Sharing Knowledge

The founding idea of the Railroad, Agricultural and Industrial Learning Society, a 501c3 organization, is to share the knowledge of how to design, build, operate and maintain the industries it represents.

Railroads were one main forms of mass transportation in the late 1800’s and continued on into the 1950’s until advancements in other transportation means became more reliable, affordable and widely used. Much of the world developed by the rapid growth of railroads and the earliest versions of railroads were powered by steam. These steam powered railroads have been lost to progress, but some of these examples still remain to this day. It is these examples that have become the unsung hero’s of much of the developed world.

Agriculture can be painted with a broad brush, but within that brush contain the strands that make it a brush. The development of agriculture begin with the very simplistic task of picking fruits and vegetables. Over time agriculture has developed from these simple tasks to full computer automation. Where the world of agriculture changed was when mechanical machines made work easier faster and more efficient. Everything from the simple sickle bar to steam powered traction engines to the earliest gas power traction engines later to be referred as gas tractor.

Industrial development and industry of its own paved the path to advancement in other industries. Having an idea starts as just that, but to make that a reality it takes invention, trial and error and hopefully success. This could be as simple a saw, a file, or complex like a band saw, a milling machine. Many industries relied on the technology of the industrial sector to create their own industry specific ideas. It is here where many industries were were born from. It here were we see to greatest advancements happen.

As the world makes these advancements in technologies its these older technologies from these industries that get lost to times of the past and with that comes the loss in knowledge to design, build, operate and maintain them. It is goal of this organization too preserve that knowledge, share that knowledge and continue educating using that knowledge so that it may continue in perpetuity. This goal can be accomplished through many avenues. This includes artifact preservation and restoration, it can also include examples, through replicas and models and lastly through documentation, literature, manuscripts, books, drawings, video, audio, etc. All of these industries had there place of business and it is desire of the Railroad , Agricultural and Industrial Learning Society to house its collection and provide the environment to promote these goals.