I guess I have a more optimistic view than Richard's regarding future prospects for drawing in new members from the railroad fans in the younger set. As far as the available pool is concerned, I suspect it's ALWAYS been a case of "slim pickins."
I base that on what I observed in Bergenfield NJ during the first part of the 1940s, and then studying engineering in Troy NY 1946 -1950.
Through Bergenfield passed the West Shore River Division of the New York Central, with four tracks to accommodate the twice-daily surge of trains bringing commuters to and from New York City.
Steam ruled: nary a diesel until after I'd left for college. There was a nice selection of steam power from the Central—Pacifics, Mohawks, and the occasional Mikado, and later also Hudsons and B&A Berkshires displaced by diesels from other parts of the system. The New York, Ontario and Western, which had trackage rights, contributed light USRA Mountain-type engines and a variety of old ten wheelers, some of them camelbacks.
Besides heavy wartime freight traffic there were 30 passenger trains/day in each direction, 20 each way making a station stop in Bergenfield. In summer, the NYO&W ran passenger extras filled with New Yorkers bound for various towns in the "Borscht Belt" of the Catskills.
Another attraction was the coach yard in Dumont NJ, 1.5 miles to the north. Every weekday evening or Saturday afternoon, five of the commuter trains pulled into the yard and the engine turned on the wye before recoupling, ready for the run to the Weehawken ferry terminal each morning except Sunday.
So……..ALL KINDS of goodies you'd think would draw steam fans like flies. And according to my 1946 B.H.S. yearbook, the student population that year was 487.
Yet from that pool of "possibles," there were only THREE steam fans that hung out at the Bergenfield station. I know, because I was one of them and I spent an awful lot of time there. Didn't miss much. (Cep'n study time.)
At Rensselaer Poly the student population swelled from the normal 2,500 to 4,000 because of the GI Bill. Troy was a terrific town for steam action, served as it was by four railroads. With the exception of a few Alco road switchers used by the D & H, everything in and out of Troy was steam-hauled. But the students that started the model railroad layout in 1946 numbered only a dozen, and a subset of SIX of us chased steam on weekends when we could steal a bit of time from studies.
It's good to be reminded of the need to draw in new blood, but I believe if the Museum continues the many good things it's been doing, that will happen.
Dinga-linga-ling! Hang on…..phone's ringing in the other room. Back in a sec.
(Pause)
I'm back. That was John McNamara. He claims there were LOADS of railfans at Bergenfield High back then, just holding off, waiting till the West Shore went diesel.