to the light. “Display it where?” you ask, “We’re not even sure of what it is, let alone where it belongs.” Undaunted, that volunteer will haul that treasure piece home, lovingly and expertly restore it, and then you’ll find it planted right in the middle of the front lawn six weeks later in all its shining, awkward glory. Now, you can’t really get mad at that


eager volunteer, can you? After all, he did the work on his own time, and donated the costs of restoration. And we’re supposed to be preserving stuff, so why not this thing? It’s just that “this thing” doesn’t really mesh with the other “things” surrounding it. Having a plan for presentation is just as important as interpreting an artifact to your visiting public. Just because you restored it doesn’t mean it makes a great display. At the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum, where I am a volunteer, we have our own piles of stuff that have no immediate plan yet don’t warrant disposal. One day I tripped over something in the weeds near some buckets of spikes I was retreiving for a project. It was heavy and cast iron, and I could see only about half of it. Turns out it was one of those old railroad crossing signs. This thing was cool! Why wasn’t it out on display? What else was hiding around the property? It turns out there was plenty. A number


of metal signs and concrete markers were scattered about and squirrelled away. One or two had been installed alongside our museum railroad, but the rest never found their calling. Inspired, I drew up an idea to create a “sign garden” to put these items on display. It was an idea inspired by a visit to the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Ill., years ago where I saw a similar installation along with an interpretive marker for each example.


We designed a “bed” alongside the


station platform at our museum where we would “plant” the signs. A variety of mile markers, whistle posts, flangers, and other pieces were carefully placed. Gravel ballast surrounded the installa- tion and each sign received a cleaning and fresh paint. The result was an inter- esting, self-guided display that not only informs our visitors but also encourag- es them to walk down the row and be directed to additional exhibits around the property. The active tracks of the Livonia, Avon & Lakeville run right alongside, giving context and scale. What was once a bunch of stuff lost in the tall grass was now up front and serving a purpose again. You have to think of a museum as


more than just “things.” Assume your visitors enter not knowing anything about what they are looking at. What kind of story do you want to tell them as they tour your property? Will they find a carefully curated selection of artifacts and exhibits, or something that resembles a rummage sale or some railfan’s basement empire? Sometimes all the pieces don’t fit perfectly. We all put forth effort to present the best image we can. Like any good puzzle, sometimes you have to rearrange the parts many times before the solution becomes obvious. Sometimes you have to jam in that odd-shaped piece with that bit of sky even though it doesn’t fit. Either works.


Associate editor Otto M. Vondrak is a


trustee at the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum in Rochester, N.Y., and has been an active volunteer with many preservation groups throughout the Northeast.


Our DVD’s Show the Whole Train “No More Mindless Runbys”


The Leader in Contemporary Train DVDs The picture in our DVD’s is only half the story.


All trains in our 25 Blu-ray and 295 regular DVD’s are shown in their entirety and are identified by train symbol, origin, and destination. Expert commentary tells the story of today’s railroading and how operations have changed in recent years. We have been making videos showing all the train for 24 years.


“UP’s Historic Council Bluffs to Gibbon Main”


The Union Pacific main line up the Platte River Valley west of Council Bluffs to the junction with the line from


Kansas City at Gibbon, NE is one of the more historic and best known rail lines in the U. S. - part of the first transcontinental railroad. This DVD shows over 24 hours of action on UP’s Columbus and Kearny subdivisions around Grand Island in April 2016. 2 hours, 30 minutes. 2 disk set. DVD or Blu-ray $38.95.


“Union Pacific’s Marysville Subdivision”


UP’s Marysville sub stretches from Topeka to Gibbon, Ne- braska where the Triple Track main to North Platte begins.


Although coal is down, this re- cently double tracked main is still a busy line. This program shows over 24 hours of action on UP’s Marysville sub both sides of Fair-


bury, NE in the scenic Little Blue River Valley in April of 2016. 1 hour, 17 min. DVD or Blu-ray $32.95.


“CN and CP Montreal to Toronto Mains”


This program shows at least 24 hours of action on each of the two busiest rail lines for freight and passenger trains in eastern Cana- da - Canadian Pacific’s Belleville subdivision around Trenton, On- tario and then the Canadian Na- tional and Via Corridor between Montreal and Toronto around Ganaoque, Ontario in October of 2015. 1 hour, 45 min. DVD or Blu-ray $34.95.


“CN around Nakina in Northern Ontario”


Traffic on CN’s transcontinental main line across northern Ontario has grown rapidly in recent years


and CN now routinely runs two and a half mile long trains on this supurbly engineered line. This program shows over 24 hours of action on CN’s Caramat


subdivision, part of their transcontinental main line, around Nakina, 250 miles northeast of Thunder Bay, in October of 2015. 59 minutes. DVD or Blu-ray $30.95.


“Canadian National’s Western Manitoba Mains”


This program shows the trains on both of CN’s main lines in western Manitoba - the transcontinental


main line and on CN’s secondary main known as their Prairie North Line that diverges from the main at Portage La Prairie in October of 2015.


Some of the longest trains on this continent run on CN’s main line. Two disk set. 2 hours, 40 minutes. DVD or Blu-ray $40.95.


“Canadian Pacific’s Western Manitoba Mains”


This shows over 24 hours of action in October 2015 on CP’s main lines in western Manitoba - the original transcontinental main west of Brandon and west of Minnedosa on their recently up- graded North Line that diverges from the main line at Portage La Prairie. This program also shows the increase in train length since E. H.


Harrison took over. 72 minutes. DVD or Blu-ray $30.95. “CSX ex-New York Central Rochester Sub”


This program shows over 24 hours of action in July 2015 on CSX’s ex-NYC Rochester Sub west of Rochester, NY.


This busy line carries almost all of CSX’s traffic between New York City and the Midwest includ- ing the new crude oil business. Am- trak Empire Service trains and their


Lake Shore Limited also grace this line. Two disk set. One hour, 55 minutes. DVD or Blu-ray $34.95.


Big “E” Productions


OPPOSITE: Trains, tracks, signals, tools, signs, a depot, and more make up just some of the collection of the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum in Rochester, N.Y. How do you make sense of it for your visitors? ABOVE: Signs with different meanings from different railroads can make a cohesive display when put into context with their surroundings. Each piece displayed in the “sign garden” has an interpretive plaque explaining its meaning. OTTO M. VONDRAK PHOTOS


P.O. Box 75, Greenland, NH 03840 800-832-1228 or 603-430-3055, 24 hours a day. Check out our webpage at www.trainvideos.com


Visa, MC, Amex, Disc. Card, check, or Money order. Add $5 per order for shipping and handling. All orders shipped first class or priority mail. All DVD’s have menus and chapters. The above DVD’s also have the option of being watched with or without narration.


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