New England Electric Railway Historical Society

What it reported doing in 2025

In 2025, as in past years, the new england electric railway historical society, operators of the seashore trolley museum and the national streetcar museum in lowell [Massachusetts] have continued to carry out its primary mission of collecting, restoring, preserving, interpreting and operating transit vehicles, including city streetcars, interurban cars and rapid transit cars, buses and trackless trolleys.both museum campuses were open in 2025; the lowell museum continues to be open year-round on weekends, and seashore trolley museum was open on tuesdays for group tours in the fall, and operated for the general public from wednesday-sunday from may through october, and the first two weeks of december for kennebunkport's christmas prelude celebration. Every electric streetcar or interurban car in the operating fleet is a retired transit vehicle, many of which are over 100 years old, and are subject to servicing and careful inspection before being released for public service on the1.7-mile-long demonstration railway. As the fleet of cars operated for the public comprises historical artifacts, the cost to maintain it is a significant part of the overall budget.auxiliary operations: auxiliary operations expenses include those expenses relating to museum store sales, and other sales.museum store sales include the sale of related merchandise to visitors and museum members. Other sales includes the sale of parts, equipment, and general scrap that the society has acquired in the past, and no longer needs, or has been replaced, and construction of specialty cars for private customers. Those customers who purchase surplus parts and equipment include public transit authorities, other railway-oriented museums, and private collectors. Scrap is usually sold to a manufacturer or to a junk operation.there are no auxiliary operations general expenses, other than the cost basis of the items sold reported in part viii and the costs associated with the commissioned work. Any such costs are included in the curatorial and exhibits expenses that relate to the purchase of parts and equipment for conservation of the collections.curatorial and exhibitsthe curatorial and exhibits functional expenses include all expenses that directly relate to accomplishing the society's mission. Such expenses include the acquisition and conservation of collections, the establishment and maintenance of exhibits and displays, the costs of operating historic transit vehicles for the public, the costs incurred for admissions and operating special events for the public, the maintenance of those facilities devoted to the conservation, display, and interpretation of the collections, the costs associated with educational programs for the public, and any other associated expenses.as noted, the main activity is the restoration and conservation of the museum's collection, primarily the collection of historic transit vehicles. This has always been a great strength of the organization, and the society had been a leader in this field. Such activity includes restoration, conservation, and running maintenance. Running maintenance is necessary because many of the vehicles in the collection are used to provide rides to the public. 4.a.2 protection of the museum's extensive vehicle collection is a key responsibility of the society. In recent years, efforts have focused on maintaining the now 60-year-old buildings housing much of the collection. Foundation work and engineering studies for additional work in car barns has been a focus. A key part of our mission is to "provide a repository for artifacts and information of an educational and historical nature relating to the origin and development of the transit industry and its contribution to modern society." we have a dedicated and very active group of volunteers in this area, who have organized much of the collection of library materials and associated artifacts, and moved some of it to safer storage. Volunteers have electronically scanne

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 50.1%; rating input score 50
• Program expense ratio: 75.7%; rating input score 76
• Fundraising efficiency: $31.44 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 21st percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: Limited
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: Limited
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: Fail
  • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Missing
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 44.7%; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 9.13; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 7.7%; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 8.3% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 8.8% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 11.3% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings