Dear Keith
Afraid Jace has nothing to do with Jason: all my names come from my mother's
family, located in Unadilla Forks NY
in the century before last, particularly my maternal grandfather, Justin Clark
Penny, or JC. And the Clarks, my great
grandmother's people, founded Clark Brothers, who made much of the sawmill
machinery used in Pennsylvania and
New York State (and still make industrial machinery).
I mention this on-list only because other members could draw the same inference.

Jace Kahn

General Manager
Ceres & Canisteo RR Co./Champlain County Traction Co.




> Jason: Nice to hear from you again...'Tho those of us who read, and
> sometimes even write these pastoral epistles of bucolic shortlines, trolley
> routes, and long-gone branches are but humble toilers in the railfan
> vinyard, at least some of us some of the time have tried to put pen to paper
> (now computer)...The result may have run-on sentences, and not be checked
> through the University of Chicago or AP Style Manual, but we unlettered hick
> wordsplitters trudge on, knowing that at least we did SOMETHING to advance
> the hobby...
>
> Seriously, I rejoice in the Pietraks, the Taibis, the Gordons and Palmers,
> who have ground out these humble epistles...It was a tough job, but SOMEBODY
> had to do it...Happy reading, everyone, and to all, a good night (except,
> perhaps Mr. Boylan)...Keith M., Syracuse, NY...
> Keith F. Maloney

> Dear Peter
> The issue you raise has been a persistent one for many years. Especially
> for more obscure and
> local railroad history we are dependent on those who have the motivation and
> patience
> to gather materials and write them up for publication. Often no one else
> has ever approached the
> task, including those of greater scholarly and literary skills. And,
> paradoxically, a less-than-perfect
> product kills the market for a later better-quality treatment, as many of
> these topics have a limited
> potential market. I think, for example, of the many William Reed Gordon
> publications on New York
> State traction and shortlines; almost all of them needed good editing, but
> on the whole we are better
> off having these rambling and random texts with poorly-reproduced images
> than nothing at all (which
> is the likely alternative). And Gordon published his monographs when
> information was still to be had
> from those who knew those long-gone operations. No one could now collect
> much of what he found.
> And I kept thinking as I read Fred Pugh's Unadilla Valley book (a topic
> close to my heart), how only a
> very little editing would have resulted in a vast improvement in quality.
> But who else had ever done a good
> study of the UV since the Fortune article or the brief treatment in Mixed
> Train Daily? Who has done
> anything extensive since?
>
> But ultimately there is the unavoidable matter that those who produce such
> labors of love rarely seek or
> welcome editing by others. Human ego resists submitting one's work for
> correction--especially if one is not a writer by
> occupation, producing for payment (and expecting those who pay to exercise
> critical faculties). Doubtless quite a
> bit of railroad history is produced by those who love trains or local
> history more than expository prose. The act of
> writing and self-editing is secondary to recording and preserving something
> of great interest to the writer. And
> occasionally there are some gems among the detritus, worth the refining.
> And the railfan reading public still sees
> (although happily not with quite the frequency of years ago) those in
> publishing who are convinced that good prose
> skills are all that is necessary to produce a railroad history book. What I
> might term the journalistic fallacy.
>
>
> Jace Kahn
>
> General Manager
> Ceres & Canisteo RR Co./Champlain County Traction Co.
>
>
>
>
> > As part of membership in the NYO&W Historical Society
> > we periodically get copies of the O&W OBSERVER.
> > Yesterday, I got the current issue, which is a 250
> > page magnum opus entitled, as above.
> > The information provided about the line in question,
> > which was mostly a NYC branch, isn't going to be
> > found elsewhere. Having said that, this is written
> > in the vein of amateurish local history which was
> > being knocked out by local historical groups on a
> > regular basis until very recently.
> >
> > It is a book desperately in need of an editor. The
> > authors stuffed everything they could find along the
> > way into it, including lots of beside the point, personal
> > family material.
> > Producing quality railroad history, doesn't
> > mean eliminating the reminiscences of those involved
> > in making it, but it does require understanding
> > what is germane to the end game of producing it .
> > Concommitantly, that demands editorial control
> > by someone whom is not related, or otherwise beholden
> > to the authors on a personal basis.
> >
> > In the case of professional historians, their
> > knowledge of the standards expected in works to be
> > published, lessens that need - since all involved
> > are part of the system of researching and documenting
> > the materials in the text.
> >
> > I don't believe any historical society worth the
> > name should be producing giant, undocumented
> > (i.e. sans footnotes, bibliography, indices)
> > rambles and ruminations by a couple of
> > members, and calling it a historical journal.
> > No matter how many pictures, and handy lineside
> > diagrams are included, at least a third of the text
> > is beside the point of giving us a history of
> > this line. Why this line, would deserve such
> > a major effort by our society is another very
> > worthy question that is also worth consideration?
> >
> > Regardless, if you accept the need to examine
> > this line - the end product certainly isn't
> > acceptable.
> > Editors are desperately needed at the NYO&W
> > Historical Society.
> > Good-Luck, Peter Boylan
>
>
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