Eric Hansmann wrote:

A wider Google search brought news of layoffs there. This story from two weeks ago:
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/124643711041580.xml&coll=2

The scary part of the Plain Dealer story is the line, ". . . the society is also culling parts of its vast collection . . ." and we have to hope that the railroad parts are not considered expendable.
Additional point: many railroad historical societies, in donating materials to some archive, have been careful to arrange a "right of first refusal" in case said archive decides to de-access all or part of the material they donated. Absent this, the archive is free to do what it likes with the material, once donated. Hopefully the NYCHS is among those who took this prudent step.

Tony Thompson Editor, Signature Press, Berkeley, CA
2906 Forest Ave., Berkeley, CA 94705 www.signaturepress.com
(510) 540-6538; fax, (510) 540-1937; e-mail, thompson@...
Publishers of books on railroad history