Philadelphia Railroad and Steam Works Museum, Inc.

Mission Statement:

Inspiring imagination, trades, engineering and bringing fun to Philadelphia families and people of all ages by restoring Railroad and Steam related machinery and transportation systems to working operation or for display and education.

Purpose:

The Philadelphia Railroad and Steam Works Museum’s purpose is to bring to working life historical Railroad, Steam and Transportation related systems and equipment in a location that allows the people of Philadelphia and its visitors access to such equipment without having to travel great distances outside of Philadelphia.

How do we do this?

The Philadelphia Railroad and Steam Works Museum is to be set up as a non-profit company. Our initial objectives include:

Locating facilities that allow for:
- the storage, repair and movement of steam and diesel locomotives,
- the Potential access to existing rail lines,
- space to display equipment
- educate people and
- ready access by the Philadelphia general public via automobile and public transportation
Acquiring railroad, steam and other related transportation systems and steam related equipment for restoration, display, education and working operations

Once a location is obtained, the museum will begin employing locally paid and volunteer staff to create a working museum that allows Philadelphians to practice steam, manufacturing and transportation related working trades, educate, and inspire people to learn more about the impact of steam and transportation technology on Philadelphia and have fun while doing so. The museum will also build physical and virtual displays on and off location that will inspire, educate and entertain people in such a way that they want to visit, volunteer and encourage others to visit the museum. The museum will use innovated social media content and other informational advertising to encourage people to visit, volunteer and contribute.

The museum will raise funds by:

Applying for a non-profit status in the state of PA and Federal 501(c)3, so people of the general public can make tax deductible monetary donations for the restoration of equipment, facilities and operations or donate equipment for display, restoration to working operation and education.
Submitting for grants and educational awards
Creating a working museum experience, static displays, working transportation and train scale model displays that encourage the general public to pay for full and discounted entry
Facilities for rental by train hobby trade shows to promote train enthusiasm and hobbies or other activities
Facilities for the selling train, hobby and steam related educational and collectible materials
Promoting rides on scaled and fully operational equipment
Designing educational steam technology camps and workshops for paid and supplemented participation
Creating excursions on local rail lines for extra fees.

The People and Organization:

The people involved in the museum will be a combination of unpaid volunteers and paid employees from the local and surrounding Philadelphia areas. The priority for locating paid staff will be from the surrounding Philadelphia neighborhoods.

Our Values
- We Exceed Guests’, paid Employee and unpaid Volunteer Expectations
  - With distinctive educational and entertaining experiences for everyone
  - With genuinely friendly caring people who take pride in what they do
  - While having Fun
We Serve All
- By working as a team and empowering each other
- By being accountable to our guests, each other and the Philadelphia communities we serve
- By Leading with Love; being Patient, Kind, Humble, Respectful, Trusting, Unselfish, Forgiving, Truthful and Dedicated
We Create Emotional, Long Lasting and Repeated Connections
- By treating guests like a member of our family and our staff
- By providing shared-experiences that bring families and people closer together
- By Inspiring future generations to take up working trades, engineering, science and technology endeavors
We will Constantly
- be adapting to our guests’ changing expectations and surveying the local community
- be managing, educating and practicing safety, security and risks reduction best practices
- be frugal and good stewards of museum funds, acquisitions, donations, investments and people

The Museum Board Officers would include President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer, and additional board members. The President and Treasurer should not be the same person. In the future additional committee chairs and non-voting advisory boards could be created and staffed with volunteers. The President term would be for no more than 2 years and can be renewed for an additional consecutive 3 terms by election of the board and officers. The officers will be unpaid for performing duties related to managing the organization. Officers can be paid if performing duties that are normal hourly or salaried paid positions or if creating annual or semiannual reports for audits or certifications. Board members will be sought that can help and provide guidance in museum operations.

Why Join, Participate or Visit:

People will want to join, participate or visit The Philadelphia Railroad and Steam Works Museum because the museum will provide the neighborhood people of Philadelphia and its visitors a local place to build, work with, restore, learn, share and be entertained through railroad, transportation and steam technology by creating fun, memorable experiences and lifelong friendships.