Any one remember when layout operators issued RR passes to visitors like prototype RR gave to other officials to ride trains?
Yes. Up until the 1960s, it was a hobby unto itself. The hobby press had pass exchange columns where modelers would list their railroad, name and address, with the expectation of sending you a pass, when they received one from you. Another aspect of this hobby lost.
A few still do issue passes when you visit, but it is so rare that few if any could regard themselves as "pass collectors" as we used to know them - it was a point of pride that you had X number of passes, showing that you really got around.
It is worth pointing out that the era of model railroad passes and pass exchanges was also the era of passes on prototype passenger trains. The officers of short lines and larger railroads had fewer reasons to themselves exchange passes. Both prototype and model passes petered out about the same time: the introduction of Amtrak.
I also suspect that as more modelers do not invent a railroad but model a specific prototype, that the pass idea became more outdated. No longer was it "my railroad and I'm the president." Now it's more like "this is the C&O Railroad and I'm just a yardmaster on this lonely subdivision that nobody's ever heard of."
Some of those passes were also opportunities for humor on the back, where there would be funny "conditions" placed on the pass in the manner of real railroad passes, or funny lists of rules.
"Not good on First Class, Second Class, Third Class, or any other Class trains" is one I remember. Another list I recall started with "Valid until revoked." The following condition was "Hereby revoked."
At least a few layouts I've visited in recent decades do have timetables for operating crews and visitors and perhaps to some extent getting an "employee timetable" is the equivalent of what getting a pass used to mean.
It used to be that if you want shopping for trains at the old Walthers "Terminal Hobby Shop" back when it was in downtown Milwaukee that you'd get a pass, supposedly from William K Walthers himself. I can no longer find mine which is too bad.
Dave Nelson
I know one (older) guy here who gave out passes for his railroad, but yeah, it's not really a common thing.
"Back in the day" it seemed more common for everyone to make up a unique name for their railroad, and while many still do, a lot of the more prototype modelers don't. It's not the "Sudbury and Northern Lakes Railway", it's (based on) the real-world Canadian Pacific...
Chris van der Heide
My Algoma Central Railway Modeling Blog
I remember the pass exchange requests in the first MRs I bought in the early seventies. Of course, it included the person's name and address. In the early decades of MR, it wasn't unusual for a Letter to the Editor to include the person's name and full address, and even photo captions and articles about someone's layout would sometimes have the address. "Bob Johnson of 1121 Main St., Podunk, New York, sent us this photo of his stable of brass steam locomotives."
I startied working for Chessie System after Amtrak was formed so my Amtrak pass was only good for a discount off the highest fare, not a free ride. Whenever I tried to use it the ticket agent always said that there was a cheaper regular fare available.
Mark Vinski
Here's my pass from the old 7½" gauge layout we had:
Pass by Edmund, on Flickr
I hand-inked the "Backyard" emblem using the iconic Bessemer logo as a guide.
Cheers, Ed
I have a moderate size pass collection from the mid 70's. I was only a teen and printed my passes in print shop at school.
Sheldon
Living the dream.