Donate to the NKPHTS

The Nickel Plate Road Historical & Technical Society

How You Can Help the NKPHTS

YOUR FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE NKPHTS HELP SUPPORT THE SOCIETY'S MISSION TO PRESERVE THE HISTORY AND LEGACY OF THE NICKEL PLATE ROAD, ITS PREDECESSORS AND AFFILIATES THROUGH ONGOING EDUCATIONAL AND PRESERVATION PROGRAMS.

The Nickel Plate Road Historical & Technical Society, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) not for profit corporation. Donations are tax deductible to the maximum extent of current US Tax Law and IRS Regulations. The Society gratefully accepts financial donations of any amount, but those that exceed $250.00 are acknowledged in writing for tax verification purposes.

Donations are accepted and applied to a wide range of programs and projects that benefit the NKPHTS, its members, and its Nickel Plate Road Historical Collections at Cleveland State University.

THE NKPHTS FOUNDER'S FUND

Distributions from this fund are under the direct discretionary control of the NKPHTS Board of Directors, and are used for the enhancement of member services, special programs and projects that are directly related to the society's educational and preservation mission. The Annual Founder's Fund Gift Campaign is run in the spring of the year, but donations to the Founder's Fund are accepted at any time and in any amount.

THE NKPHTS DEVELOPMENT FUND

The society's Development Fund is actually five separate funds in one; each designed to provide financial support for specific NKPHTS programs:

McCaleb-Rehor Prototype Preservation Fund - Your tax deductible gift to this fund will go towards the creation of grants to preserve Nickel Plate Road Prototype equipment & buildings.
Historic Preservation Fund - Your tax deductible gift to this fund will be used for the acquisition and maintenance of historic material, documents and photographs relating to the Nickel Plate Road.
Historic Research Fund - Your tax deductible gift to this fund will be used for assist in offsetting the costs related to historic research on the Nickel Plate Road.
Modeling Projects Fund - Your tax deductible gift to this fund will go towards the development and implementation of the Society's modeling program.
NKPHTS Publications Fund - Your tax deductible gift to this fund goes directly towards publishing costs and technical improvements relating to the NKPHTS Magazine and Newsletter.

Please consider a financial gift to the Society. Your check or money order should be made payable to the NKPHTS and sent to the society's National Headquarters at:

THE NICKEL PLATE ROAD HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS™

Contributions of historical material relating to the Nickel Plate Road, its predecessors and constituent railroads (the Toledo, St. Louis & Western, Lake Erie & Western, and Wheeling & Lake Erie) are accepted for deposit at the society's Historical Collections housed at Cleveland State University. The Nickel Plate Road Historical Collections is the largest archive of its kind dedicated to the Nickel Plate Road and includes thousands of items, including The Howard W. Ameling Photograph Collection and material related to the Nickel Plate from The Gustave W. Erhardt Collection.

Historical material that qualifies for inclusion would be photographs, color slides, postcards, track plans, painting & lettering diagrams, public & employee timetables, books, pamphlets, promotional material, historical documents and other ephemera of historic significance to the Nickel Plate, its employees and its operations.

The NKPHTS accepts single items and complete collections for long-term preservation on a nonrestricted basis, as long as the material relates to the mission of the society and the objectives of its Historical Collections. All contributions of historical material are fully tax-deductible and those with a fair market value of more than $250.00 will be accepted under the provisions of a written Transfer Deed.

For further information on how your Nickel Plate Road material may be donated, please contact the society by mail at:

NKPHTS DIGITAL IMAGING PROGRAM

Established and implemented only a few years ago, this innovative and exciting program has allowed for the digitization of more than 10,000 images relating to the Nickel Plate. The purpose of the program is to preserve delicate and inaccessible material in digital form for long-term accessibility for research purposes and use on the society's website: www.NKPHTS.org.

All types of Nickel Plate Road material may qualify for this program, including photos, slides, maps, plans, diagrams and historical ephemera such as timetables.

Both NKPHTS members and non-members are invited to submit their material for digitization. Scheduling arrangements must be made in advance to ensure secure handling and timely return of material.

The society has also recently established an outreach program that includes access to material housed at independent libraries and museums, as well as a project in cooperation with the National Archive.

A library of CDs containing the society's digitized images has been established as a part of the Nickel Plate Road Historical Collections at Cleveland State University, and is open to all NKPHTS members, as well as qualified researchers, authors and historians.

NKPHTS DIGITAL IMAGING PROGRAM OBJECTIVE:

To preserve, in digital format, information, data, photos, and other important images relating to the Nickel Plate Road and its constituent and affiliated railroads.

SUBMISSION POLICY:

Submissions to the Digital Imaging Program may be created by NKPHTS members, or other independent parties interested in the preservation of historical material and the objectives of the Program.

Scans of original material in the form of documents, drawings, plans, maps, publications, photos, postcards, and other ephemera related to the objectives of the program that meet the program's Submission Specifications may be submitted to the Project Coordinator with prior notice.

The cost of shipping and appropriate insurance coverage shall be the responsibility of the individual making the submission.

Original material digitized by members or other independent parties may be accepted for inclusion to the Digital Imaging Program Archive if such submissions meet the program criteria. Such submissions will be reviewed and approved by the Project Coordinator(s) prior to inclusion to ensure that all policy and submission standards are met. The Development Director, in association with the Publications Director, shall be the final arbiter(s) of the qualification standards of any questionable submission for inclusion in the Program.

All submissions will be accepted on a non-restricted basis only.

SUBMISSION SPECIFICATIONS:

The following specifications are recommended to be followed for all submissions to the NKPHTS Digital Imaging Program, and must be followed by all third-party participants wishing to submit media containing scanned images for inclusion in the Digital Imaging Program Library.

All black & white images should be scanned in grayscale; color images should be scanned in CMYK color format.
Photos: 1200 dpi up to 4x6 size; 800 dpi for 5x7 and 8x10.
Negatives: same resolution as photos, but images must be submitted in positive format via reverse scanning process.
Slides: minimum 3600 dpi.
Postcards: minimum 600 dpi utilizing de-screening software during the scanning process.
Printed images: manuscripts, documents and other printed material should be scanned at a minimum of 400 dpi (screened or half-tone images must be scanned with de-screening software).
No modification or re-touching of images is required.
All scans of photos and other similar images should be saved as .tif files without compression.
Scans of documents, manuscripts, etc., may be saved as .pdf files if the original image is of high enough quality for good reproduction; otherwise .tif format should be used.
All images should burned to either a CD or DVD using open architecture software.
Each image should be labeled or coded for easy identification.
All digital media submitted to the Digital Imaging Program should have a corresponding inventory of images. Image labeling or coding should correspond with the image identification on the digital media.
Identification of the source of the images is required.
Images from copyrighted books and other publications must include titles, authors, publishers, etc.
The photographer's name must be submitted for all scanned photographic material, and copyright assignments and/or waivers should be included if at all possible. In the absence of an assignment or waiver of copyright, a citation must accompany the images, such as: Collection of John Smith, Photos Courtesy of John Smith Collection, etc.

For a PDF file of these specifications, please click here.

CONTACTING THE PROJECT COORDINATOR

For further information or to provide notification of a proposed submission, please contact the Project Coordinator through the NKPHTS PO Box or by email at:

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Other Ways To Help the NKPHTS

In addition to contributions there are other ways to help the NKPHTS to preserve the memory of the Nickel Plate Road.

First, encourage other Nickel Plate Road fans to join the NKPHTS. The more members we have the more the society can do to further preserve the Nickel Plate's rich heritage.
Second, contribute articles for publication in our Magazine or other publication projects. We are not looking for skilled writers, only those eager to help. We have members who are capable of finishing rough copy. We would like to have first hand experiences as well.
Third, volunteer yourself, your organization, and/or your city for one of our upcoming conventions.

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