As a lone wolf operator I am always trying to get people to come visit my layout, whether they are fellow model railroaders or just “civilians”. My hope is after visiting then they might be interested in returning and operating with me. I would most welcome your comments, experiences, and advise as to how to attract potential operators. I don’t belong to a club (anymore), as I would think this would be a good starting point. Does anyone have any advise how to solicit people. Thanks.
Usually, neighborhoods form websites where warnings are posted, free used items are available for pickup, handymen are identified for projects, etc. If you have such a site where you live, post on it and ask about fellow model rail railroaders.
Im not on Facebook or actually any social media other then here. I have been thinking to post something on the notice board at the supermarket in town. (They maintain a tack board about 4x8 for community use.). But i have to admit i am kinda waiting to get a bit more actually other then foam and bits and pieces randomly strewn around the layout first. Still though somehow i think i would want to meet someone in person or get to know them first in some way via a forum situation like here or over coffee and trains discussions perhaps, prior to inviting them into my home so i’m not to sure yet either.
You’re thinking of posting your name, address, and other identifying information on a publicly accessible location where every Tom, Dick, and Dirty Harry can view it and decide when to pay you an uninvited visit?
Sadly this is very good advice. I will take it a step farther and say simply don’t invite anyone you don’t know to your house. There are too many crazies out there.
Back in the Jurassic, in the early 1960s, when I was a high school model railroader, I joined the NMRA. One of the benefits of membership was that you got a membership directory , a soft cover book that listed every known member along with address, contact information, and a series of coded letters that would inform the reader of what kind of layout the subject had, the size of it, and how they wanted to entertain visitors or not entertain visitors.
I rejoined about three years ago, hoping to get that little book again to get an idea of who was in my area, meet some new friends, and possibly find some operators.
Of course, the modern version was online, but it had almost no one in it compared to the past. There were a number of people that , to contact them, you had to send a message to the NMRA who would then contact the person on your behalf to see if they wanted to respond or not. I asked about this and the response reflected exactly what has been stated above, security and privacy are a very dire concern right now and information just can’t be put out for public consumption.
I would go to the local hobby shop in your area, speak to the owner and maybe he can introduce you to some of his ‘regular’ customers. From there see if there’s interest.
The above advice is good where not to post. Also, I know you go to train shows, so maybe you can meet some folks there (like how you met me) and see who’s interested. Sorry, I live far from you otherwise I would go to your place…
Thank you all for your advise. I would of course never publish my name or address or phone number in some open board. I guess that’s why this is so frustrating, you can’t open yourself up to the general public but then you can’t reach out to people. I do frequent a LHS 45 minutes from me. Next time I go I’ll speak with the owner about this. I’m thinking this is my best and only option.
Our NMRA region has a page in the region publication where members can list their layouts if they are open to visitors. That pretty much cuts out the general public and reaches the true model railroad audience. My railroad is not at that point, but I have had division members over. These are people I know and can trust.
if someone comes, do you have a schedule for trains for them to run? If cars are switched, how do they know where cars go? How much time would you spend operating
when i helped build fellow modeler layouts they provided lunch. would you provide a meal or go out for lunch if they needed to drive some distance?
Well actually I wasn’t thinking i would post my address. I mean ya gotta weed out the crazy people who would never think of looking up some random person in something as basic as a phone book, if they wanted to know someone’s address along with their number.
And i know most of you may be saying when was the last time ya got a Phone Book. I’m happy to say there are still places that have them, I get one every year. It is not put out by the phone company though. It’s more of a community directory has all the business and people in our county in there. Also a lot of advertisements that obviously pay for its production and distribution. Fortunately i live in a place where i know the first and last names of all 3 of my neighbours within a mile of me however I understand your caution and appreciate your concern.
But yes as i did say i would want to work out some way to vet the respondents and i want to say theres been some good ideas mentioned here.
And I’m thinking perhaps a solution for folks in a situation like no LHS, no NMRA no much ells of anything around or other connections for that initial vetting of prospective enthusiasts. Perhaps put up a notice/poster saying your looking to start a “MRR Operators group” that would be like code for us un crazy enthusiasts. No one ells would know what you’re talking about. Then when people call, just have a bit of a chat with them and take their info and let them know when you get a few more people together you will set up a meeting somewhere, library, tim hortons, ect…. And go from there.
Greg, I would of course only post my first name and phone number. As to operating, I’m just getting to that point, hence the recruiting. I would hope any individuals interested could help me create an operations structure, based on car card/waybill format. And yes, I would include food/beverages as appropriate.
Needless to say, anyone here reading this that lives in Metro West Boston, Greater Boston, Central MA , or Southern NH and is interested just let me know.
I live in what used to be called Southeastern Mass. About 20 years ago it became SouthCoast. A couple decades or so commuting to Quincy makes me reluctant to go anywhere in that direction. Although presumably you wouldn’t be inviting people for 9 AM Monday! I did go to a Greenberg show in Wilmington a few weeks ago. One of my buys was a little battery powered Citgo sign that lights up like the real one in Kenmore Square. Pretty neat. It was the first time in decades that I had driven all the way through Boston on the Expressway. The Zakim Bridge is smaller than it looks on TV.
Res, I would guess that your sign is a Miller Engineering product. I recently bought 2, Burlington Northern and General Electric, but haven’t as yet installed them.
Greater Boston, and Boston proper, has certainly changed over the years. My wife and I have stopped going into Boston. Traffic is horrendous, and once you finally arrive there is no parking available. I think Boston officials don’t want suburbanites coming into “their city”.
Chris you’re right it is Miller Engineering. And yes Boston has changed a lot in 50 years. True of any American city of course, but few others have had a Big Dig. I was in Boston (BU) for the blizzard of 78. Kenmore Liqors was open the second day so we were good. On 9/11 I was in a small windowless room changing backup tapes on an email server when a coworker called and said a plane just hit the WTC, nobody knows why, you should probably get out of there. On the Red Line ride back to Milton it was just a regular ride. I think I was the only one on the train who knew what had happened. I’m not trying to go down the rabbit hole of where were you on 9/11 but I’ll always remember that I was the financial district of downtown Boston.