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OPEN HOUSES
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When I had my old layout up and running I participated in lots of layout tours and open houses. I had a few buslaods of conventioneers from the San Jose NMRA National show a few years back when I was on the layout tour for the convention. It is a lot of fun to have people come by and look at stuff. You can meet some interesting people and be an ambassador for the hobby. Most are shocked at how cool it is...Many people still have the idea of trains as a loop around the tree and are quite surprised to see a MODEL railroad and how intricate it is...goes a long way to dispell the "playing with trains" derisive attitude that some have towards the hobby...(personally I love playing with trains, but prefer to call it "Model railroading"). <br /> <br />Quick suggestions: <br /> <br />1. Clean up the train room. Put away anything lying about that could be stepped on, sat upon or broken by inquisitive hands. <br /> <br />2. Get someone else to help run the trains. Nothing like rear ending that string of scratch built hoppers because you were talking to a guest. <br /> <br />3. Feed em'. Snacks and drinks go a long way towards spreading good will (ever notice how train guys like to eat??) <br /> <br />4. Cue up a few trains in advance. Get your best running stuff and fine tune it so there a no derailments. Put all the cool stuff that doesn't run on sidings up front to look at. <br /> <br />5. If possible, let kids drive trains...... <br /> <br />6. Not to be negative, but I enforce the "don't touch rule". I have had adults break fine scale models, ironically kids obey the rule. The main problem without the rule is that the visitor doesn't know which items are OK to touch and which will break if handled. It is easier to have the blanket rule....You can always say "go ahead and pick it up" when appropriate... <br /> <br />7. Have fun..... <br /> <br />On my new layout there hasn't been much to show until I just recently got a loop going. It will be a while before I get back to the train tour mode....I miss the contact a bit. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />
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