Blog number 4 in the series

CONSIDER THE ADVANTAGES


1. The Traction Museum can be developed into an authentic simulation of reality, using overhead catenary or trolley wire, OR deriving its power from concealed batteries, opening up an entirely new galaxy of prototypes .

2. It would minimize liability insurance issues, as the possibility of collisions or other injury to riders and spectators is effectively eliminated .

3. The public would be more likely to visit these Model Trolley Museums, now situated in more accessible locations ; visitor income would increase, providing more  funding for operation and maintenance .

4. A museum, becomes a true teaching facility based on this principle, could stay open every day, not just weekends and not just occasionally as an Exhibition is, and become self-supporting . The technology of traction and the sad history of its breakdown and collapse could be taught painlessly to visitors, eliminating many questions from the vast majority of people who had never hear it before .

5. It would encourage the participation of youngsters who are familiar with the use of remote control systems similar to that employed in the radio control of airplanes, boats, and video games . The technology already exists, waiting to be adapted from those hobbies .

6. It could lead to the launching of hundreds of new small businesses --- a rare aspect of the financial picture which the Beltway Brains and the Wall Street Whizzes agree is the best basis for growing our economy .

This can mean

a. new jobs;

b. a return to local manufacturing;

c. a market for the many components and lineside scenery of electric railways ;

d. new possibilities in scenery;

e. a focus on complex track patterns --- special work, yard layouts and complex switching, instead of running aimlessly around and around in great endless loops

f. the production and sale of hundreds of accessories like, e.g., scale figurines of passengers, street figures, and railroad workers ; Main Street store fronts; trackside buildings; model automobiles; and the many other models that can be seen in the smaller gauges.

7. Displays would be at a good viewing height instead of on the ground; seeing railway equipment go by on eye-level tracks would be realistic and impressive, and more appreciated by spectators.

8. It would allow appreciation of details and construction

9. It would encourage the production, placement, display, and sale of accessories, buildings, miniature passengers and railroad employees, for sale and for display.

10 . A unique facility like this would be unusual enough to attract visitors and the income generated by tourism.

11. It would bring many new participants to the hobby, which currently is losing significant numbers of participants to age, disability, and the lack of machining and metalwork talent previously mentioned .

12. An entirely new sub-unit of the hobby could arise --- it can be thought of as truly Miniature Engineering --- a significant segment of which would be a new focus on bridges, tunnels, under- and over-passes, viaducts, etc., capable of carrying heavy (but not impossible) weights, as passenger-carrying miniature railways in trolley museums are expected to.

13. Cooperation with engineering colleges could be encouraged in the design-and-build aspect of miniature infrastructure. It is easy to picture a contest with respectably-sized prizes (meaningful and helpful to serious students at engineering schools) in various categories with local and national press coverage .

14. As bridges could now permit much smaller clearances, layout tunnels and bridges would no longer have to be designed to allow the passage of full-size engineers or motormen, and interesting new track plans could be designed .

15. In addition, interesting and complex arrangements of overhead wires (either or both catenary and trolley wires) for the propulsion of models of streetcars, electric locomotives, box cabs, trolleys, heavy electrics, third rail transit, and light rail, etc.) could develop into a special interest.

16. It could bring participation by trolley buffs, a population that arguably exceeds the current number of live steamers . Many fans of full-size traction, recruited from the many trolley museums, might dip their toes into the hobby of model traction as a sidebar to their prototype work in the trolley museums .

17. It would bring the excitement of a close-up view of model traction to children and adults alike

18. The Museum would consist of much more than merely running continuously in identical, never-ending circles. A yard layout or a trolley barn could be an interesting variation on a theme, allowing much more realistic operational variation. It would increase interest and encourage the design, construction, and very careful placement of large and complex trackside signal systems .

19. Model traction enthusiasts, who might resent bringing their models to annual club exhibitions, unloading them, and bringing them home again after the exhibit, might be willing to lend their models to legitimate, non-profit museums so that the public has a chance to share the trolley experience, provided that the exhibit is truly a loan --- much as the process of lending expensive, irreplaceable fine art to art museums has been established and recognized. Most people do not realize that, often, the greatest art museums do not own the paintings or sculptures that they display; many of these works of art are on extended loan from wealthy art patrons, who enjoy seeing their names prominently displayed in the exhibit halls, and who are, as a reward, invited to galas and exhibition openings, so that they are perceived as Patrons of the Arts. It would be rewarding if similar opportunities to be recognized were available to fine modelers.