Help wanted: With a generation ready to retire, railway preservation needs a few good leaders

Earlier this month I was in Savannah, Ga., for the annual meeting of the Association of Tourist Railroads & Railway Museums, now to be known as Heritage Rail Alliance. I’ve been thinking about all the things I want to tell you about that gathering, the buzz that is always on when this group congregates, and over the weekend one of the chief impressions I took away came rushing at me while watching college football: There’s a lot of leadership, brain power, creativity, and known-how leaving the business of saving the past for the future. Retirements among top people in the railway preservation business will cause a lot of turnover from Atlantic to Pacific.

A friend and I counted all of the executive directors, presidents, general managers, and curators who we know are about to or are planning to retire between now and 2019. It’s an impressive list that includes some of the most important tourist lines and museums in North America. Much like the general freight railway industry, which is experiencing a sea change among its ranks, railway preservation is witnessing the tail-end of the baby boomer generation. Their time on the throttle is nearing an end. The right-hand seatbox will soon be empty until the Gen Xers and Millennials step aboard.

Am I worried about this? A little. There are some young, imaginative, passionate, hard working people coming along in the ranks of railway preservation as volunteers, as staff, as board members, and in other roles. They’ll soon be ready to command programming, restorations, and board recruitment. But it may not be enough. The crop of people coming along in railway preservation well knows the challenges (funding is always an issue; the equipment is getting older every day; Americans’ attention spans continue to dwindle, among others) and opportunities (railroading still kindles deep passions; a ton of money is moving to organizations astute enough to get babyboomers to include them in estate planning; steam, both large and small, is enjoying a renaissance). Among the non-profits, fundraising will be a never-ending job that many may not be prepared for or want.

Smart organizations are already lining up the next generation, notable among them Al Harper, whose son, John, is heading up the Durango & Silverton in Colorado. Elsewhere, non-profit railway preservation groups are hiring understudies to work closely with the boss to learn from the master. Succession planning is a top job among America’s most successful industries, but I know of few tourist railroads and museums that spend time on the topic. They should.

Good executive directors, general managers, curators, and the like are as important to the success of a tourist railroad or railway museum as effective board members, inspired staff, devoted volunteers, and excited visitors. We’ve all seen what great leaders in railway preservation can do in the likes of the late Walter Grey at the California State Railroad Museum, Don Tallman at Colorado Railroad Museum, and Courtney Wilson at the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum.

So, the takeaway, is this: Watch for a lot of departures in railway preservation’s top spots; if you’re already in the business or if you’re a young person thinking about heritage railroad or museum work, the opportunities in coming years should be many; and if you’re a board member or general manager and you’re not having a discussion about who is next to lead your group, make time for that talk. Soon.