ok I have signed up to be on a open house tour for trains the weekend before the convintion in KC that would be June 18th and 19th. Seeing I have never done a open house like this before is there any advice any of you can give that have had or done open house’s before.
thanks
Geoff
I’d say lots of beer, some hard liquor, pizza, pistachios and a stainless steel pole for the “girls” you plan to have helping assist and the whole event will be a success. Trains probably should be running, but not mandatory.
Soft drinks, snacks (chips, dips, veggies). Trash cans. A clear walkway/area for people, or they’ll trample everything. Signs explaining what’s what. Get your most reliable locomotive and best tracking cars, and go over them 12 times before hand, and you’ll still be re-railing things.
Ric the beer fridg will be stocked, hard liquor there on ther own but I will have diet coke and other soda to mix with it. I’ll sub the flag pole for the stainless steel one and wax it up. ther is a Papa Johns at the top of the street so pizza is good. Dont know if I have help or not Ric. I know your going to be at Andys so I will have to wait and see if anyone wonts to come help. Other wise its a one man show.
Bob, I was going to have my BBT locos running most of the time and some of the others out to show, run a little. I know my BBT locos never let me down. I will have the track nice and clean. LGB track cleaning loco and my dry wall sander at hand to keep things clean and going smooth I hope.
Will have to work on the signs, seeing the train takes up the front yard there is room on the driveway and around the train area for people to walk and view. No one other then help and myself should be on the train area. there is lots of parking at the park across the street so that should be coverd as well. Was going to put up my two 10x10 tents for some shade and cover. Will have to work on snacks.
thanks
Geoff;
It’s a wonder that Ric didn’t promote the use of “RumSki’s”…the drink of “Invaders”…!!
You can run for days before without any problems.
As the first guests show, batterries go dead and trains derail.
Or there’s a track short, etc…
Murphy’s law…
I took my most reliable locomotive to run at TOC’s a while back. I spent hours fine tuning it.
It derailed within the first 5 feet.
Sigh.
I have had very good luck at christmas time with the BBT drive christmas loco Barry did for me. Very few derails and such. I’m hopeful all runs well. I just did/do not know what kind of a trun out there will be or what I ahould do for the guest that might show up. Its just a open house for those that might be driving thought or close to St. Louis on there way to the convintion in KC. If any one from here is going your welcome to stop by.
I’ll be sure to put a sign up that reads this railroad run by Murphys Law.
Ric Golding said:LMAO...Your the best Ric and I could not have worded it any better myself. However you forgot the game TWISTER in case the girls get bored with the pole and for the lull times between switching operations. Flying monkeys in bellhop uniforms make great waiters but don't work cheap so perhaps he could round up a few unemployed circus midgets for serving? Oh and what Bob said is great advice as well. ;)
I'd say lots of beer, some hard liquor, pizza, pistachios and a stainless steel pole for the "girls" you plan to have helping assist and the whole event will be a success. Trains probably should be running, but not mandatory.
Geoff,
I have found it very helpful to have someone else actually running the trains when we have an open house here.
Seems like my full time job is talking to guests, explaining different things they are seeing or techniques used
and most importantly listening as they tell about the trains they had as a kid.
We normally only have soda and water available for the guests.
It is always nice to have a guest sign in log so you know where your guests are coming from.
Good Luck with it
Rick
Each time I had a big meet at my home, I went to the trouble of making a detail fact sheet, including min/max curve radii, max grades, locomotives, rolling stock, plants, and rocks. I put it on a prominent place for the guests to pick up and refer to. I would even hand the sheet to some interested folks. But in the end, I don’t think more than 2-3 people out of 50-60 would pick up one or take it home with them. It is a fun exercise for you, but rather pointless for your guests - even the model railroad freaks.
I agree that you’ll spend most of your time talking to people, so let other people run their trains on your layout. That will require track power that works flawlessly, clean track, and a dependable source of power and probably also, a Trainmaster system. Better check the latter carefully in the days before the meet. Encourage battery powered trains if your layout is large enough to run several trains simultaneously, and then let your guest engineers worry about how to avoid head on collisions. I like to have one guest, who knows my layout, be a trouble-shooter. He can advise others about how to work remotely-controlled switches, where to walk or not, within the layout, and help with inevitable detrails. And just relax and enjoy watching others enjoy your layout, rather than feel as though you have to be the whole show. Some engineers have told me they learn more about my layout by driving a train on it, rather than just looking at it.
Art thanks. I am a track power layout and for the most part flawless. Very proude of myself for that. Track is being clean no problem I’m a little OCD about that.
I was going to make up some signs to let people know stuff like Golding logging and Clarke Mine ect. I was going to put a sign up letting everyone know the locos have BBT Drives in them. Barrys been very good to me and a plug cant hurt him any. I think I might have someone there to help run trains if not they fingers crossed tend to run ok on there own. Not sure there will be to many people showing up that will run there own stuff. But hay if you do your welcome. one thing connies and K-27s will not run on my layout. tunnels are to nerrow for them. 
I’m going to work on that this summer after the open house.
I haven’t done an open house for a national tour yet, but I have done for the local club and we get a pretty good crowd, also a neighborhood open house. I think everyone’s covered the basics – a cooler full of sodas, some small bottles of water too, lots of snacks such as cookies and chips.
I have some signs I printed up that tell about the theme of my RR, some background about how I built it, even a couple night photos of the lighted structures. I hang them on the side of the shed near the entry to the layout.
I also have directional signs pointing the way to the backyard from the front driveway. Not strictly necessary but helpful. I would also print up a sign to hang out front, with my RR herald and the words “Welcome (name of tour/group)”.
Geoff, with all seriousness deserved, you need to remember this is a pre-convention open house and you could do lots of planning and really just have a couple of people show up. Plan to have a good day of running trains and working on your railroad. If somebody stops by, its all the better. If nobody shows up, it is still a good day of running trains.
Ric-
Your initial suggestion - earliest postings - was great! Love the humor (steel pole for the girls–gulp).
One suggestion for Geoff – as Ric noted, the numbers attending may be more or less than you plan. So have finger foods that can be bagged and frozen.
Also, a graphic out front of the house helps along with arrows to enter the yard without going through the house to see the trains. Plus an arrow for the closest bathroom.
Ya, Geoff could settle for a fiberglas pole! If he put it where people could see it driving by he’d really get high attendance!
I have a flag of a steam endine I;m going to hang out for mine. Our train club has a crossing signal that blinks.
I really like the idea of finger foods that you can freeze, Since we live out in the desert I don’t ecpect much attendance. Since it’s Sept. 24 you have time to plan!
Wendell, Geoff’s layout is the first thing you see at his house. It is his front yard.
Ric-
The beer, etc. plus the stainless steel pole for the girls, was in my thinking for the faculty retirement party announcement at our school. My loving wife put the nix on the language indicating I would memorialize my name for the wrong reasons. As a speech course instructor I emjoy reading your comments – are you in the writing biz?
Yes, a front yard RR needs no further directive!
Thanks,
Wendell