Re: WW&F Passenger Count vs. Patrons

Murph Wrote:
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> with only 6400 paid patrons?

Actually, that is the total passenger count. 2018's paid patron count was in the 4300 range (infants, passes, volunteers, etc. bump up the passenger totals.)

Stewart summed it up well - we have a very dedicated membership who fund capital improvements, etc. with the annual fund drive. This is augmented by the occasional grant or special fundraising effort.
Misc donations, gift shop revenue, and ticket sales cover the operating expenses.
We also have no paid staff - all positions (and most labor) are filled by volunteers. (We do have one on-site contractor/product manager whose salary is funded independently.) Specialized contractor labor is used only as a last resort (such as certain aspects of the earthwork required for the Mountain Extension.)

And we are notoriously thrifty - including nail straightening and bottle/can redemption!

Ed Lecuyer
Trainmaster, WW&F Railway Museum
Help the WW&F Build Locomotive #11: [build11.wwfry.org]