Perspectives on Preservation by James Alexander Jr.

Why do visitors come to a railroad museum? What do they take home with them after their visit? Despite carefully planned interpretive efforts, answers can, and do, vary.

STAND IN THE MUSEUM AND WATCH. Obviously the museum has preserved much more than mere locomotives.

• See the child playing engineer in the cab of the K4, pulling every lever in sight, pretending to make it go. Something is being learned.

• Listen to the old man who remembers when it did go, telling all about it and what it meant to him. Memories and validation of the past are occurring.

• Hear the young man intrigued by the engine, asking in endless technical detail what made it go. Interests are being stimulated.

• Listen to the rail historian recounting its colorful past and telling why these mechanical marvels were constructed, and what they did to lives, communities, and commerce. Meaning is being explored, and future lessons sought.

• See the volunteers who clean it, repair it, repaint it, and thereby preserve it for future visitors. They are securing fulfillment.

• Think of the people behind the scenes, the museum staff who administer its custody and provide for the interpretation planning which explains its role in history. They are performing more than a daily job.

• And, of course, from all visitors, young and old, male and female, hear the same question, "Will this locomotive ever operate again?" And the question that provides a most happy opening for discussion, "Will railroads ever come back?"

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SO MANY PERSPECTIVES on what the museum has worked so hard to preserve. The locomotives stand, silent witnesses to a wondrous array of diverse talents, skills, and effort, all focused in a common cause to save precious remnants of a colorful and historically important past. The museum's task is to communicate the stories of these splendid artifacts.

SO MANY INTERPRETATIONS, flowing in both planned and unplanned ways, in visible and in less recognized directions.

Role playing by young visitors is an important part of early visits. In school tours, two youthful crew members assume their positions on the museum's John Bull (Camden & Amboy Railroad, 1831) replica. Donning the work gloves, hefting wood for the fire, pulling the throttle and ringing the bell all add to the dimension of the visit. These activities have a side benefit of explaining how locomotives work for other visitors who happen to be watching. Here the "engineer" is required to walk along the John Bull's side to oil an overheating axle; the group is thus introduced to one of the functions of the brakeman they will later see in a caboose.

One of the most engrossing activities for children during school tours is "Laying Track," where a group actually learns what goes where on railroad track. It's a far cry from having the kids stand behind a glass case while someone points at pictures and tries to explain the process! Not surprisingly, more mature visitors are usually interested onlookers as well. This activity culminates the standard tour for younger visitors.