So just last night (Thursday May 1st) our high school drama club had opening night for our Spring One Acts. In the programs we have our bios and in mine I made a mention that I’m a model railroader. Aftr the show, one of the audience members came up and talked to me about the hobby. He’s in HO and once O gauge. It was a good conversation. we ended up talking about the displays down at Cincinnati, what scales/gauges we modeled, and other hobby stuff. Just goes to show you how you can meet hobbyists anywhere.
So thats leads to this question: what kind of encounters have you guys had with other hobbyists? I thought it’d be neat to find out how we meet others in the hobby.
I remember one guy posting here who had gone to his public library and set a display layout up and ran it for a weekend as a public service volunteer. An older gentleman came in and invited him to his car where he gave him a complete set of standard gauge. They looked fantastic in the photos the guy posted. I think that just letting people know what you like is a great way to place focus on the hobby. I have carried around copies of CTT, OGR and MR, and had folks start talking trains with me.
A friend that I have known for better than 20 years, but never knew each other were into trains, had a dealership. When his partner in the store got sick, they divided the collection. He sent me a care package with a lot of trains in it when he found out from my father I was into them…you never know.
Anyway, wear shirts/hats, etc. to show what you like. Just behave when doing so as you don’t want to give the hobby a black eye.
dennis
Our club has lots of inquiries as we set up a 12 x 28 foot display layout several times a year at various functions so we get to talk to a lot of folks who had trains, have trains, and better yet - wish they had trains. We are prepared with the names of local retailers who sell starter sets and more so we can point someone in that direction when asked.
I typically have a copy of one of the magazines at my desk at work, that frequently causes customers to ask about it. Also since we sell photo paper, a large number of the displays feature train engines, and as a result some people will ask if I’m interested in trains. I couldn’t say how many people have started conversations especially regarding the train set they “use to have”.
A couple weeks ago I was talking about trains with a guy at work who collects other stuff from the 1950s. I guess he had told another guy at work about my hobby. It turns out the other guy is a big fan of lionel and even has been reading this forum for a long time. Now I have someone to talk about the hobby with at work!
Wow… today a new guy started work and he also collects lionel. They both recently started and both have the polar express and HE sets too.