Folks, this is a follow up to my recent post on open house security. I had posted something similar to this years back, but I’'m sure now many of you have new fielded comments to add.
Some of my favorites…and there were many, actually to numerous to post…
.You cannot be married.
.From a wife to husband…“If you do this to our basement, I’ll cut off your “whatever” and force feed it to you.”
.Do you actually set this up every Christmas?
From a fellow from a visiting hi-rail group referring to my a.b.b.a lash up of Overland Sante Fe F-7s…“How much do these cost?” When I told him around $1400, his look and coments became a classic…“Are you kidding? My Lionel Santa Fe’s cost a fraction of that and they are twice as big, have real size couplers, probably go faster than yours, and they honk! Do yours honk?” My rebuttal …was I just walked away scratching my head.
.From a lady and husband in early their 50’s…“My son, Roland, had something just like this, but then he grew up and went to college.”
.Your rocks are out of scale and trees are too short.
.Gee, I did not know that Athearn made all of these…comment from as a 50 car string of hand made wooden box cars rolled by.
It gets better (or worse).
Let’s hear your visitor’s comments. Probably a whole book can be written and with cartoons…an instant seller!
The “comment” question and the “security” question are related. There are ignorant comments from people coming in to get a freebie activity on a weekend afternoon, but there are less understandable things from, say, your local NMRA Poobah. Said Poobah in my case felt entitled to pick up items on the layout and examine them. “Hmm. This is interesting. Is this a kit?” etc etc Others complain about a car set down next to the track – a lot of the “experienced” guys have pretty ordinary layouts and don’t really understand what goes into a “lifetime” layout, but of course their “standards” are impeccable.
Best, you’re better off realizing that it’s not just the risk of burglarly you undertake when you let strangers into your house. It’s also just ignorant bozos of whatever social stratum. I used to do open houses, but gave it up as not worth the time and effort.
First let me say we have enjoyed visiting your RR when we’ve had the chance. That being said, here’s a few comments from visitors to the C&O Hawks Nest Subdivision:
‘What’s this knob do?’ - just as the guy pulls on it as a train passes over a turnout! Thankfully basic equipment catcher (scenery) was in place - it was 5 feet to a nice concrete floor.
‘Is this ever going to get done?’
‘Hey, you can connect this track to the bottom and make it go round and round.’ Geez…
Maybe it’s something about me…my looks, my bearing, my demeanor…not sure, but I have yet to hear a snarky, sarcastic, or humourless comment or putdown about my hobby. This is not to say I have had hundreds of visitors to my layout, but as far as I could tell, even the silent ones with grim faces knew better than to slag my hobby inside my domain. On the other hand, even from the wives present, most professed delight and amazement at my creation.
I also tend to be tolerant and try to be illustrative or educational about my interests. If a person asks a question, or makes an observation, in apparently good faith, I take the time to explain the circumstances or the rationale. My challenge is to keep it to 20 monsyllabic words or fewer. I tend to rattle on… Sometimes their glazed-over eyes let me know to stop…if I notice. [:#]
Possibly I can understand that seemingly negative, sarcastc, or snarky comments are rare, but if we are playing numbers, I have well over 5 guest books filled with over 40,000 visitors from all over the world during a 32 year period. And with this in mind, most likely numbers would show that the percentage of “incredible” comments would not even register. Actually I totally enjoy off the all comments…negative, sarcastic, or even complimentary…henceforth my posting.
There was a great article back in the 1960s recounting strange experiences with visitors - cannot recall if it was Bill McClanahan, Jim Findley, or someone else in that circle of famous modelers. But I do recall some stories: the guy who picked up one of McClanahan’s SP Daylight passenger cars, scratched at it with his thumbnail and remarked “gee you put your paint on really thin.” Another story was of a visit to John Allen which ended as it evidently often did with Allen in an all night gab-fest/argument. At 2 or 3 in the morning the discussion was winding down when someone knocked on the door, said they were in the area and hoped it was possible to visit the Gorre & Daphetid. The third one I recall was the person who inspected the entire layout and left saying “I prefer to do a little, but do it WELL.”
I won’t say that I designed my layout to be visitor-unfriendly, but that’s the way it turned out. Entry meets a rather uninteresting display of ‘hidden’ track - left open for access, but covered with a chicken wire barrier to prevent accidents from becoming disasters. Visitors have to navigate a maze of narrow aisles to reach the ‘interesting’ parts.
Add to that, my wife is totally paranoid about people she doesn’t already know who aren’t blood relations. There haven’t been many visitors to my present layout - which, in light of past experience, doesn’t hurt my feelings.
Since my future (family member) visitors have always known that I’m a model railroader, and the direction of my interests, I doubt that the less than intelligent things I heard before (especially at club open houses) will ever be repeated.
I’ve only done a couple of open houses and a few private tours. Like Howard, most comments are ones of appreciation for the detail and work involved. Most people who ask how much it costs or how long it takes to build are honestly interested, I think. But a couple of things stand out:
If you have a private tour for a friend who is a car guy, he will comment mostly on the vehicles on the layout and make a game of identifying the different models.
I think the impulse to quickly glance at a layout and then subject the layout owner to a long monologue about the relative/friend/neighbor who had/has a layout is a basic human instinct right up there with eating and drinking.
A couple years ago at the Great Scale Model Train Show in Maryland, I overheard a visitor grading the the American Flyer layout to one of the club’s member something to effect of "I give you and A for the trains, a B for the structures and a C for the scenary! I noticed the club member just had a “are you kidding about this?” look on his face. I guess the visitor decided he was a model railroad judge!
I figure for myself, if I don’t have soemthng good to say, I don’t. Besides, I have terrible modeling skills, and every layout display I have seen at shows is far better than anything I could do.
I’ve noticed that when someone makes disparaging remarks about the layouts are either jealous or envious and I see no reason to be either. My skills at some things railroad related aren’t as good as other peoples’ and I make no bones about the fact.
The worst comment I’ve heard from a nieghbor is telling their child, “Don’t touch that train”, to which, I now keep an old Bachman F7 around for the neighborhood kids to run when they visit. I don’t believe the hobby should be a “hands off” hobby.
Axtually it’s quite considerate of the neighbor to tell her child to keep his hands off. Most parents think that your “toys” are fair game for their kids to play with as they please.
That said. the idea of a junker for the kids to run is fine. And if a child does show interest, mayve talk to them and/or make arrangements for them to come over to enjoy the layout in a less hectic situation (one on one time)
My wife had the best come back when a visitor’s wife; ask Deb how much all the layout. The women said “I’d never my husband waste, so much money”. Deb told her “well, it’s either this or he’d be out drinkin beer n chasen wild women, and I know where he is every night.
Rich,Maybe but,I wouldn’t take back any of those 50,60 or more club open houses I took a part in.
Here’s why…
Watching the kids with big eye excitement and answering kid’s and adults questions about the hobby is priceless. Then in the last 5 -6 years how about those teenagers that asks serious questions about DCC?
Yes,one learns to endure off the wall comments when he/she takes in the whole picture instead of focusing on those few rattlebrain adult comments.
Larry, I have no argument with those who conduct open houses. And, I do accept the fact that some people who attend an open house will make, what I consider to be, inappropriate or negative comments. So, be it.
But I don’t want to hear them as the host, so why bother to conduct an open house and make yourself subject to such comments which are over and above the already discussed security concerns.
Howard’s threads are well constructed and well intentioned, but both threads emphasize the negative side of an open house as it regards security and visitor comments.
As someone who has never hosted an open house, I see nothing in those posts that would persuade me to host an open house.