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October 1, 2007
Feature Photo - NOSRA Logo
Street railway preservation gets a permanent and organized voice in New Orleans starting this month, in the form of the New Orleans Street Railway Association (NOSRA). The mission of NOSRA is similar to that of Market Street Railway in San Francisco, specifically to support NORTA as a nonprofit organization in developing/promoting streetcar education and preservation. The basic framework for the organization was worked out prior to the storm, but that event was a bit of a speed bump in the process. Things are now back on track for us on a personal level, so it's time to get this project going.
NOSRA is about working with NORTA, we can't make this any plainer. An analysis of other streetcar-related efforts shows that most of those efforts were really just ad-hoc, single-purpose groups. Once the particular purpose had passed, there wasn't anything to sustain the organization. Another problem is that some folks, while well-intentioned, don't realize that they have to do business with an existing governmental entity (NORTA) to make any streetcar effort work. This means building and nurturing relationships with TMSEL/NORTA, the ATU, as well as city and state government.
We're dead serious about this. On a personal level, I'm putting my money where my mouth is. I'm suspending my computer consulting and training practice and working as NOSRA's president/director full-time. Obviously I can't do this alone, so we've appointed a board of directors, and are in the process of forming an advisory committee. The "virtual" advisors have already signed in and started work, in our Forums on the website, www.nosra.org. Check out our formal mission statement, and our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document.
In keeping with our mission of supporting NORTA, we're keeping our goals realistic. First, get NOSRA functioning in an office on or near one of our streetcar lines. Second, begin the process of applying for grants to develop educational materials for K-12 social studies classes on streetcars, public transit, and the history of street railways. Third, begin fund raising to come up with the money that NORTA will need to restore streetcars 453 (the Brill semi-convertible), and 460 (Perly A. Thomas ex-NOPSI 919).
There's often talk about establishing a "streetcar museum" in the city. This is one of NOSRA's long-term goals, but we're keeping this project realistic and workable. It took Market Street Railway thirty years to get to the point where they were in a financial position to do both restoration work and open a museum facility. It's going to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to restore the existing streetcars, much less build a museum. We'll get there in the long run, but the best way to get any nonprofit moving is to set reasonable expectations and goals in the beginning. But don't worry, we like to dream, too.
Since we're a startup nonprofit, we're broke, of course. Any assistance you can offer is appreciated. Specifically, we're asking streetcar fans to donate $10 to NOSRA to get things started. We'll set up our membership structure and start soliciting individual and corporate memberships when our corporation papers get back from Baton Rouge and we set up our financial system.
It's going to be an exciting fall for streetcar fans in New Orleans. We encourage everyone with an interest in streetcar education and preservation to contact us and work with NOSRA to make the organization a success.
Posted by YatPundit at October 1, 2007 10:46 AM
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