our most successful financial year ever as a result of following the single strategy of making donations our number one source of revenue. We did not experience a decline in attendance. We were closed! But we still managed to post stellar numbers on our audited financial statements that have endeared us to our bankers, contractors and others with whom we do business.
So what about that euphoric glow of contentment that was to come from the abundant supply of funds which would keep the trains running and the restoration projects humming in our shops? The fact that a group of members, however large or small in number, have been able to put before the voting membership a series of proposed by-law changes that would remove key elements of authority from the manager’s position has revealed the fatal flaw in my thinking. I too came to believe that it was all about the money; that it would buy me the opportunity to pursue other organizational goals to ensure Mid-Continent’s future.
The lesson learned, at least by me, is that it is first and foremost about people. My number one management goal should have been in recruiting the right people for positions of leadership within our operation. It is what Jim Collins in his book Good to Great calls “first who, then what.” But I thought I knew better.
There is no consolation in this next statement but I think it has to be recognized, if only as a good faith warning to my opponents. There is a fatal flaw in their thinking as well. For if they believe that they can hire someone to raise the large sums of money needed to underwrite a place like Mid-Continent while they handle the decision-making chores, they are mistaken.
Fund raising is not a stand alone function. To attract the must-have major gifts for an operation as complex as Mid-Continent has become requires integration with the rest of the business. In any organization all the parts must work together in a coordinated effort in pursuit of a common goal. And the people responsible for the oversight of each part or function must in turn work in harmony gained from a mutual respect for one another’s knowledge and skills. This is the way to demonstrate competence to your prospective donors as a means to instill confidence in your ability to fulfill the promises made to them; promises made in exchange for their contributions. We were there for a time. But I doubt the capability of a volunteer-driven operation to achieve that kind of unity over the long haul.
therefore next week I will offer my solution to this management dilemma.
Monday, May 18. 2009
Getting Ready for Duluth
By: Don Meyer, Manager
Friday evening I will be in Duluth as the guest of Ken Buehler and the Lake Superior Transportation Museum. I have the good fortune of being the guest speaker at their annual banquet by virtue of having survived a catastrophe. So whether or not my use of the words good and fortune are appropriate in this context, still I am looking forward to the opportunity to share with our friends up north the saga of what has transpired at Mid-Continent since last June.
My presentation will be well illustrated thanks to the technical expertise of our Collections Manager, Leah Rosenow. She has helped me to assemble (meaning she has assembled) a slide show of before and after images that will help me give an account of what we have accomplished in our flood recovery efforts. Her reward for all her efforts, since I will get the free dinner at the banquet, is that it gives her the chance to remind once again me that a great staff makes for a good manager.
Those before images have been accessible on the web site for some time. And you have read in these web log messages about the work that has made the after pictures possible. That is pretty much the same story I will tell in Duluth, supplemented by some statistics of the hours and costs associated with each progressive step in our recovery.
So if you are not able to attend the banquet and hear my presentation, you won’t miss much. Anyone who has visited Mid-Continent’s web site and faithfully followed my weekly messages since the days I launched the Water Chronicles series have witnessed, if only virtually, the damage done and the progress made that has allowed us to resume our train operations.
Preparing for Friday night’s presentation has forced me to relive some moments that will no doubt haunt me for the rest of my life. To say the flood was a defining moment in the life of the museum is an understatement that has various applications. From my own perspective there are three conclusions I have reached in reflecting on the ordeal that all those images and statistics have come to symbolize.
First, the physical plant has changed. This should be an obvious and very easy conclusion for anyone to attain. The fact that we are now open for business instead of closed indefinitely, as we were last year, is proof positive that the necessary repairs have been made. But more than the obvious, what I am impressed by is the fact that every repair we have made has transcended the minimal need to remediate the flood damage.
The folks in Duluth will see the before and after photos of the depot, which is the most obvious example of this transformation. During the rebuild we made changes that added to the building’s efficiency as well as its interior beauty. But you can carry this same perspective over to the work done on the trucks for our diesel fleet, the track work on the approach to the Baraboo River bridge and something as mundane as the drainage at the end of track in the quarry. All have lived up to the standard a member stated succinctly in a recent e-mail to me that we are not making do, we are making better.
Whether or not that standard remains the hallmark of Mid-Continent’s accomplishments may be in some doubt because of my second conclusion. While the physical plant has changed, the organization has not. To the extent that the first point may be obvious, this second point is disheartening.
The wonderful work that has taken place in the transformation of our facility has happened through the intensive efforts of individuals (volunteers, contractors, and staff) instead of the cohesive efforts of an organization following a clearly defined path laid out by its leadership. In fact the decisive actions taken by management have served to trigger a backlash among some members who have promulgated a series of by-law changes that reflect the mindset that only members can make decisions. Politics once again has played its nasty trump card.
This sets me up personally on a collision course with the proverbial immoveable object in that my third conclusion is that the manager has changed. For what began on my return to Mid-Continent as a desire to complete some tasks left undone upon my departure a few years earlier has mutated into a compulsion to build the kind of organization that is built to last. And from what I know from my management experience that can not be done with a ‘members only’ attitude.
I rarely respond directly to comments sent in reply to these messages. But I felt the need to do so a few weeks ago about the reality of our situation versus the hope of some that we change our focus from making repairs to getting back to work on the steam program. The seemingly insurmountable financial need I presented prompted one of my readers to send me a private comment about my remark, stating that it did not inspire much hope for the future of steam. That caught me by surprise since that was not my intent.
I view all that we have accomplished over the past year as the best evidence that we can get back into a fully functional steam operation. The combination of resources that has allowed us to pick up the pieces and move on in a much more efficient manner, the make better syndrome, is the same combination the museum needs for its steam or any other program to be successful. But that combination means change, which many view as the enemy and deserving of the most determined resistance regardless of the consequences.
When I address the audience in Duluth on Friday night I will confine my comments to the bricks and mortar facts about the recovery. I will interpret the slides in terms of labor and costs, but will avoid the deeper implications of what it takes to survive a disaster. What awaits me at home is another matter and requires a different type of presentation. So next week I will try to define for you what I consider to be the fatal flaw in my management strategy.
Friday evening I will be in Duluth as the guest of Ken Buehler and the Lake Superior Transportation Museum. I have the good fortune of being the guest speaker at their annual banquet by virtue of having survived a catastrophe. So whether or not my use of the words good and fortune are appropriate in this context, still I am looking forward to the opportunity to share with our friends up north the saga of what has transpired at Mid-Continent since last June.
My presentation will be well illustrated thanks to the technical expertise of our Collections Manager, Leah Rosenow. She has helped me to assemble (meaning she has assembled) a slide show of before and after images that will help me give an account of what we have accomplished in our flood recovery efforts. Her reward for all her efforts, since I will get the free dinner at the banquet, is that it gives her the chance to remind once again me that a great staff makes for a good manager.
Those before images have been accessible on the web site for some time. And you have read in these web log messages about the work that has made the after pictures possible. That is pretty much the same story I will tell in Duluth, supplemented by some statistics of the hours and costs associated with each progressive step in our recovery.
So if you are not able to attend the banquet and hear my presentation, you won’t miss much. Anyone who has visited Mid-Continent’s web site and faithfully followed my weekly messages since the days I launched the Water Chronicles series have witnessed, if only virtually, the damage done and the progress made that has allowed us to resume our train operations.
Preparing for Friday night’s presentation has forced me to relive some moments that will no doubt haunt me for the rest of my life. To say the flood was a defining moment in the life of the museum is an understatement that has various applications. From my own perspective there are three conclusions I have reached in reflecting on the ordeal that all those images and statistics have come to symbolize.
First, the physical plant has changed. This should be an obvious and very easy conclusion for anyone to attain. The fact that we are now open for business instead of closed indefinitely, as we were last year, is proof positive that the necessary repairs have been made. But more than the obvious, what I am impressed by is the fact that every repair we have made has transcended the minimal need to remediate the flood damage.
The folks in Duluth will see the before and after photos of the depot, which is the most obvious example of this transformation. During the rebuild we made changes that added to the building’s efficiency as well as its interior beauty. But you can carry this same perspective over to the work done on the trucks for our diesel fleet, the track work on the approach to the Baraboo River bridge and something as mundane as the drainage at the end of track in the quarry. All have lived up to the standard a member stated succinctly in a recent e-mail to me that we are not making do, we are making better.
Whether or not that standard remains the hallmark of Mid-Continent’s accomplishments may be in some doubt because of my second conclusion. While the physical plant has changed, the organization has not. To the extent that the first point may be obvious, this second point is disheartening.
The wonderful work that has taken place in the transformation of our facility has happened through the intensive efforts of individuals (volunteers, contractors, and staff) instead of the cohesive efforts of an organization following a clearly defined path laid out by its leadership. In fact the decisive actions taken by management have served to trigger a backlash among some members who have promulgated a series of by-law changes that reflect the mindset that only members can make decisions. Politics once again has played its nasty trump card.
This sets me up personally on a collision course with the proverbial immoveable object in that my third conclusion is that the manager has changed. For what began on my return to Mid-Continent as a desire to complete some tasks left undone upon my departure a few years earlier has mutated into a compulsion to build the kind of organization that is built to last. And from what I know from my management experience that can not be done with a ‘members only’ attitude.
I rarely respond directly to comments sent in reply to these messages. But I felt the need to do so a few weeks ago about the reality of our situation versus the hope of some that we change our focus from making repairs to getting back to work on the steam program. The seemingly insurmountable financial need I presented prompted one of my readers to send me a private comment about my remark, stating that it did not inspire much hope for the future of steam. That caught me by surprise since that was not my intent.
I view all that we have accomplished over the past year as the best evidence that we can get back into a fully functional steam operation. The combination of resources that has allowed us to pick up the pieces and move on in a much more efficient manner, the make better syndrome, is the same combination the museum needs for its steam or any other program to be successful. But that combination means change, which many view as the enemy and deserving of the most determined resistance regardless of the consequences.
When I address the audience in Duluth on Friday night I will confine my comments to the bricks and mortar facts about the recovery. I will interpret the slides in terms of labor and costs, but will avoid the deeper implications of what it takes to survive a disaster. What awaits me at home is another matter and requires a different type of presentation. So next week I will try to define for you what I consider to be the fatal flaw in my management strategy.
Monday, May 11. 2009
Mid-Continent As Benefactor
By: Don Meyer, Manager
The headline on the front page of Sunday’s Wisconsin State Journal announced a story about area businesses that are still struggling with the aftermath of last year’s flooding. The content focused on businesses in five communities, with North Freedom topping the list.
The more detailed account was not about the recovery effort at Mid-Continent, which I have been chronicling in these web log messages over the past year. Instead it used our closure to illustrate a different kind of hardship, the loss of revenue experienced by other businesses which rely on an operation like ours to attract people to the area. And in a small community like North Freedom there is no competition. We are the draw.
The example given in the story is about the Railroad Inn, our local café. Owner Billie Jo Clendenning shared with the reporter the irony of the situation in that her business was not touched by the flood waters, but she suffered as though it had. With the museum shut down, her business dropped 40% in sales, causing her to cut back on employee hours and to take out a second mortgage in order to keep the doors open.
I see Billie Jo on a regular basis, either when I go into the Railroad Inn to order a BLT sandwich or on Saturdays at the Post Office, where she has taken a part-time job to help make ends meet. Through it all she has kept an optimistic attitude and has shown more concern for the well-being of the museum than she has in expressing the travails of her own situation. In fact until this story appeared in Sunday’s paper, I had no idea how serious a financial hit she had taken as a consequence of our being shut down.
There is a counterpoint to Billie Jo’s situation, which will likely not appear in the next edition of the newspaper unless I write a letter to the editor. In the midst of the recession, when others have been making deep cuts in their spending, we have been on a spending spree. Our need to rebuild and the opportunity to so do thanks to the donations received for our recovery effort and a sizeable SBA loan have made us appear rich in comparison to those who were untouched by the flood but have had to contend with that second disaster, the slumping economy.
We have received preferential treatment on our orders of supplies and materials because no one else has been buying. I have been thanked many times by local merchants for whom we have become a major customer in these hard times. You can think of it as the Mid-Continent Bail-Out Plan as the beneficial effects of our largesse have helped others who are struggling. It is a strange way to be making friends but it is gratifying to see something positive come out of such a dismal experience.
There is a lesson here for the leaders of our organization. We are not a stand alone entity and the benefit of building positive community relationships has likely never been more glaringly apparent than now. And while we tend to view ourselves as the poor relation always dependent on the charitable spirit of others, the current situation only serves to prove that we are a contributor to the fortunes of those around us.
Mid-Continent as benefactor is a role we need to understand is a natural part of our doing business. Just ask Billie Jo the next time you have a meal at her café.
Coming Attractions:
If the web cams are working you can watch the trains depart the station this Thursday at 10:00am and again at 2:30pm. These will be special charters for school groups, but anyone on site at those times can purchase a ticket and climb aboard for a coach ride.
Saturday, May 16th we will have an open house of our Car Shop. Free tours will be provided and you can see the work in progress on such equipment as a wooden combine, built in 1903 by American Car & Foundry for the Copper Range Railroad.
Friday evening, May 22nd I will be in Duluth as the guest speaker for the Lake Superior Railroad Museum’s annual meeting and banquet. I will be presenting a slideshow about the flood and our recovery efforts. And I must say thank you to Ken Buehler for elevating my status from Mid-Continent’s general manager to that of executive director. I am sure my Board of Directors will have something to say about that at their next meeting.
And on Saturday, May 30th Avalon Rail, Inc will open its doors for free tours of their shop during the hours of 10:00am to 2:00pm. The Badger 2, which is still a work in progress, will be the featured display. This will be a rare opportunity to walk through the car’s interior. Once it is back on exhibit at North Freedom, the car will be kept locked as is the case with all of our other restored coaches.
I hope you will plan to be with us for one or all of these upcoming events.
The headline on the front page of Sunday’s Wisconsin State Journal announced a story about area businesses that are still struggling with the aftermath of last year’s flooding. The content focused on businesses in five communities, with North Freedom topping the list.
The more detailed account was not about the recovery effort at Mid-Continent, which I have been chronicling in these web log messages over the past year. Instead it used our closure to illustrate a different kind of hardship, the loss of revenue experienced by other businesses which rely on an operation like ours to attract people to the area. And in a small community like North Freedom there is no competition. We are the draw.
The example given in the story is about the Railroad Inn, our local café. Owner Billie Jo Clendenning shared with the reporter the irony of the situation in that her business was not touched by the flood waters, but she suffered as though it had. With the museum shut down, her business dropped 40% in sales, causing her to cut back on employee hours and to take out a second mortgage in order to keep the doors open.
I see Billie Jo on a regular basis, either when I go into the Railroad Inn to order a BLT sandwich or on Saturdays at the Post Office, where she has taken a part-time job to help make ends meet. Through it all she has kept an optimistic attitude and has shown more concern for the well-being of the museum than she has in expressing the travails of her own situation. In fact until this story appeared in Sunday’s paper, I had no idea how serious a financial hit she had taken as a consequence of our being shut down.
There is a counterpoint to Billie Jo’s situation, which will likely not appear in the next edition of the newspaper unless I write a letter to the editor. In the midst of the recession, when others have been making deep cuts in their spending, we have been on a spending spree. Our need to rebuild and the opportunity to so do thanks to the donations received for our recovery effort and a sizeable SBA loan have made us appear rich in comparison to those who were untouched by the flood but have had to contend with that second disaster, the slumping economy.
We have received preferential treatment on our orders of supplies and materials because no one else has been buying. I have been thanked many times by local merchants for whom we have become a major customer in these hard times. You can think of it as the Mid-Continent Bail-Out Plan as the beneficial effects of our largesse have helped others who are struggling. It is a strange way to be making friends but it is gratifying to see something positive come out of such a dismal experience.
There is a lesson here for the leaders of our organization. We are not a stand alone entity and the benefit of building positive community relationships has likely never been more glaringly apparent than now. And while we tend to view ourselves as the poor relation always dependent on the charitable spirit of others, the current situation only serves to prove that we are a contributor to the fortunes of those around us.
Mid-Continent as benefactor is a role we need to understand is a natural part of our doing business. Just ask Billie Jo the next time you have a meal at her café.
Coming Attractions:
If the web cams are working you can watch the trains depart the station this Thursday at 10:00am and again at 2:30pm. These will be special charters for school groups, but anyone on site at those times can purchase a ticket and climb aboard for a coach ride.
Saturday, May 16th we will have an open house of our Car Shop. Free tours will be provided and you can see the work in progress on such equipment as a wooden combine, built in 1903 by American Car & Foundry for the Copper Range Railroad.
Friday evening, May 22nd I will be in Duluth as the guest speaker for the Lake Superior Railroad Museum’s annual meeting and banquet. I will be presenting a slideshow about the flood and our recovery efforts. And I must say thank you to Ken Buehler for elevating my status from Mid-Continent’s general manager to that of executive director. I am sure my Board of Directors will have something to say about that at their next meeting.
And on Saturday, May 30th Avalon Rail, Inc will open its doors for free tours of their shop during the hours of 10:00am to 2:00pm. The Badger 2, which is still a work in progress, will be the featured display. This will be a rare opportunity to walk through the car’s interior. Once it is back on exhibit at North Freedom, the car will be kept locked as is the case with all of our other restored coaches.
I hope you will plan to be with us for one or all of these upcoming events.
Tuesday, May 5. 2009
May at Mid-Continent
By: Don Meyer, Manager
Friday evening will mark another milestone in our recovery process. The first train of the summer season will depart at 6:30pm as part of the expanded service we are providing for our opening weekend. This shot of additional revenue will be welcome, but I suspect the knowledge that we are able to make full use of the depot once again and power the train with MCRY No. 1256 will be the bigger morale boost for the volunteers.
Last week we received the repaired trucks for the 1256 and shipped out those for MCRY No. 4. This truck exchange took place surprisingly fast. I guess since it was now the third time we have made this maneuver the process is getting to be routine. MCRY No. 1256 was back on its own trucks No. 4 was securely resting on shop trucks in time for the crew to go to lunch at the normal hour.
After the No. 4 is done there is only the ex-Milwaukee Road No. 988 to take care of. Then that part of the recovery effort will be complete and we can turn our attention to other things.
Great progress has been made to the Gift Shop section of the depot. I would encourage everyone who visits Mid-Continent to take a look inside, even if you have no intention of buying anything, in order to see the improvements that have been made here. The change has been painful, no doubt. But the quality of the work and the greater efficiency in the use of the display space should lead to an enhanced customer service, which in turn should provide another much needed boost to revenue.
May is Preservation Month in Wisconsin, at least as it has been so designated by the Wisconsin Historical Society. Mid-Continent will take part this year with the addition of two events to our summer program.
The first occurs May 16 with an open house in the Car Shop. Volunteers will be providing free tours of this work area in order to showcase the type of preservation work that is customary for our North Freedom operation. It will be a nice counterpoint to the kind of restoration work we have been forced to make since the flooding occurred.
The second event will take place May 30 with a tour of the Badger 2 at the shop of Avalon Rail, Inc in West Allis. The doors to their facility will be open from 10:00am to 2:00pm with free tours provided of the car and their facility. This will be an excellent opportunity, and maybe the only one, for the public to be inside the Badger and learn about the challenges encountered in the restoration of this one-of-a-kind piece of rolling stock.
Please join us for one or all of these opportunities to enjoy the wealth of experiences that are a growing part of the Mid-Continent legacy. We are now, officially, fifty years old and have still yet to discover any limits to what we can achieve together.
Friday evening will mark another milestone in our recovery process. The first train of the summer season will depart at 6:30pm as part of the expanded service we are providing for our opening weekend. This shot of additional revenue will be welcome, but I suspect the knowledge that we are able to make full use of the depot once again and power the train with MCRY No. 1256 will be the bigger morale boost for the volunteers.
Last week we received the repaired trucks for the 1256 and shipped out those for MCRY No. 4. This truck exchange took place surprisingly fast. I guess since it was now the third time we have made this maneuver the process is getting to be routine. MCRY No. 1256 was back on its own trucks No. 4 was securely resting on shop trucks in time for the crew to go to lunch at the normal hour.
After the No. 4 is done there is only the ex-Milwaukee Road No. 988 to take care of. Then that part of the recovery effort will be complete and we can turn our attention to other things.
Great progress has been made to the Gift Shop section of the depot. I would encourage everyone who visits Mid-Continent to take a look inside, even if you have no intention of buying anything, in order to see the improvements that have been made here. The change has been painful, no doubt. But the quality of the work and the greater efficiency in the use of the display space should lead to an enhanced customer service, which in turn should provide another much needed boost to revenue.
May is Preservation Month in Wisconsin, at least as it has been so designated by the Wisconsin Historical Society. Mid-Continent will take part this year with the addition of two events to our summer program.
The first occurs May 16 with an open house in the Car Shop. Volunteers will be providing free tours of this work area in order to showcase the type of preservation work that is customary for our North Freedom operation. It will be a nice counterpoint to the kind of restoration work we have been forced to make since the flooding occurred.
The second event will take place May 30 with a tour of the Badger 2 at the shop of Avalon Rail, Inc in West Allis. The doors to their facility will be open from 10:00am to 2:00pm with free tours provided of the car and their facility. This will be an excellent opportunity, and maybe the only one, for the public to be inside the Badger and learn about the challenges encountered in the restoration of this one-of-a-kind piece of rolling stock.
Please join us for one or all of these opportunities to enjoy the wealth of experiences that are a growing part of the Mid-Continent legacy. We are now, officially, fifty years old and have still yet to discover any limits to what we can achieve together.
Monday, April 27. 2009
Anniversaries: Happy or Otherwise
By: Don Meyer, Manager
This week marks a major milestone in the history of our organization. Mid-Continent’s founding, originally under the name of the Railway Historical Society of Milwaukee, took place fifty years ago this week. Which date you chose to celebrate as the actual anniversary date is somewhat up for grabs.
The Articles of Incorporation were “Executed IN DUPLICATE on the 29th of April, 1959.” That simply means they were signed by the Incorporator in the presence of a notary on that date. The Register of Deeds for the County of Milwaukee notes that he “received and accepted” the Articles of Incorporation on the 2nd of May that year.
The Certificate of Incorporation was issued by the Secretary of State on the 14th of May. But the one date that counts, and the one that will show up on a search of the web site for the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions, is the 30th of April. That is when the Articles were received and formally certified by the Secretary of State. So you are right to wish Mid-Continent a happy anniversary on Thursday, but celebrate responsibly.
Ask some of our older members about how the organization was founded and you will hear correctly that we began with the vision of four men from the Milwaukee area, who wished to preserve and operate historic railroad equipment. And if you press them for the names of those founders the one that will come most readily to mind is that of Richard Hinebaugh.
He had worked for the Milwaukee Road from 1942 to 1953, and was employed by the A.O. Smith Company when he met the other gentlemen responsible for establishing this rail preservation group. Paul Swanson’s tribute to Hinebaugh published in the October 2006 Railway Gazette indicates that it all started when Hinebaugh was in company with Russ Porter on a rail fan trip to Durand, MI. There they met up with three other men from the Milwaukee area: John Ford, an employee of the Schlitz Brewing Company; Harold Olsen, a milkman; and Chester Kass, a police officer. And on that occasion the genesis of our historical society seemingly began.
Seemingly is an appropriate word to use for those of us who are late arrivals to Mid-Continent, for there is still some doubt as to who our founders were based on the documents referred to above. Hinebaugh’s name is not included on those original Articles of Incorporation. Ford, Olsen and Kass are listed as the three people comprising the initial Board of Directors. And the fourth man, the only one whose signature is actually on the document as the Incorporator, was a man whose name I have never seen in any other connection with our organization, Raleigh Woolf.
This is not meant to slight Richard Hinebaugh or his memory of events in any way. I heard the late Vince Mathews, an early member and devoted volunteer, say many times over that if it weren’t for Richard, Mid-Continent would not exist. This was said in testimony to his determination to overcome the many obstacles preventing the group from operating its vintage equipment as intended, especially its collection of steam locomotives, which in turn is the reason why we are in North Freedom operating under a different name than the one selected by the founders.
Rather this admission only serves to point out that we have lost touch with our own history, which in turn may make us suspect as to our ability to perform as a true historical society. The myth is often easier to maintain and allows a certain entertainment factor to be introduced that can make the story even more compelling. On the other hand it also allows us to avoid the potential embarrassment of correcting spurious claims.
Speaking of spurious, the last week of April marks two other anniversaries that directly relate to my own involvement with Mid-Continent. I began my employment as the summer manager the last week of April 1995, a position that eventually morphed into the role of executive director. My last day in that position was April 30, 2000, proving that there is something about Spring in Wisconsin that generally spawns momentous events.
Of all those early players in Mid-Continent’s history, only Hinebaugh and Kass are still living. And even though health considerations prevent their active involvement with us, both gentlemen retain their connection with the organization as Life members.
One other item of note in this limited saga about our founding is that the Secretary of State, whose signature is on that 1959 Certificate of Incorporation, was Robert C. Zimmerman. He was a good friend of Vince Mathews. And whether or not that was a prevailing factor in his decision, Zimmerman eventually became a Mid-Continent member and generous benefactor upon his passing in the late 90s.
So Happy Anniversary! to everyone who has been a part of a grand organization’s illustrious, if mystifying, story.
Web cam alert:
This Tuesday the trucks for MCRY No. 1256 are due to be delivered with the actual lift of the engine taking place the morning of Wednesday the 29th. This should be an all-day event as MCRY No. 4 will also be lifted so that its trucks can be removed and sent out for repair. We will try to position the cameras so that you can watch the entire proceedings from the comfort of your home or office, if we can find someone brave enough to climb the ladder.
This week marks a major milestone in the history of our organization. Mid-Continent’s founding, originally under the name of the Railway Historical Society of Milwaukee, took place fifty years ago this week. Which date you chose to celebrate as the actual anniversary date is somewhat up for grabs.
The Articles of Incorporation were “Executed IN DUPLICATE on the 29th of April, 1959.” That simply means they were signed by the Incorporator in the presence of a notary on that date. The Register of Deeds for the County of Milwaukee notes that he “received and accepted” the Articles of Incorporation on the 2nd of May that year.
The Certificate of Incorporation was issued by the Secretary of State on the 14th of May. But the one date that counts, and the one that will show up on a search of the web site for the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions, is the 30th of April. That is when the Articles were received and formally certified by the Secretary of State. So you are right to wish Mid-Continent a happy anniversary on Thursday, but celebrate responsibly.
Ask some of our older members about how the organization was founded and you will hear correctly that we began with the vision of four men from the Milwaukee area, who wished to preserve and operate historic railroad equipment. And if you press them for the names of those founders the one that will come most readily to mind is that of Richard Hinebaugh.
He had worked for the Milwaukee Road from 1942 to 1953, and was employed by the A.O. Smith Company when he met the other gentlemen responsible for establishing this rail preservation group. Paul Swanson’s tribute to Hinebaugh published in the October 2006 Railway Gazette indicates that it all started when Hinebaugh was in company with Russ Porter on a rail fan trip to Durand, MI. There they met up with three other men from the Milwaukee area: John Ford, an employee of the Schlitz Brewing Company; Harold Olsen, a milkman; and Chester Kass, a police officer. And on that occasion the genesis of our historical society seemingly began.
Seemingly is an appropriate word to use for those of us who are late arrivals to Mid-Continent, for there is still some doubt as to who our founders were based on the documents referred to above. Hinebaugh’s name is not included on those original Articles of Incorporation. Ford, Olsen and Kass are listed as the three people comprising the initial Board of Directors. And the fourth man, the only one whose signature is actually on the document as the Incorporator, was a man whose name I have never seen in any other connection with our organization, Raleigh Woolf.
This is not meant to slight Richard Hinebaugh or his memory of events in any way. I heard the late Vince Mathews, an early member and devoted volunteer, say many times over that if it weren’t for Richard, Mid-Continent would not exist. This was said in testimony to his determination to overcome the many obstacles preventing the group from operating its vintage equipment as intended, especially its collection of steam locomotives, which in turn is the reason why we are in North Freedom operating under a different name than the one selected by the founders.
Rather this admission only serves to point out that we have lost touch with our own history, which in turn may make us suspect as to our ability to perform as a true historical society. The myth is often easier to maintain and allows a certain entertainment factor to be introduced that can make the story even more compelling. On the other hand it also allows us to avoid the potential embarrassment of correcting spurious claims.
Speaking of spurious, the last week of April marks two other anniversaries that directly relate to my own involvement with Mid-Continent. I began my employment as the summer manager the last week of April 1995, a position that eventually morphed into the role of executive director. My last day in that position was April 30, 2000, proving that there is something about Spring in Wisconsin that generally spawns momentous events.
Of all those early players in Mid-Continent’s history, only Hinebaugh and Kass are still living. And even though health considerations prevent their active involvement with us, both gentlemen retain their connection with the organization as Life members.
One other item of note in this limited saga about our founding is that the Secretary of State, whose signature is on that 1959 Certificate of Incorporation, was Robert C. Zimmerman. He was a good friend of Vince Mathews. And whether or not that was a prevailing factor in his decision, Zimmerman eventually became a Mid-Continent member and generous benefactor upon his passing in the late 90s.
So Happy Anniversary! to everyone who has been a part of a grand organization’s illustrious, if mystifying, story.
Web cam alert:
This Tuesday the trucks for MCRY No. 1256 are due to be delivered with the actual lift of the engine taking place the morning of Wednesday the 29th. This should be an all-day event as MCRY No. 4 will also be lifted so that its trucks can be removed and sent out for repair. We will try to position the cameras so that you can watch the entire proceedings from the comfort of your home or office, if we can find someone brave enough to climb the ladder.
Monday, April 20. 2009
The Summer of '96
By: Don Meyer, Manager
We are just a few weeks away from the start of our summer season and there is a certain amount of suppressed joy on my part in being able to write that statement. It comes with the understanding that we will indeed open and provide train rides as scheduled.
Even though we were able to do that for our Snow Train weekend in February and for the River Arts Festival’s Vintage Americana weekend earlier this month, those events are in my opinion the exceptions. The rule has been that we are out of service.
Fortunately that rule is about to change with even greater certainty of operation than we have enjoyed during my whole tenure as Mid-Continent’s manager.
Sometime next week we are due to receive back from the shop in Appleton the trucks for MCRY No. 1256. That will give us two working diesels with wheels, brakes, motors and every other part of a truck assembly, which should never be in need of any further major work, in my lifetime at least, if properly maintained.
For those of you who are aching to see a message about the revival of our steam program, my jubilation over the rejuvenation of another diesel will obviously generate a feeling of disappoint. But please understand that in my fourteen years of involvement with Mid-Continent I consider it a luxury to know that we will now have adequate backup instead of living on the dim hope that our lone mechanical beast will hold together for another day and another and another until we limp our way through to the end of the season.
We have been forcibly idle before and not because of a flood. It has been due to our own inability to maintain our antiquated equipment (for what else would an operating museum have?). And that is a tenuous circumstance on which to base a primary source of revenue.
The year 1996 was my second season at the museum and the first in which I bore the responsibility of being the general manager. The year before I was just a caretaker, brought on merely to get the museum through the season while they awaited the arrival of their newly hired executive director. (Another side note here: he never showed and I was the easy choice for elevating into the much vaunted position, although with a lesser title and subsequently lesser pay).
Chicago & North Western No. 1385 was to be our operating engine again that year. A hot box on the tender truck, a seemingly innocuous problem that no one was able to easily resolve, kept the R-1 out of service. Our backup steam engine, Saginaw Timber Company No. 2, was also sidelined with mechanical difficulties. So we rolled out the Milwaukee Road 988 to be the temporary motive power until the steamers were back in action. It lasted a day, at the most, and has not operated since.
MCRY No. 4, our switch engine, was then pressed into service. I still vividly remember the day I was in the cab of No. 4 with Skip Lichter, who was the engineer. (Like the No. 4, Skip was also being pressed into service because two weeks before the season opened our summer engineer and fireman both quit. What an indoctrination for me as the newly anointed general manager).
We had all four Lackawanna coaches in the consist that day, fully loaded with school kids. We were on the return leg of the trip, barely creeping towards Summit because the Cummins engine in the B end had given out. The No. 4 crawled. In fact an old man with a cane could have walked along beside us without breaking a sweat.
One of the greatest sighs of relief that I have ever felt took place when we crested Summit and started downhill towards the North Freedom yard. We were going to get a train load of children safely back to the depot, but the No. 4 was done. I subsequently learned the meaning of the word ‘annul’ and how it affects people who have made plans based on our advertised promises.
We had one final option that was highly debated before being implemented. In our arsenal of dysfunctional motive power was the Blue Goose, former Nekoosa Paper Mill No. 21. Mechanically it was sound. Its problem, and the reason it was relegated to a siding not to be moved at any cost, was that its axle load was too heavy for our brittle track. But our succession of mechanical failures and the subsequent loss of revenue meant we had found a new meaning for the phrase ‘at any cost.’
This engine was huge. You needed a step ladder just to reach the first rung of the steps going up to the running board. And when she made her first trip down to Quartzite Lake, she found every weak spot in our right-of-way. We replaced more broken rail and joint bars that year than we have in all my other years combined of trying to hold things together.
The Blue Goose performed well during those weeks she was in operation. There was never a mechanical issue with that engine. But as a precaution our track crew spent their time following along behind the train in the hy-rail truck during every trip. This was a waste of their time but we could not afford to have a problem with broken rail that would strand the engine and our passengers somewhere out on the line.
Eventually member Rick Peters solved the R-1’s hot box problem after several other members had tried and failed. It took him all of about 20 minutes to effect the remedy. The only downside is that he was not able to get to Mid-Continent until late June, so we were not back into steam until nearly midway through the summer.
Member Andy Ebbers had signed on that year as our replacement fireman. When we were reduced to a diesel operation, Jeff Bloohm gave Andy an accelerated course in engineer training and Andy operated the Blue Goose until the R-1 was put back in service. And my crew problems were finally solved when the late Jim Bertrand, one of the hardest people it has ever been my challenge and pleasure to like, served as our summer engineer without pay.
We should never have been in that situation. Besides the problems with the R-1 and the No. 2, we had three other steam locomotives on the property that had been disassembled for an overhaul and remained in that condition. The D&R No. 9 and the WC&C No.1, both of which had formerly run at Mid-Continent, were simply idle, considered to be too costly to repair for renewed service at the museum.
What saved us that year was another part of our legacy, the willingness of a few members to rise to the occasion and help the museum struggle through its present challenges. But that is an extremely difficult situation to manage effectively.
So when I write that I am elated to see that we are slowly, but efficiently, getting a stable of engines into operating condition, you can maybe understand my appreciation that we will have power at all. Even though it will not be steam power this year, there is the solace of knowing that we will be able to operate safely and complete the schedule as promised.
We are just a few weeks away from the start of our summer season and there is a certain amount of suppressed joy on my part in being able to write that statement. It comes with the understanding that we will indeed open and provide train rides as scheduled.
Even though we were able to do that for our Snow Train weekend in February and for the River Arts Festival’s Vintage Americana weekend earlier this month, those events are in my opinion the exceptions. The rule has been that we are out of service.
Fortunately that rule is about to change with even greater certainty of operation than we have enjoyed during my whole tenure as Mid-Continent’s manager.
Sometime next week we are due to receive back from the shop in Appleton the trucks for MCRY No. 1256. That will give us two working diesels with wheels, brakes, motors and every other part of a truck assembly, which should never be in need of any further major work, in my lifetime at least, if properly maintained.
For those of you who are aching to see a message about the revival of our steam program, my jubilation over the rejuvenation of another diesel will obviously generate a feeling of disappoint. But please understand that in my fourteen years of involvement with Mid-Continent I consider it a luxury to know that we will now have adequate backup instead of living on the dim hope that our lone mechanical beast will hold together for another day and another and another until we limp our way through to the end of the season.
We have been forcibly idle before and not because of a flood. It has been due to our own inability to maintain our antiquated equipment (for what else would an operating museum have?). And that is a tenuous circumstance on which to base a primary source of revenue.
The year 1996 was my second season at the museum and the first in which I bore the responsibility of being the general manager. The year before I was just a caretaker, brought on merely to get the museum through the season while they awaited the arrival of their newly hired executive director. (Another side note here: he never showed and I was the easy choice for elevating into the much vaunted position, although with a lesser title and subsequently lesser pay).
Chicago & North Western No. 1385 was to be our operating engine again that year. A hot box on the tender truck, a seemingly innocuous problem that no one was able to easily resolve, kept the R-1 out of service. Our backup steam engine, Saginaw Timber Company No. 2, was also sidelined with mechanical difficulties. So we rolled out the Milwaukee Road 988 to be the temporary motive power until the steamers were back in action. It lasted a day, at the most, and has not operated since.
MCRY No. 4, our switch engine, was then pressed into service. I still vividly remember the day I was in the cab of No. 4 with Skip Lichter, who was the engineer. (Like the No. 4, Skip was also being pressed into service because two weeks before the season opened our summer engineer and fireman both quit. What an indoctrination for me as the newly anointed general manager).
We had all four Lackawanna coaches in the consist that day, fully loaded with school kids. We were on the return leg of the trip, barely creeping towards Summit because the Cummins engine in the B end had given out. The No. 4 crawled. In fact an old man with a cane could have walked along beside us without breaking a sweat.
One of the greatest sighs of relief that I have ever felt took place when we crested Summit and started downhill towards the North Freedom yard. We were going to get a train load of children safely back to the depot, but the No. 4 was done. I subsequently learned the meaning of the word ‘annul’ and how it affects people who have made plans based on our advertised promises.
We had one final option that was highly debated before being implemented. In our arsenal of dysfunctional motive power was the Blue Goose, former Nekoosa Paper Mill No. 21. Mechanically it was sound. Its problem, and the reason it was relegated to a siding not to be moved at any cost, was that its axle load was too heavy for our brittle track. But our succession of mechanical failures and the subsequent loss of revenue meant we had found a new meaning for the phrase ‘at any cost.’
This engine was huge. You needed a step ladder just to reach the first rung of the steps going up to the running board. And when she made her first trip down to Quartzite Lake, she found every weak spot in our right-of-way. We replaced more broken rail and joint bars that year than we have in all my other years combined of trying to hold things together.
The Blue Goose performed well during those weeks she was in operation. There was never a mechanical issue with that engine. But as a precaution our track crew spent their time following along behind the train in the hy-rail truck during every trip. This was a waste of their time but we could not afford to have a problem with broken rail that would strand the engine and our passengers somewhere out on the line.
Eventually member Rick Peters solved the R-1’s hot box problem after several other members had tried and failed. It took him all of about 20 minutes to effect the remedy. The only downside is that he was not able to get to Mid-Continent until late June, so we were not back into steam until nearly midway through the summer.
Member Andy Ebbers had signed on that year as our replacement fireman. When we were reduced to a diesel operation, Jeff Bloohm gave Andy an accelerated course in engineer training and Andy operated the Blue Goose until the R-1 was put back in service. And my crew problems were finally solved when the late Jim Bertrand, one of the hardest people it has ever been my challenge and pleasure to like, served as our summer engineer without pay.
We should never have been in that situation. Besides the problems with the R-1 and the No. 2, we had three other steam locomotives on the property that had been disassembled for an overhaul and remained in that condition. The D&R No. 9 and the WC&C No.1, both of which had formerly run at Mid-Continent, were simply idle, considered to be too costly to repair for renewed service at the museum.
What saved us that year was another part of our legacy, the willingness of a few members to rise to the occasion and help the museum struggle through its present challenges. But that is an extremely difficult situation to manage effectively.
So when I write that I am elated to see that we are slowly, but efficiently, getting a stable of engines into operating condition, you can maybe understand my appreciation that we will have power at all. Even though it will not be steam power this year, there is the solace of knowing that we will be able to operate safely and complete the schedule as promised.
Monday, April 13. 2009
Great Expectations
By: Don Meyer, Manager
The warmer weather is generating more phone calls to the museum office from people asking if we are running trains at this time. Others simply show up expecting to find us open and disappointed that we are not. Web cam watchers should be seeing the increased car traffic around the depot.
The better weather helps, but I attribute the increase in inquiries to what I call the Dells Dynamic. The Wisconsin Dell Visitor and Convention Bureau has been promoting the area as a year-around destination, which is supported by the presence of the many hotels with their indoor water parks and other safely sheltered activities.
But people can only stay inside so long, especially when they look out and see sunshine and the thermometer readings are steadily above freezing. So we get the calls and visits from the prospective customers we are as yet unable to serve. That is not to say that we are idle. There is plenty of activity taking place around the property as we continue to prepare for our opening May 8-10.
If you do access our web cams, even occasionally, then you will notice that the main line and passing track in front of the depot are vacant. The goal is to allow our Road Master, Dave Bierman, space to do his survey work as part of the redesign of the depot platform. This is the next ‘must do’ project in our recovery efforts and the design is needed before we can solicit bids from local contractors to do the actual construction.
Off-camera in the Engine House our General Foreman of Diesels, Jeff Bloohm, spent the weekend preparing our switch engine to have its trucks removed and sent out for repair. This means he has already received word from the contractor that the repair work on the No. 1256’s trucks is just about complete. What you can expect to see before the end of this month is a double-lift of our diesel fleet as we swap one set of trucks for another and return one more piece of equipment to full operating status.
The time is steadily approaching when you will hear less from me about repair work and more about train operations. This will be a relief not only to the people who call or show up expecting a ride, but also to those who have labored intensively this past year to get the museum back to normal.
The hoped for silver lining to this dark cloud is that there is a sense of anticipation being built up in the minds of the general public that will translate into a favorable attendance throughout the summer season. People do like to be part of a winning effort even if it is just being here to enjoy a train ride. And that is what our members who have volunteered so much of their time and skills are working to deliver. Hopefully they too will derive some enjoyment out of their labors.
The warmer weather is generating more phone calls to the museum office from people asking if we are running trains at this time. Others simply show up expecting to find us open and disappointed that we are not. Web cam watchers should be seeing the increased car traffic around the depot.
The better weather helps, but I attribute the increase in inquiries to what I call the Dells Dynamic. The Wisconsin Dell Visitor and Convention Bureau has been promoting the area as a year-around destination, which is supported by the presence of the many hotels with their indoor water parks and other safely sheltered activities.
But people can only stay inside so long, especially when they look out and see sunshine and the thermometer readings are steadily above freezing. So we get the calls and visits from the prospective customers we are as yet unable to serve. That is not to say that we are idle. There is plenty of activity taking place around the property as we continue to prepare for our opening May 8-10.
If you do access our web cams, even occasionally, then you will notice that the main line and passing track in front of the depot are vacant. The goal is to allow our Road Master, Dave Bierman, space to do his survey work as part of the redesign of the depot platform. This is the next ‘must do’ project in our recovery efforts and the design is needed before we can solicit bids from local contractors to do the actual construction.
Off-camera in the Engine House our General Foreman of Diesels, Jeff Bloohm, spent the weekend preparing our switch engine to have its trucks removed and sent out for repair. This means he has already received word from the contractor that the repair work on the No. 1256’s trucks is just about complete. What you can expect to see before the end of this month is a double-lift of our diesel fleet as we swap one set of trucks for another and return one more piece of equipment to full operating status.
The time is steadily approaching when you will hear less from me about repair work and more about train operations. This will be a relief not only to the people who call or show up expecting a ride, but also to those who have labored intensively this past year to get the museum back to normal.
The hoped for silver lining to this dark cloud is that there is a sense of anticipation being built up in the minds of the general public that will translate into a favorable attendance throughout the summer season. People do like to be part of a winning effort even if it is just being here to enjoy a train ride. And that is what our members who have volunteered so much of their time and skills are working to deliver. Hopefully they too will derive some enjoyment out of their labors.
Sunday, April 5. 2009
Double Dollar Deals
By: Don Meyer, Manager
Andy Warhol promised us all five minutes of fame. At the Mid-Continent Railway Museum we will accept 10 seconds. That is the length of our TV commercial, which will air this coming week on Madison’s channel 15.
If you followed last week’s message and tuned in to the web cam on Monday afternoon, then you saw the production crew from the local NBC affiliate filming the train in operation. We even had the good fortune of having a few guests show up unannounced, who ended up posing as happy passengers boarding the train for their great adventure.
The compilation of shots from two hours of work has now been successfully distilled into a 10 second spot which will be encased in a longer 30-second promotion for the station’s ‘Double Dollar Deals.’ Their offer to their viewing audience is that for a $25 fee you get a $50 value at the museum. Certain restrictions do apply.
And that is how Mid-Continent will be able to afford a presence on commercial TV over the next seven days. For those of you who are in the Madison area and would like to see the entire segment, here is the schedule although please be advised that the times are approximate.
April 6: 07:59:16 am on the Today Show.
April 6: 08:59:46am on the Today Show.
April 7: 07:29:46am on the Today Show.
April 7: 11:20:50am on 15 News at 11.
April 7: 02:58:36pm on Martha Stewart (and that’s a good thing).
April 8: 04:05:30pm on 15 News at 4.
April 8: 09:30:00pm on Law & Order/HDTV.
April 9: 06:05:35am on The Morning Show.
April 10: 06:36:39am on The Morning Show.
April 10: 08:58:46am on the Today Show.
April 10: 05:16:45pm on 15 News at 5.
April 11: 03:58:46pm on Xterra USA Championship.
April 11: 04:39:43pm on Xterra World Championship.
April 12: 07:50:32am on The Morning Show Weekend Live.
April 12: 12:19:00am on Without A Trace.
For those of you who can’t wait or are not able to tune in to the next available air time, could care less about the promotion, don’t live in or close enough to Madison to get Channel 15, or simply don’t own a TV set, you can still view the 10 second episode of the museum’s version of Danger Lights. Our web masters have once again made the Mid-Continent experience accessible from any distance by posting the ad on our web site at www.midcontinent.org/archives/archives_video.html.
Enjoy the show. I hope, no matter how many times you have been here before, you will still be inspired to visit the museum this summer. And bring a friend.
Andy Warhol promised us all five minutes of fame. At the Mid-Continent Railway Museum we will accept 10 seconds. That is the length of our TV commercial, which will air this coming week on Madison’s channel 15.
If you followed last week’s message and tuned in to the web cam on Monday afternoon, then you saw the production crew from the local NBC affiliate filming the train in operation. We even had the good fortune of having a few guests show up unannounced, who ended up posing as happy passengers boarding the train for their great adventure.
The compilation of shots from two hours of work has now been successfully distilled into a 10 second spot which will be encased in a longer 30-second promotion for the station’s ‘Double Dollar Deals.’ Their offer to their viewing audience is that for a $25 fee you get a $50 value at the museum. Certain restrictions do apply.
And that is how Mid-Continent will be able to afford a presence on commercial TV over the next seven days. For those of you who are in the Madison area and would like to see the entire segment, here is the schedule although please be advised that the times are approximate.
April 6: 07:59:16 am on the Today Show.
April 6: 08:59:46am on the Today Show.
April 7: 07:29:46am on the Today Show.
April 7: 11:20:50am on 15 News at 11.
April 7: 02:58:36pm on Martha Stewart (and that’s a good thing).
April 8: 04:05:30pm on 15 News at 4.
April 8: 09:30:00pm on Law & Order/HDTV.
April 9: 06:05:35am on The Morning Show.
April 10: 06:36:39am on The Morning Show.
April 10: 08:58:46am on the Today Show.
April 10: 05:16:45pm on 15 News at 5.
April 11: 03:58:46pm on Xterra USA Championship.
April 11: 04:39:43pm on Xterra World Championship.
April 12: 07:50:32am on The Morning Show Weekend Live.
April 12: 12:19:00am on Without A Trace.
For those of you who can’t wait or are not able to tune in to the next available air time, could care less about the promotion, don’t live in or close enough to Madison to get Channel 15, or simply don’t own a TV set, you can still view the 10 second episode of the museum’s version of Danger Lights. Our web masters have once again made the Mid-Continent experience accessible from any distance by posting the ad on our web site at www.midcontinent.org/archives/archives_video.html.
Enjoy the show. I hope, no matter how many times you have been here before, you will still be inspired to visit the museum this summer. And bring a friend.
Monday, March 30. 2009
For Your Enjoyment
By: Don Meyer, Manager
For those of you who are web cam addicts, you should be able to find a little entertainment value in it this afternoon (unless you are reading this message at some time other than Monday morning). MCRY #4 will couple up to a small consist around 1:00pm for some shuttle moves within yard limits until approximately 4:00pm.
The purpose is to allow a film crew from the NBC affiliate in Madison to capture enough footage to create a television commercial for the museum. It is just another example of the positive impact you can receive from being flooded to the point of near extinction.
Madison’s Channel 15 has faithfully chronicled our story from last year’s devastating effects from the heavy rainfall in June through this year’s favorable turnout for Snow Train in February. They have now followed that up with an offer to help us gain even more TV exposure as we prepare for the start of our summer season.
Normally the cost of an ad on commercial television would be too high for us to even contemplate given our limited marketing budget. But they approached us with an offer we could easily afford given the capacity we have with our Lackawanna coaches; trade tickets for air time. So you will see a three-man crew of Mid-Continent members volunteering their services once again, while possibly becoming local celebrities when the commercial is shown in the coming weeks.
An added bonus is that the TV commercial fits the funding strategy we have adopted this year in light of the struggling economy. Despite last year’s record setting performance in fund raising, the current reality is that every non-profit is scrambling to find new donors or ways to enhance their ability to raise money through other revenue streams.
Fortunately for Mid-Continent we have train rides to offer, at a fee of course, which gives us the option this year of putting the emphasis on driving up attendance. Office work is already being dominated with mailings to schools and group tour leaders, while our new brochure is in production, the web site updated with this year’s schedule and passenger fares, and commitments signed for other print and broadcast advertising.
Limited funds means we will still have to stay local in the smaller, more affordable markets. But in this we are also following the belief many in the tourism industry hope will prove true that people will be looking for summer activities close to home, making shorter trips instead of the long-haul vacation to more distant destinations. We will see if the strategy works.
In the meantime enjoy this afternoon’s show and the one we will put on this weekend as we provide the closing event for the River Arts Festival’s Vintage Americana program. The train will be running on its normal schedule Saturday and Sunday, meaning the departure times are 11:00am, 1:00 and 3:00pm.
Plus you may be able to detect that some people on the property look like American GIs left over from the 1940s. That will be thanks to the presence of folks from the World War II Re-enactors Society, some of them museum members, here to add to the show. At the Mid-Continent Railway Museum the entertainment never stops. And thanks to the work of our web masters, it can be enjoyed even from a distance – if the camera works.
Have fun today.
For those of you who are web cam addicts, you should be able to find a little entertainment value in it this afternoon (unless you are reading this message at some time other than Monday morning). MCRY #4 will couple up to a small consist around 1:00pm for some shuttle moves within yard limits until approximately 4:00pm.
The purpose is to allow a film crew from the NBC affiliate in Madison to capture enough footage to create a television commercial for the museum. It is just another example of the positive impact you can receive from being flooded to the point of near extinction.
Madison’s Channel 15 has faithfully chronicled our story from last year’s devastating effects from the heavy rainfall in June through this year’s favorable turnout for Snow Train in February. They have now followed that up with an offer to help us gain even more TV exposure as we prepare for the start of our summer season.
Normally the cost of an ad on commercial television would be too high for us to even contemplate given our limited marketing budget. But they approached us with an offer we could easily afford given the capacity we have with our Lackawanna coaches; trade tickets for air time. So you will see a three-man crew of Mid-Continent members volunteering their services once again, while possibly becoming local celebrities when the commercial is shown in the coming weeks.
An added bonus is that the TV commercial fits the funding strategy we have adopted this year in light of the struggling economy. Despite last year’s record setting performance in fund raising, the current reality is that every non-profit is scrambling to find new donors or ways to enhance their ability to raise money through other revenue streams.
Fortunately for Mid-Continent we have train rides to offer, at a fee of course, which gives us the option this year of putting the emphasis on driving up attendance. Office work is already being dominated with mailings to schools and group tour leaders, while our new brochure is in production, the web site updated with this year’s schedule and passenger fares, and commitments signed for other print and broadcast advertising.
Limited funds means we will still have to stay local in the smaller, more affordable markets. But in this we are also following the belief many in the tourism industry hope will prove true that people will be looking for summer activities close to home, making shorter trips instead of the long-haul vacation to more distant destinations. We will see if the strategy works.
In the meantime enjoy this afternoon’s show and the one we will put on this weekend as we provide the closing event for the River Arts Festival’s Vintage Americana program. The train will be running on its normal schedule Saturday and Sunday, meaning the departure times are 11:00am, 1:00 and 3:00pm.
Plus you may be able to detect that some people on the property look like American GIs left over from the 1940s. That will be thanks to the presence of folks from the World War II Re-enactors Society, some of them museum members, here to add to the show. At the Mid-Continent Railway Museum the entertainment never stops. And thanks to the work of our web masters, it can be enjoyed even from a distance – if the camera works.
Have fun today.
Monday, March 23. 2009
The Last Sign of Winter
By: Don Meyer, Manager
This past week I have heard various people say that they have seen their first robin, a sure sign for those of us who live in the Midwest that spring has arrived regardless of what the calendar says. At Mid-Continent we have managed to create our own version of a different type of folk belief which also defies the rigid timing of the calendar.
This week museum members will be receiving in the mail their copy of the winter issue of the Steamer. You can think of this as being the equivalent of the last sign of winter.
Steamer editor Pat Weeden has done a splendid job and I admire his determination to complete this project for the benefit of the Mid-Continent membership. Because we were past our self-imposed deadline for mailing out the newsletter my own suggestion was to skip over this issue and save the content for the next edition of the Gazette. I think you will be pleased that he ignored my advice.
The lead story is a brief account of our Snow Train weekend. It is supplemented by a message from member Stan Searing, who volunteered all three days and had plenty of opportunities to interact with our guests. What he wanted all of our volunteers to know is that the many compliments he was hearing were truly meant for everyone responsible for restoring this vital piece of our museum’s operations.
You will also see that this issue of the newsletter lists several upcoming volunteer opportunities that will allow us to continue making improvements to our property and equipment. These improvements are not meant to get by, but to get better, which is the high road we have opted to take in working our way out of our recent difficulties.
Included as part of the Snow Train report are a couple of photos taken of the contractors busy working to finish repairs so that we could open the depot to the public; work that literally took place right up to the moment we sold the first ticket Friday morning.
I can easily make a sales pitch here to encourage everyone to make it a point of visiting the depot sometime soon to see the craftsmanship first-hand. Even though the dominate colors of our paint scheme are two tones of gray, the effect is rather attractive especially in contrast to the newly constructed wood doors and certainly worth your time to make a personal visit.
There is plenty of other good news to read about in the Steamer, such as Judy Gasser’s account of staffing the Mid-Continent booth at this year’s Mad City Model Railroad Show in Madison. Although I must admit to thinking she is stretching credulity a little bit when she writes that Leah Rosenow’s display of flood photos “brought tears to grown men’s eyes.”
As a guy I really find it hard to admit that such a thing could happen. So allow me to conclude this message with a quote from member Paul Fortini, whose exuberance is a little more recognizable (or should I say acceptable for members of the good old boy’s club?). “As my wife noticed I was practically jumping for joy when you made the announcement that ALCO S1 #7 was back in service! Steam or vintage diesel, your museum provides a very valuable experience.”
And with the level of participation you can read about in this issue of the newsletter, Paul’s assessment will continue to prove true for many years to come.
This past week I have heard various people say that they have seen their first robin, a sure sign for those of us who live in the Midwest that spring has arrived regardless of what the calendar says. At Mid-Continent we have managed to create our own version of a different type of folk belief which also defies the rigid timing of the calendar.
This week museum members will be receiving in the mail their copy of the winter issue of the Steamer. You can think of this as being the equivalent of the last sign of winter.
Steamer editor Pat Weeden has done a splendid job and I admire his determination to complete this project for the benefit of the Mid-Continent membership. Because we were past our self-imposed deadline for mailing out the newsletter my own suggestion was to skip over this issue and save the content for the next edition of the Gazette. I think you will be pleased that he ignored my advice.
The lead story is a brief account of our Snow Train weekend. It is supplemented by a message from member Stan Searing, who volunteered all three days and had plenty of opportunities to interact with our guests. What he wanted all of our volunteers to know is that the many compliments he was hearing were truly meant for everyone responsible for restoring this vital piece of our museum’s operations.
You will also see that this issue of the newsletter lists several upcoming volunteer opportunities that will allow us to continue making improvements to our property and equipment. These improvements are not meant to get by, but to get better, which is the high road we have opted to take in working our way out of our recent difficulties.
Included as part of the Snow Train report are a couple of photos taken of the contractors busy working to finish repairs so that we could open the depot to the public; work that literally took place right up to the moment we sold the first ticket Friday morning.
I can easily make a sales pitch here to encourage everyone to make it a point of visiting the depot sometime soon to see the craftsmanship first-hand. Even though the dominate colors of our paint scheme are two tones of gray, the effect is rather attractive especially in contrast to the newly constructed wood doors and certainly worth your time to make a personal visit.
There is plenty of other good news to read about in the Steamer, such as Judy Gasser’s account of staffing the Mid-Continent booth at this year’s Mad City Model Railroad Show in Madison. Although I must admit to thinking she is stretching credulity a little bit when she writes that Leah Rosenow’s display of flood photos “brought tears to grown men’s eyes.”
As a guy I really find it hard to admit that such a thing could happen. So allow me to conclude this message with a quote from member Paul Fortini, whose exuberance is a little more recognizable (or should I say acceptable for members of the good old boy’s club?). “As my wife noticed I was practically jumping for joy when you made the announcement that ALCO S1 #7 was back in service! Steam or vintage diesel, your museum provides a very valuable experience.”
And with the level of participation you can read about in this issue of the newsletter, Paul’s assessment will continue to prove true for many years to come.
(Page 1 of 12, totaling 173 entries)
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