Our HO model railroad club has been asked to set up a public display in an empty downtown storefront window for the Christmas season. Something for the community to enjoy.
No kids touching, just looking through the window.
has anyone done anything like this before?
I am thinking along the following ideas. A simple plywood deck on sawhorses with black cloth to hide what is under the table.
Size 4' x 16' (two 4' x 8' sheets of plywood) two independent loops no turnouts, no grades etc, no derailments (hopefully) Maybe hidden track behind a backdrop so they go out of sight to the public.
DC operation operating on a timer.
Basic winter / Christmas scenery. Snow, ice skaters, Christmas tree in town square kind of looks. Plenty of lit buildings etc.
I appreciate any comments, ideas, suggestions or concerns.
Haven't decided on track type.
This is all short notice to us as they would like something in place by Dec 7th. (local Christmas parade)
Thanks. Martin.
Martin,
Sounds like a great opportunity.
Seems you are also on the right track with your thinking. Around 10 years ago a bedding store on the square in Marietta, GA had a layout set up in their window for Christmas. It had two separate loops in a figure 8 shape with a double track bridge over a ravine or river. It featured a recreated town square covered lightly in snow. The trains would meet each other in random spots and both would disappear into tunnels and quickly pop out. The trains were on a timer and ran well into the evening after the store was closed. The building is still standing, so no major incidents from unmanned running.
It was a very well done layout. The business is no longer, and the last time I saw the layout was at the Hobbytown in Kennesaw.
jay
basementdwellerthey would like something in place by Dec 7th
Yeah. Good luck with that. Did they give you a budget? How many members will be available to do what you propose?
Our Club was contacted two weeks ago by a bank with a similar request. I asked them if they were setting up an existing display, or starting from scratch. The response was that they had an existing display (what that was was not specified) but the bank president wanted something bigger and better (again not specified). Our club president has been playing phone tag with the individual who called for over a week now and getting no where because he said he could only meet with her on a weekend.
In addition, this is open house season around here and we have enough trouble marshalling our resources to get our own house in order, so I don't know what we could do to get any sort of plan together.
Before you commit to anything you'd better find out what kind of help you're going to get to pull something together. If your club is typical there is always a lot of enthusiasm when things of this nature are proposed, but then everyone disappears when it comes time to wield the spike hammer.
You could use a light sensor for all the building lights, if it gets dark enough in the building (I would think so if it is empty. I have one for my Christmas lights, usually they have several outlets, and you can program how long you want it to be on after dark. They also have light sensor boxes for garden lights at Lowe's, we had one for our patio lights (not sure about the wiring of the boxes, we had the person doing the landscaping install it with the lights).
I have to agree with maxman here. Our club does a "Christmas" show for the local science center every year. We do use the club's sectional layout, but to get all the problems straightened out, it takes us 6 months to get ready.
But that's not the biggest problem. The biggest problem is getting members to cover staffing the layout during the weekends. The layout is working for the week, covered by some of the science center's employees, and one of our members works there as well.Even though if only half the members cover only one shift (8 hours) on only 2 weekends during the run time of 2 months, the time will be covered. Unfortunately its a fight every year to get the time covered.
Maxman is correct. Find out who can do what and how often they can get there. Trying to build a display layout in less than a month, is hard enough. Trying to do it when you don't know who can be there, can be impossible.
Carey
Keep it between the Rails
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basementdwellerhas anyone done anything like this before?
I am thinking along the following ideas. A simple plywood deck on sawhorses with black cloth to hide what is under the table. ... Size 4' x 16' (two 4' x 8' sheets of plywood) two independent loops no turnouts, no grades etc, no derailments (hopefully) Maybe hidden track behind a backdrop so they go out of sight to the public.
Public likes lots of trains. If you are going independent loops I would do 3. Make them so they don't just go in concentric circles but maybe have the inside one be a dog-bone or figure 8.
Public loves tunnels - never figured this one out but it is true.
Backdrops are everything. They hide what is behind and prevent the whole thing from looking like trains on a board. On our modules one person forgot the backdrops and it gave the layout all the charm of a toothless grin. I ran to the store and got a cardboard painted sky blue which helped.
If you are thinking this can be set up to run on autopilot unattended, I think that is unlikely. We usually had to check things at least 4 times a day. Most of the time we kept a person on site in shifts. But to that end focus on the locos and rolling stock to make certain their wheels and couplers are flawless.
Have multiple equipment sets so that a given train doesn't have to run for 20 days straight, and if people are coming by every day they won't necessarily see the same trains. Even then have a backups for when a loco or car fails.
Make certain the equipment selected is heavy duty enough to handle continuous operation (I assume from 10 am. to 9 or 10 p.m).
Have you considered contacting a local fre-mo or other modular club in the area that could just come in and set up their stuff instead of trying to put this all together in a month?
In 2000, the Brazos Valley Modular RR club set up their existing HO and N scale modular railroads in a vacant building in downtown Bryan, TX for two weeks before Christmas. We shared the building with a gentleman who had an extensive collection of "holiday ceramic snow villages" (can you tell I wasn't impressed). The clubs and the ceramic guy clashed on numerous occasions. We had great crowds and most people came to see trains run. He won the war, though, because we were not asked back. However, we got the last laugh, because the next year, his display didn't have many viewers; and the people who did go asked "where are the trains?"
The building was sold and repurposed, and nothing has been done since.
As a kid, one of the businesses on Main St had a large Lionel layout in their front window. Plasticville buildings, cotton batten, some vehicles and figures. Each building had a Christmas tree light in it, different colors. Just a simple layout, with simple scenery. but drew a lot of attention (esp. from me). Unfortunately they shut it off when the office closed, so I didn't get to see it run much, just drool on the sidewalk.
The idea of finding an existing modular layout available would be quick and easy, with more detail than you will be able to do in such a short time.
A second choice would be to simply paint the top white, with some roads added. Add some buildings, vehicles, figures and some scenic material, a foam hill, bushes, inexpensive trees, simple things. Have a simple track plan so that two trains could run at a time, have the track go around and behind buildings and scenic elements. Changing the trains periodically is a good idea, to keep folks checking to see what is running today.
Yes, it is simple and probably not too appealing to some who have seen much better. But with the time available and folks that have not seen fancier, it's a place to start. If you can plan to do it again next year, then you could begin to make it more like a model railroaders layout than a kids. What we are trying to get into the hobby is new folks and if it is too complex, it could scare them away.
Just my thoughts.
Good luck,
Richard
Lots of interesting responses, thank you all. I stopped by and looked at the store front in question today, I noticed that the deck of the storefront sits about 24" above the side walk, so this could be an ideal height for kids and just build the "display" on that deck.
I also thought about getting the display to some kind of temporary running condition with as much scenery as possible but realizing it would be far from complete. We could also keep adding to it through the season and just see how far we get.
Budget will be an issue for buying the track and basic scenery supplies.
It would be nice to think that each year we improve on it and like so many things you can't do them all at once and it just takes time. I am sure that each year coming up with a storefront wouldn't be too difficult in our downtown.
Richard I like your way of thinking and remembering to just keep it kid oriented.
To answer the comments about borrowing a modular set up of some kind, we are the only model railroad club within several couunties so that is pretty much not an option. Our club meets this weekend to discuss our options. I appreciate all the comments and suggestions.
Martin.
Dang it; edited because I re-read the thread and saw the size given by the OP.
One of the ready track products such as Kato Unitrack would work; although the 4' width limits what could be run reliably in HO. By reliably I mean on a timer with no one present; this would be a good size for N scale as that would allow for some broad curves.
I sometimes set up a N scale circle of Unitrack around a small Christmas tree on a table in my office. It runs without any attention from me, although it gets a lot of attention from other folks who stop by...
Let's see.....4 weeks until December 7. I'd be very curious to find out if you manage to pull off something decent looking, and how much you had to do yourself and how much you got volunteers to do.
Our local liquor store has an in-store display layout they set up every year for the holidays. It's an LGB layout, and occupies a space 6 x 55 feet. It's definitely more of a "train set" than a model railroad, but it's a real eyecatcher. Here's one end of it.
For more pictures...http://www.harringtonwineandliquors.com/trains.html
The layout is 3 concentric loops, each running one train. Each loop is controlled by a pushbutton to start, and a timer to turn it off after a few minutes. As I recall, there's a button for the whistle on each engine, too. The layout is unattended, although there are always employees in the store.
The layout is about 4 feet high, and there's a clear plexiglass barrier about 2 feet high, as I recall, above that. The whole thing displaces cases of beer, which are instead stacked neatly in front of the layout providing a pedestal so that younger viewers can get up to the right height.
Last weekend, I was there. The platform is in place, but there is a solid barrier in front blocking the view. The sign says "The trains will be on track for the holidays." It's the one sign of the approach of Christmas that I look forward to the most.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I can tell from your response to all the posts in this thread that you are rather intent on pursuing this. I admire your initiative and hope you are successful. This will be a good test of your club's organizational skills, pulling everything together in a short time frame. There is great wisdom in recognizing the likely initial incomplete nature of the layout by December 7, and intending to add on to it as the season runs it's course, and for future years to come. Have you thought about getting some sponsors in the local business community? It would be free and good advertising for them to have their companies' names associated with the display, and could give your club some financial muscle to acquire more of what you'll need in a timely manner. I too like the operational idea of 3 loops. I hope you keep us posted.
Wilton.
oregon shay Martin, I can tell from your response to all the posts in this thread that you are rather intent on pursuing this. I admire your initiative and hope you are successful. This will be a good test of your club's organizational skills, pulling everything together in a short time frame. There is great wisdom in recognizing the likely initial incomplete nature of the layout by December 7, and intending to add on to it as the season runs it's course, and for future years to come. Have you thought about getting some sponsors in the local business community? It would be free and good advertising for them to have their companies' names associated with the display, and could give your club some financial muscle to acquire more of what you'll need in a timely manner. I too like the operational idea of 3 loops. I hope you keep us posted. Wilton.
You could make billboards and paint boxcars for the business that sponsor the layout, you could even have different levels of sponsorship, for example a company that donates $500 would get a box car and a billboard, while a business that dontes $1000 would get 2 box cars an 2 billboards.
Kylefor example a company that donates $500 would get a box car and a billboard, while a business that dontes $1000 would get 2 box cars an 2 billboards
Well, that's a nice dream........
maxman Kylefor example a company that donates $500 would get a box car and a billboard, while a business that dontes $1000 would get 2 box cars an 2 billboards Well, that's a nice dream........
I didn't mean use those numbers and combinations, I was just creating an example to help explain my idea. You could make the prices higher, lower, have different advertising options, etc.... I just came up with those numbers on the fly, didn't really think about it.
Kyle,
I admire your enthusiasm - you swing for the fence.... I had envisioned something more modest. The OP's club will likely need to acquire track and building materials, in addition to other basic model railroad infrastructure. A Christmas-themed train set to appeal to kids. All these items must be funded - maybe in exchange for display-window recognition, sponsors might make a small contribution. I don't know the OP's location, but here in my small southern Oregon town, economic times are tough, and there are many vacant storefronts downtown. Marketing an idea like this might be difficult.
Wilton, here in Central Ohio our economy is very very slowly recovering but our downtown is just like yours, in decline and empty storefronts.
Regretably the building owner has pulled the plug on the project. The person who made the contact to me is thoroughly disappointed with their decision. Surprisingly, in a short amount of time, we had people commit to donate plenty of buildings and scenery etc.
I appreciate all the comments and suggestions. One thing I thought about for next year is to have several small module / layouts around town in store fronts of occupied buildings. I like the business card ideas and the need to get donations to fund the costs.