Volunteer

Volunteering at the Museum

Smiling Conductor and Car HostJust about anyone you meet working here is a volunteer. While there are a handful of paid staff members, everyone else are here for the enjoyment. Even the simplest event requires a dedicated group of volunteers. And not just events, there’s plenty of opportunities going on behind the scenes for volunteers.

Wide Ranging Backgrounds

We have volunteers that are current or retired educators, entrepreneurs, accountants, homemakers, IT professionals, graphic designers, and more. Our volunteers’ range in age from high school students to retirees. We even have volunteers that actually work for Class 1 railroads. Each volunteer brings a unique perspective to the organization. All volunteers are united in the desire to continue the preservation of the sights, sounds, and artifacts of railroading.

Opportunities

Smiling Engineer and BrakemanNo matter what your interest or skills, the Museum offers opportunities for involvement. Our volunteers bring Alabama’s railroading history to life, helping visitors understand the social, technical, and economic contributions of railroading in Alabama – while building lifelong friendships and, don’t overlook this, we get to have fun!

Your Skills and Our Needs

The list below is a general outline of positions for volunteers in the museum. This list changes often, and sometimes, a volunteer has a skill we didn’t even know we needed.

  • Administrative: Designing and maintaining chapter records, filing necessary state and Federal documents
  • Business practices – general: Developing policies and procedures, writing letters, helping with the general office work
  • Landscaping: Helping us to keep our grounds attractive, generate ideas for new development opportunities
  • Library: Help us make our library more customer-friendly, cataloging existing documents and media
  • Marketing: Help us tell the world about us
  • Mechanical: Work on restoring our rolling stock and static displays as well as needs in our buildings
  • Meeting people: Leading special groups, being a train conductor or brakeman, lead educational sessions for school visitors
  • Project management: Lead new development projects of all kinds and sizes
  • Record keeping: Help us maintain volunteer, inventory, equipment, attendance, financial records and many more
  • Restoration – vehicles, structures, documents,: Help our on-going restoration work on nearly everything.
  • Retail experience: Help us with ticket sales, souvenir sales, and inventory control while maintaining the best customer service possible
  • Strategic planning: Help us develop and refine our plans for the future
  • Teaching or sharing historical events: Teaching visiting school groups or special interest groups
  • Wood working: There are opportunities for decorative signs as well as working on restoring railroad cars – interior and exterior – and periodic maintenance on our buildings
  • Working outside: Help maintain our grounds, track, and track beds
  • Writing or journalism: Help us expand our newsletter to members – maybe even add one to local middle and elementary school teachers.

Join Today!

The first step towards volunteering is becoming a museum member!

Click here to visit our volunteer website and join us!

We accept all major credit cards or mail a check to:

The Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum
Post Office Box 727
Calera, AL 35040