Between September 20 and 23, the Heritage Rail Alliance held its annual fall conference in Montreal, Quebec. The Pennsylvania Trolley Museum’s Kristen Fredriksen, Manager of Public Programs and Outreach, attended as a delegate of PTM.
The Heritage Rail Alliance is comprised of tourist railroads and railway museums and fosters unique preservation efforts through education, research, and the free exchange of information among members and working industry professionals. The organization develops and supports best practices in conservation, operation, exhibition, and interpretation.
The conferences provide seminars on a broad range of practical topics, a chance to visit and learn from the host organizations, and valuable networking opportunities. Early on the first morning, delegates departed via bus for the Canada Museum of Science and Technology in Ottawa about 2 hours west of Montreal. The museum has undergone a multi-million dollar renovation and will be opening a new portion of the site to the public soon. Attendees also took a “back room” tour of the archives and saw how many large items can be stored in small spaces – the Ingenium Centre houses over 85,000 artifacts, 100,000 library titles, and over 8,000 linear feet of photographs, maps, textual records, and drawings. Sharon Babaian, Curator of Land and Marine Transportation, led the visit and discussed the challenges posed by re-inventing a museum in the face of a sudden closure, renewing exhibit spaces, and lessons learned throughout the process.
Wednesday evening saw the start of the official conference program with a meet and greet reception with attendees and vendors. Sessions on Thursday morning included “Museums and the Power of Connection” from Brad King and “How Digital Marketing Can Make Your Brand Thrive Online and Reach Your Strategic Objectives” from Frederic Gonzalo. After a membership meeting and executive meeting, attendees were treated to a screening of two Stephen Low Company IMAX films with an introduction from the filmmaker himself – The Trolley (2018) and Train Time (2022).
The conference visited Exporail on Friday, arriving by EXO commuter train. Plenary sessions at Exporail included “Using the Past to Understand the Present and Envision the Future: Renewing Exporail’s Permanent Exhibition” in which Executive Director Nadine Cloutier shared how Exporail reevaluated and renewed their visitor experience to leave more room for the human component with a limited budget and a small team through a global pandemic. Following this presentation, G Mark Ray of the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum shared a poignant program on safety and risk management entitled, “Being a Hero – Is it Worth the Risk?” The afternoon consisted of self-guided exploration of Exporail during which our hosts offered rides on a diesel train, a miniature train, and a trolley – plus, a replica steam engine was chuffing about! Exporail recently invested several hundred thousand (Canadian) dollars in re-lighting the exhibit spaces and the effect is striking.
The last day of the conference featured presentations on a variety of topics from community-business partnerships to collections management; from tourist railway sustainability to maintenance of heritage streetcars. Alongside representatives Bob LaPrelle of the Museum of the American Railroad, Alden Burns of The Danbury Railway Museum, and Rikki Durden from the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, PTM’s Kristen Fredriksen spoke as a panelist during a session entitled “Attracting and Retaining Younger Staff and Volunteers.” The conference wrapped up with a banquet at Exporail. Additionally, long-time (and long-distance) volunteer Rod Fishburn received a lifetime achievement award from the organization for his continuing support and actions in rail preservation.
Next year’s conference is scheduled to be held in Springdale, Arkansas. Multiple people from the same museum can attend, and the Heritage Rail Alliance also offers scholarship opportunities to young people under 40 to encourage participation and help offset the costs of attending the conferences. For more information about the Heritage Rail Alliance, visit https://heritagerail.org/
Check out some photos from the conference below!
