jaabat wrote:Things I don't like:Grumpy old guys running the trains slow.Donation cans! Please give me one good reason why I should support your hobby interests, display guy!!! Support yourself!Jim
Things I don't like:Grumpy old guys running the trains slow.Donation cans! Please give me one good reason why I should support your hobby interests, display guy!!! Support yourself!
Jim
I love Standard Gauge tinplate and animations too!
Mitch
Bob Mitchell Gettysburg, PA TCA # 98-47956 LCCA# RM22839
Celebrating 18 years on the CTT Forum.
Buckeye Riveter......... OTTS Charter Member, a Roseyville Raider and a member of the CTT Forum since 2004..
Jelloway Creek, OH - ELV 1,100 - Home of the Baltimore, Ohio & Wabash RR
TCA 09-64284
Things I like:Scantilly clad pretty ladies running the trains fast.Helix's
Modeling the Baltimore waterfront in HO scale
A very interesting topic, especially since I'm a member of a modular club doing about 5 showings a year. It's also interesting to see the responses on this forum compared to the ones you are getting on the OGR forum. It's a bit frustrating for me to see little/no distinction in responses between weekend modular set-ups (where members have to haul sections in their cars, SUVs, etc. to a show), permanent displays (like the "Choo-Choo Barn" in Strasburg, PA), or longer-running "Holiday Shows".
Also, little noted are the sad "legal aspects", especially for groups like ours...kid puts hand on tracks, train de-rails and falls on kid's foot. Plexiglass barrier?...kid hangs on plexiglass (which they do), plexiglass shatters, injuring kid. It's hard for 6 or 7 club memers to keep a constant eye on a 100'x45' layout. We use poles and ropes, to at least give parents a "warning". Plus, many viewers take photos, and plexiglass reflects. Joe
Many great ideas. One inspiring layout is the one at the Chattanooga Choo Choo in Tennessee. They have the risers for the kids and for adults to see the back of the layout.
I definately like little items that make one take note. Something original and amusing.
One thing I don't like is the neglected layout with dust everywhere. From what I have seen, Dust does not make good weathering.
Another really wonderful layout is the New York Society of Model Engineers layout in Carlstadt, NJ. Detailed with plenty to keep you looking.
Dennis
TCA#09-63805
I love to see the things I can't do (or afford) on my small 4'x8' layout...Hells Gate Bridge, the rarest accessories, big yards, and lots of train action-start/stop-load/unload.
cruikshank - you didn't mention what scale your READING club is doing. Your P.S. at the bottom your interest is N. Makes a difference. Although animation is a must on O-gauge pikes, it's a little harder to do in HO & N. Our mates here have covered a lot of good points. THOR made an outstanding recommendation on having a throttle available to the public (perhaps wireless or tethered). I can't imagine a better hook than to let someone run equipment on a dedicated "community" line, and that covers any scale.
When we built our travel layout we wanted the kids to be able to see it. We built it three feet off the ground and use mostly cheaper autos and accessories around the outer edges.If a kid picks up an auto or moves it we let them.In three years of display there has been only one time we had to tell a kid not to touch.We run with a hand held control and invite the kids to blow the horn or whistle.They usually push the button you show them and nothing else.thier smiles tell the rest.We run low end loco's so if one gets broken,so what.This is not to say we're reckless.We watch and see the kids that are captivated and invite them to do something.If we see a bunch of kids that are bored or a little rammy we let them go by.Mostly we have lines of kids to blow the horn.We've even had a few run the trains.Yes we've had to replace a couple of trees but you can't replace the smiles.
Ed
While I do not have anything to add, WHAT A GREAT TOPIC!!!
Jim H
In addition to what is already said, the layout should be low enough or a walkway riser in place to allow people under 4' to be able to see. Lower is better than risers. Buttons or accesories folks (read kids) can operate, simple stuff but they love it. Sounds are great but not so loud so as to inhibit conversation.
People who love trains and enjoy sharing the hobby especially with kids operating the layout.
I have a portable layout I've set up for several years as part of a public train display fundraiser and these are my observations.
Doug Murphy 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...' Henry V.
cruikshank,I've been to a lot, and I mean a lot, of different displays. I go not only to watch the trains, but to examine the construction, and watch the kids. Watching the kids is where you find out if your display has 'IT' or not. Here are some details I have found:
1. Kids have a 2.5 second attention span in which time you have to grab their attention or they are off.2. Kids love, no... LOVE to control something. Put push buttons around the layout to opperate animations that are in THEIR siteline. If you put a push button to opperate the lumberjacks up on the hill and the hill is 60 inches from their eyes, they won't be able to see them (saw this at a display a month or so ago and couldn't figure out why they did it).3. Kids love when trains disappear then reappear where THEY don't expect them. I saw this trick a few years ago... the display had 4 trains, two sets that looked identical. They had them timed so that one would disappear into a tunnel and few seconds later another reappeared in the distance coming out of the other side, across a long tressel bridge, and into another tunnel. Then a few seconds later came out the bottom of the mountain (this was the first train) coming back at them, followed a flowing river for a bit, then ducked back into another tunnel. Then up on the other level the second train reappeared coming across another tressel bridge closer to the viewer. I saw kids standing there in awe, mouths agape, for minutes, and the comments were incredible - would have made any railroader tear up! And we adults were just as in awe as well.4. Flowing water! This is the #1 attraction of any railroad. Real flowing water. At one display they had a 2 foot waterfall that then flowed into a river. That was all they had, which was rather boring, but if you were to incorporate that with the display at Oglebay, WV where they have a Riverboat floating on the river (actually a train runs underthe layout with a magnet that holds the Riverboat and 'pulls' it along), now THAT would be cool!5. Kids love to 'find' things on the layout... 'MOM! Look at that dog in the yard! He keeps popping out of his doghouse!', 'DAD!!! Did you see that? That guy was pushing boxes on that building!'.6. Kids love BIG things. Tall trestles, large factories (of course you have to have people inside doing things like welding, cutting metal, grinding, etc), etc.7. Draw bridges are always crowd pleasers too.and more than anything - you have to have opperators that ENJOY talking to kids and adults, willing to answer questions about construction, scenery, what the layout depicts (if doing a historical layout you better know the history of the area being depicted), operation, etc.
Hope this helps... btw - when I build my big layout I hope to incorporate all of the above!Oh, and to tag on Thor - having items for-sale is a HUGE plus for a public display. If they would have had some stuff for-sale at the few my wife and I made it to over the holidays I probably would have ended up with some more stuff, especially animated accessories. These are big sellers, as are starter sets... I saw a few people walk out of some displays with starter sets... and the kids' faces where just beeming! This one little boy... 'Dad, when we get home can we setup the train? Please?' Dad: 'It is getting late, so you have to ask your mother.' Mom, 'You are going to put that on me? (she really looked distraut!) Yes, Billy your father (sarcastic) can set it up and the two of you can run the trains for a little bit, but then it is off to bed.' I don't know who was smiling more the father or the son!
I am fairly sure my response will be atypical but here goes!
A good example of what I like are the Lionel displays this Christmas particularly the one at Grand Central which I spent two hours watching.
I do like 'good' scenery but it doesnt have to be 'realistic' in other words I'd probably have as much interest in a model of Hogwarts as a super detailed coal mine. When folk do small towns I like them to have action and humor not just be static perfect models as if Time was frozen, they have to look alive. I particularly like wry humor like Terence Cuneo's mouse (a British train artist who always hid a mouse somewhere) or ecentric characters.
What I will not spend much time looking at and resent paying to see, is vast railyards full of stock moving at a crawl, what I want to see is as many motorized acessories as possible rattling away working and express trains really hauling fast passenger trains at high speed. I'd love to see the Acela doing its thing for example.
A show layout should, in my opinion, be planned like a theatrical production. It should always have something going on, it should have reliable automated sections and use sequenced lighting and operation to shift the focus from one area to another to give a random effect so that the overall impression is one of a hive of activity.
It MUST have decent sound effects and enough detail to reward the careful observer, being stuck in a slow moving line opposite acres of trains doing nothing is really boring however much dedication it may have taken to build.
Last but not least I'd like to see someone be brave enough to build a foolproof section that would allow you the watcher to DO something, operate something and what would be really nice would be a short section somewhere and a friendly knowledgeable operator willing to pull a loco off roster to demonstrate it to someone like myself who might buy it if they could only see it actually going through its paces.
A local hobby shop willing to lend out some locos or sets on a sale or return basis could be a very useful ally. Manys the time I'd have got something had it been there to be bought, like the Lionel track gang I saw at Grand Central. Once I left the display the snap decision brought on by the charm of the display wasnt working in my favour but whilst we were there my dear wife seeing my face light up bought anything Lionel they had for sale. Well, not quite but she did get me some stuff I'd have otherwise not got.
I hope this helps however hopelessly unrealistic it may seem!
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