Hello Bob; The problem that is brought to my mind with your post is the one-size-fits-all view of display layouts. We need one type of layout to show the adult hobby of model railroading, and to allow members to operate prized equipment.
We also need layouts which allow hands-on for the public. Not necessarily toy-train with log loaders, etc. The NASG switching layout is also a good example, it would be nice to have many such demo layouts at shows. Pieter Roos Sent from my iPhone On Aug 16, 2013, at 11:14 AM, Bob Werre <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Jim, > > I was talking with a man who used to own a hobby shop and his feelings were > the opposite. His feelings were that if we keep the trains away from the > kids they will think of them as a display only and not something they could > actually touch, play with and own, hence the demise of kids wanting trains. > It actually makes sense to a certain degree--if you slap hands and scold a > dog or a kid enough they won't touch. Then we wonder why kids only come to a > trainshow to watch and then leave with no desire to own them. > > To be fair this gentlemen is now surviving the economy by repairing trains so > maybe he sees more business repairing those dropped trains. > > Our club often uses PVC stanchions with two layers of ropes to separate the > little guys from the layout. We generally follow this procedure with the > larger shows or at malls. We do a couple of smaller shows where most folks > are railroaders and less likely to do damage so we don't use them. I've > never had a issue with folks lightly touching the scenery and I also have a > pond that people just love to peck at--I guess it's really just human nature > to some degree. Anything more than that and then we have issues however. > It's a matter of patrolling the layout. > > I think we made a big mistake on our layout in that it was built to operate > from the inside. Many of our turnouts are controlled via fascia mounted rods > and in DC days we had two cabs. We also had some fairly high 'sky boards', > so mostly viewers could only see the top part of us, and in my case being > somewhat height impaired, only my head. > > After observing some other clubs who operated out front, I tried to push for > that. We installed some DCC sockets on the outside and when I built new > modules, I installed DPDT slide switches that can be operated from either > side. It now helps bring us up front to talk to folks, walk with your train > and is an added security measure. The radio controlled DCC throttles allows > that to happen very nicely. I find it much better to be near the kids than > to yell at them from across the castle walls. We have also found that if you > position 2 members outside at opposite corners they can effectively watch an > entire oval type layout. > > I've attended several 'sales' seminars and most of these presenters ask the > sales force to not hide behind their table but be out front and actively be > engaged with the public. Since we are selling S this might be a good way to > go. I think it works, although some of these shows get pretty tiresome by > the end of the day. > > Bob Werre > PhotoTraxx > > >> Hi, >> >> I understand Andy's predicament. Many of the PVMR crew is alumni of NTTM in >> Strasburg, where everything is behind Lexan that can be. The biggest >> problems we ( PVMR ) had the first yrs were children grabbing and knocking >> trains, trees, crossing gates, you name it over or down. Sometimes parents >> corrected them, sometimes they looked to see if we saw them, sometimes they >> just walked away. As quickly as we could afford to, we bought 4 X 8 sheets >> of 1/4 in. Lexan from a local glass contractor, who willingly split it into >> 3 --16" X 96" pieces. Took us a while but we now enclose 2-- 8 X 16 ft >> layouts PLUS our little THOMAS 4 X 7. NO more damage (normally, altho we >> have one patron who breaks or steals one little piece each yr ) no more >> smacked fingers and the resultant tears. Where the Lexan is open, the kids >> play with a '56 flyer Barrel Loader and well over 90 % of them request >> permission to reload the barrels. The Lexan is heavy, etc, but well worth >> every penny it cost ( and the trips up and down the stairs to move it ). >> >> Jim " building the NEW "S" world with PVMR " Lyle >> >> In a message dated 8/15/2013 1:16:23 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, >> [email protected] writes: >> Hi All, >> >> I have accepted the fact that any shows we do that someone is most likely >> going to touch the resin water on the wetlands/swamp. Not to be sexist, but >> it is most often a female. It used to drive me nuts getting the finger >> prints off. >> >> I discovered that a cloth for cleaning eye glasses works beautifully. No >> scratches and the grease comes off well. >> >> I don't know if it got finger printed at the >> convention yet because I am cleaning the RR room before I set things up >> again. It may take a while because I am cataloging blueprints. >> >> That is part of being a public display. You have to deal with the public in >> all their shapes, forms and levels of respect for other people's property. >> A polite reminder with a smile can be given when someone is doing something >> unacceptable. Usually they back off. If they don't, set your phaser to >> stun and remember that Klingon phasers have no stun setting. >> >> cheers, >> >> >> Andy Malette > > > >
