Future Visitor Center and Museum Exhibits

[Stewart Rhine]

Last Saturday, Cindy and I went to Remembrance Day at Gettysburg National Military Park.  There were many events with thousands of re-enactors in Union and Confederate uniforms.  Watching the parades with their brass bands and military maneuvers is a moving experience.  Walking the battlefield and hearing Taps played by a lone bugler up on Little Round Top at sunset was just amazing.  

Our first stop was the new (opened last year) visitor center and museum.  Driving in from the Baltimore Pike you see what appears to be a large stone farm house with a tall red barn behind it.  The structure is the new visitor center which was designed to blend in with 19th Century buildings.  The Museum features some of the best Civil War artifacts in the US.  One exhibit has items that are numbered with no further identification.  Visitors examine the piece and guess it's use.  There are numbered panels next to the display that correspond with the item.  Lifting the panel reveals a description of the item and what it was used for.  Of all the displays in the museum, this one had the most children around it.  

The new facilities made me think of Sheepscot and how visitors view the museum when arriving - today and in the future.  Our current buildings have the look of late 19th - early 20th Century structures.  Someday, if we can build a Visitor Center at Sheepscot or Head Tide it should match the classic New England railroad style that makes Sheepscot a time machine.  A potato warehouse would work.  Of course construction depends on getting more land.  We already have a nice museum and when we have more room, adding interpretive exhibits would be a plus.  They don't have to be fancy,  one could be a few numbered items on a table with a little book of descriptions.  I think the kids and adults would both enjoy it.  Another exhibit could show how a steam locomotive works by visitors  moving a lever that starts the motion of valve gear on a model locomotive.  Still, another one could show and explain the types of hand signals used by the train crew and how they are unique to the WW&F.  Of course the parking lot and rest room facility has to be built first.  Looking past those improvements ... when the parking lot is done, visitors will walk East to get to the railroad.  As they pass the rest rooms the roundhouse and blacksmith shop will come into view.  Another thing we can do is to add descriptive signs on each railroad building to help visitors understand what they are seeing once these structures are in place.    

The WW&F is nothing close to the size and scope of Gettysburg but we can take a few of their ideas and use them to make Sheepscot an even better place to visit.  Does anyone else have exhibit ideas or thoughts for a visitor center? Yes, it's a ways down the track but it's nice to dream...

[Stephen Hussar]

It might be be nice to have some signs like these someday. Steve Z and I ran across these metal plaques/signs at the new visitors center in Bellows Falls, VT. Not sure of the process but the text and imagery is somehow printed right onto the metal surface. They appear to be indestructible. I got the name of the manufacturer, in Keene, NH, (looking for a ballpark price) but could never get a call back from them.

[Allan Fisher]

My dream for the Sheepscot Visitor's Center has been influenced by other railroad museums I have been to.
I see a modern Visitor's Center (albeit a representation of an appropriate WW&F building) at the corner of Rt. 218 and Cross Road - with a large parking lot and included in the building a museum store, ticket office, display area,  restrooms and a snack bar. Then - with or without some kind of tram service  - a path or roadway down to the "historic" Sheepscot buildings and operations.

[Ira Schreiber]

Gee Allan, I must be brainwashed as that is exactly the vision that I have and I hope we live long enough to see and enjoy it.

[Stephen Hussar]

Ditto for me on that exact VC...but I still like the metal signs 

[Keith Taylor]

I really like the snack bar part of the scenario.....

Keith

[Dave Buczkowski]

I think many of us share Allan's dream. Now if the property would just come up for sale... I also like Steve's signs.

[Stewart Rhine]

Stephen, Nice signs.  Thanks for the post.  That type of sign would be great at the museum.   They can describe the buildings and have maps or historic photos of original WW&F structures that were similar.  The Gettysburg VC has all the things Allan mentioned.  The restaurant is a long rectangle shaped room with a stone fireplace at the end.  It is a re-creation of a soldiers aid station that was in Philladelphia in 1863.  The best things about a snack bar are the extra income to the museum and that it keeps people on the campus for a longer period of time.   

[Keith Taylor]

I know I have had many, many people ask where the nearest place to get lunch would be. I would love to say "why, you can get good food right here!"
Anything that keeps people on the property is a good thing....

Keith

[Mike Fox]

With things going forward as they are now, I would think a visitor center as Allan described would be perfect, if placed North of the parking lot we are about to build. Restrooms and parking would be close by. Everything then would be in walking distance.

[Fred L. Kuhns]

    A museum building north of the new parking area would use all the new infastructure being added for the restrooms  as well as the land that is all ready owned.  The BOD will need to address the ideas presented and decide which would be best for the museum.  The informational signs would add much to the museum exhibits and some of the cost could possible be covered by grants form other historial groups.  Installing signs along the right of way (present and former) would add to the general public's  knowledge about the WWF and museum.     Fred L. Kuhns     

[Allan Fisher]

It's all about visibility - We need a future presence on Rt 218 - in that future, the parking lots and toilets we are about to build will only be a used as an overflow area for the crowds we should be getting when we make Head Tide a destination site - i.e a revived historic village with open shops and display of crafts and early twentieth century trades and skills.

People will come to spend a half day with us - and will find plenty of activities for the whole family.

The Dream Goes On.............

[Paul Horky]

Allan in the past we have locked horns, but in this case I think you are spot on!!!! I hope the BOD is looking hard at this. I know that rigth now the mueseum has a great load of debt already buy as you said [the dream goes on].

[Stewart Rhine]

Allan,  I agree with you about having a visitor center on or within sight of 218.  I remember discussing it with a number of people, including Harry back when we were building 320.  At that time (1998) the corner lot at 218 and the Cross Road was the prime choice.   Of course the museum would have to purchase the land if it becomes available.  We can't afford it now but once we have rest rooms and the parking lot, AAA will list us in their tour guides so the number of visitors will increase.  The AAA Fall bus tours are very popular with people from Boston to New York.  Increased visitor numbers will bring increased income from the gift shop and train ticket sales.  We will probably know within the first two years of having the AAA listing what our new income levels will be and if a visitor center is in the future.  

Getting back to signs and displays for a minute ... Fred makes a good point about signs.  At one time we had a few signs along the right of way.  There was one at Sheepscot station and another at the first culvert above the tool shed.  The Sheepscot sign included a photo of the original station.  The signs were removed when they got in bad shape and when the culvert was replaced.   New signs should go in these places, especially one on the tool house which is our only original structure.

One thing I have noticed is that some visitors have very little knowledge of railroads and many don't know what narrow gauge is.  I have even been asked if we take our train to Wiscasset to run on the Maine Eastern.  Years ago, people knew about railroads.  They had ridden trains or had relatives who worked for a railroad.  Today some visitors only knowledge of railroads is of commuter lines or having to wait for a freight train to clear a grade crossing.  Our displays need to show what a railroad is and what it does, then we can explain how special the Maine Two Footers are.  I think it will add to the visitor's experience and may bring them back for additional visits.

[Win Nowell]

   Installing signs along the right of way (present and former) would add to the general public's  knowledge about the WWF and museum.     Fred L. Kuhns     

I agree with all that has been said on this subject except the above. As I am riding the train I like to imagine as was it was 100 years ago. If there was new signage along the right of way it would spoil the effect. The same as Maine highways were in the forties. One couldn't see the trees for the billboards. It took the state legislature to get rid of them. OK in the vistors areas but NOT on the right of way!

Win Nowell