Luebke-Caldwell Memorial RailCamp Fund

Many members of our organization have been working in the railroad industry most of their lives. In most cases it has been a love affair with an industry that built our industrialized nation. Many of us were initially exposed to the industry by a relative who worked for the railroad, a local railroad museum or even by accident. Regardless how were we exposed, for many of us it has become a way of life and a passion.

The winds of change have affected the railroad industry for many years. The change from

steam to diesel locomotives, the famous passenger trains of yesteryear to Amtrak.

The dreams of a child to be an engineer to video games and a host of other things that

 catches the attention of today's youth.

The National Railroad Historical Society noticed that times were changing and it was

 getting harder and harder to interest younger people in the fascinating world of railroading. This initiated the formation of a wonderful program called RailCamp. For one week each summer members of the program get to experience real railroading, supervised by trained camp counselors. Training includes mechanical work, train operations, track repair and more.

RPCA has been a strong supporter of RailCamp from it's inception. We founded the

 Luebke-Caldwell RailCamp Fund (named after members Kevin Luebke & Jim Caldwell who both passed away in 2001). Each year the RPCA RailCamp committee selects candidates to attend one of the week long sessions and RPCA sponsors their full tuition. By becoming a sponsor we hope to invest in our future, but more importantly we hope to be that spark which ignites the passion of railroading for future generations.

2010 RailCamp will be held at the Steam Town National Historic Site

Note: To receive the full RPCA tuition sponsorship do not send application to the NRHS but to:

Don Maxwell

Box 1252

Ashland, KY

41105-1252

606-325-8035

railtwo@aol.com