David Huelsing, the president of the St. Louis Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society, however, says the rhetoric Tuesday masks an often rocky partnership.

“The relationship between those two groups is tense and has not proved to be good for the museum,” Huelsing said. “Differences of opinion between the groups have led to project delays, publicity problems and funding problems for the museum.”

Competing interests in recent years have prompted staff and budget cuts, Huelsing said, crediting “dedicated (museum) curators” for “a remarkable job with the resources they have available to them.”

Bess and Ross both assuaged apprehension that the association might at some point sell up to 70 acres of the museum property to offset the loss of county revenue.

“We are not selling anything at all,” Ross emphasized.

Bess said the agreement ensures “the land in the deed will be restricted to park use.”

The agreement also stipulates that the property will go back to the county should the association find itself unable to independently support the museum site.

“If TMA fails, the land will return to the county, although we really don’t think they will,” Bess said.