Long-haul projects

After six years at the 315 I can attest that it is hard to keep the eye on the ball that long. There were lots of frustrations, especially with fund-raising, the great steam engine part hunt, and do-nothing sub-contractors who look at deadlines as suggestions. Each key member thought about bailing out, including yours truly. My problem is I am wortking two jobs and volunteering on top of that, where all the other active members are retirees. It was very hard on our president, George Niederauer, as he did a tremendous amount of work finding funds and dealing with often less than helpful local officials and their agendas. He, too, almost bailed. Our core of volunteers is small, and fortunately, most of the same guys that started the project are still working on the locomotive.
We learned a lot, like where to find parts, that everything has to be taken apart and rebuilt, that skateboard parks rank higher in importance than housing a historical asset, and very importantly, where to look for money.
One advantage the Friends has is that it is a big organization, and crews and crew leaders can come and go over a big, long project. Yes, there would be hiccups but it would get finished. Eventually the FCT will have to hire a professional carpenter/woodworker to organize such projects and keep them going, like other museum organizations have done. It's Saturday morning, which means I am going to help on the 315. And I use the word "help" loosely!