It has gotten far better over the years ,but I remember a lot of whining by railfans about the loss of historical equipment but precious few putting their money where their mouth was .If there was no Bob Richardson ,think of what might not be around today ? Back in the 1970s the C&T was hanging on by its fingernails as railfans would pace the train but not ride . Since then the hobby has changed . The mos t im portant d evelopment is the railfan hobby is more mainstream ,and its members are more affluent than its working-class predecessors .There are many successful volunteer operations , and railfans are more generous than they used to be .The clinker is there are a proliferation of volunteer projects .Most of them are legitimate , earnest,inclusive and have realistic goals .But there are a couple that do not have any of those attributes .Railfans have to choose carefully which projects they can afford to support , and which ones will be successful .Patience is very important ,because some projects ,like a locomotive restoration, will take many years to come to fruition .