[PRR-talk] Off Subj.: Franklin Institute

[Bruce Smith]

On Mar 24, 2008, at 12:26 PM, Bill Bird wrote:
> Hi Evan.
>
> Around 1970 or so, a friend of mine went to work for the Institute  
> and got
> to 'mess with' the layout on occasion. It was going through a  
> rennovation
> at the time and, as I recall, was made somewhat smaller. A lot of the
> equipment was sold-off or simply discarded...it was generally quite
> worn-out old Mantua and PennLine.  If I recall correctly, it did  
> not fare
> well after that as there were personnel and financial problems in  
> keeping
> it going.  I do not know if there is a layout now. A real shame if  
> not.
>
> Bill Bird

Bill, Folks,

The Franklin, like many other "museums" has had to evolve to stay  
alive.  They have apparently redone the railroad area into a highly  
interactive "Train Factory".  See http://www2.fi.edu/exhibits/ 
permanent/train-factory.php  Reading through the web site, it looks  
really NEAT!  The Baldwin 60000 is still the centerpiece, but now  
kids get to learn all about how steam, diesel and electric engines  
work, and get to go through some of the operations of a mechanic,  
fireman, engineer and accident investigator.  From their materials,  
it appears that there may be several train models including an  
"electric train" that moves when you turn a crank to generate  
electricity.  Some modelers I know could use to adapt that power  
system to their own layouts ;^)  As for a layout, it does not appear  
that there is one (although not having been their recently, I do not  
know).  However, layouts like those that used to be there lack any  
real interaction and are therefore ultimately unsuccessful at  
teaching concepts at the same level as more interactive displays.   
That said, layout displays that allow the visitor to operate the  
train and learn something in the process, like signaling, switching,  
weight distribution, train control, etc can be useful, but are  
maintenance intensive.

Regards
Bruce

Bruce F. Smith
Auburn, AL
http://www.vetmed.auburn.edu/index.pl/bruce_f._smith2

"Some days you are the bug, some days you are the windshield."
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