The importance of a quality guest experience when visiting public rail preservation sites – such as a railroad museum – can sometimes be overlooked by those in the industry, but certainly not for Andrew Nawn, who serves as the founder and leader of the Baltimore Streetcar Museum’s Beautification Committee. With a dedicated team of fellow volunteers and the local Eagle Scouts, property cleanup, landscaping, infrastructure improvements, and a historic mural are paramount to enhance the immersiveness at the museum. Nawn also heads the restoration of the snow sweeper C-145, built in 1923 for the Philadelphia Transit Co.
How did you get involved in rail preservation?
Andrew Nawn: I’ve been involved with this my whole life, and that’s no exaggeration as I took my first streetcar ride when I was a couple of months old. I’ve always been surrounded by trains as they literally go right by my house, and I can see them out of my bedroom window. The magazines such as Trains, Model Railroader, and RailPace to name a few also played a big role as I liked to read through them and look at the pictures when I was little. This is all thanks to my dad who grew up with this stuff and had an innate ability to find trains.
This led to him playing a major role in the Baltimore Streetcar Museum, and I naturally followed. It’s one of the closest museums to us, a lot of our friends are volunteers, and my brother was doing his Eagle Scout project there. So, I was coming down almost every weekend. After a while of looking at the place, a few others and I believed it was the perfect opportunity to try and change some things around and improve the guest experience at the museum.
As a young preservationist at age 17, what have you found to be the most challenging aspects in the industry?
Andrew Nawn: In addition to volunteering, you’re trying to balance work, going to school, and you may have a significant other or friends you like hanging out with. I think it’s a little easier if you already have some footing in rail preservation because you already know what you’re doing. If you’re new to it and trying to get in, it can be hard as you must be there to learn while also balancing other things in your life.
What’s been the most rewarding for you so far?
Andrew Nawn: It’s really nice to see the guest’s positive feedback when visiting, especially when riding on some of the older equipment dating as far back as the 1890s. You get on a streetcar from 1904, tell them that we run it because it’s newer than the other stuff at the museum, and see the look on their faces. I’ve also made so many lifelong friends and good connections there. But, I learned a lot from them because they all work in different fields outside the museum, such as being plumbers, electricians, and college professors.
Where do you see rail preservation as it is today and what do you hope it’ll become for the future?
Andrew Nawn: Times are changing because a large majority of the older rail preservationists are aging out with newer, younger faces. We’re realizing this and starting to see things that are no longer what they use to be.
When a lot of museums first started, everybody went around to get anything they saw that used to be a rail vehicle. The challenge from that will be for the younger preservationists to now make the hard decisions on which equipment is worth saving that’ll help today’s organizations tell their stories. Another challenge moving forward is relevance. Many communities usually don’t know that these museums are here and that needs to change. However, it’s a matter of asking the questions: “How do we make the website not look like it’s straight out of 2005, and how do we get a social media presence to let people know about us?”
What advice would you give for any young person looking to get involved in the industry?
Andrew Nawn: Find your museum and really look around in doing so. Rail preservation is everywhere, whether you notice it or not, and are always looking for help. I’ve never been to an organization and not seen a flyer or heard somebody ask for you to become a volunteer. It can sometimes be hard getting into it, but I think it’s rewarding.
Thank you for highlighting Andrew and other young guns in rail preservation! It is heartening to hear about new generation interest in being leaders in rail preservation.