I have had tens, maybe hundreds, of correspondences with highly qualified collectors who have argued that I should consider expanding my project in one direction or another.

The type of collectibles that has caused the greatest controversy is railroad currency. The most distracting has been railroad currency purposely worded like short term "notes." That particular type of railroad currency, like the examples on this page, promised repayment in six or twelve months with interest.

I accept that some of those problematic documents MAY have been intended to raise money outside of the normal channels of stock issuance and bond sales. But let's go back to the beginning.

I originally designed this project to catalog collectible stocks and bonds from North American railroads. Of necessity, certain types of documents did not fit clean definitions.

Even from the earliest days when I first recorded my listings on Lotus spreadsheets, I included peripheral documents that collectors confused with legitimate stock certificates and bonds.

With time, I allowed the project to expand to include additional documents that were VERY CLOSELY related to the sale of stock certificates, bonds and equipment trusts. In doing so, I listed certain types of financial documents that never appeared in any other collectibles catalogs.

At some point though, it became obvious that I had to create definite limits to the project.

Even today, there are remain instances when drawing the line around my project is challenging. Every time I try to limit the project in one direction, collectors try to convince me to expand my project elsewhere.

The most persistent demand for expansion has been railroad currency. Collectors have tried for years to convince me to include "a few types" of railroad currency that are worded like short-term bonds.

Never mind that demands for adding to the catalog would never stop THERE!

Paper money issued by railroads has proven the most frustrating of collectibles to limit. The decision to keep paper money out of my project was made doubly difficult by the fact that it remains one of my most favorite collectibles. As many of you know, the collecting of stocks and bonds really came to my attention through my paper money hobby.

In order to create a clear line between paper money and collectible securities, I use the "duck test". For my purposes,

I welcome arguments to the contrary. I do not mind argument. But please be aware that, for the purposes of this catalog, paper money, along with passes, invoices, annual reports, etc, is out.

Ultimately, my non-yielding argument against the inclusion of paper money boils down to one simple fact. I do not have the time.

I beg anyone interested in the fascinating field of railroad currency to take up the challenge.

Create a catalog for collectors. Richard Hoober laid out the backbone of the project in a series of 33 installments in Paper Money magazine. By my count, he described and listed about 845 pieces of railroad currency over the course of his seven-year project. In the years that have followed, many more unlisted items have been discovered and sold in coin and paper money auctions. If you want a challenging and fulfilling project that will occupy you for decades to come, please, please, please take up where Hoober left off.

Tell me when you're ready to start and I will be your first contributor. Just make sure you draw a definite line around your project!