# opening your railroad for display



## caferacer (Jul 22, 2010)

Hi to all my question is this I am starting out to build my railroad a indoor one 30 x 70 meter 98.4 feet x 229.6 feet x 13 feet high 6 level are planned, I am keen for other g scale guys to visit and run their locos cars etc,and would very much like to have open days for people to come and visit and view the railroad.
I have full access 3 feet gaps all round and have planned to be wheelchair friendly as I would like to promote our hobby my question is how offen do you open up the railroad to the public to view,club guys will be weekly, Wife said I should charge a small couple of bucks entry fee money for the Guide dogs which we support as a entry fee to view any and all help much appreached caferacer.


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

If you charge, you better be insured as a club or business, and probably have your tax # as well.....


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## Del Tapparo (Jan 4, 2008)

We just had our 6th annual open house for the public. Admission is a cash or food donation to the local food bank. This year we (the Northern Colorado Garden Railroaders) had 7 railroads on the tour. We raised $2400 and 18 boxes of food. About 250 folks visited each railroad.


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## Steve Stockham (Jan 2, 2008)

We have two open houses per year for the general public, one on the 4th of July and one on Halloween. We also open the layout to the club for a monthly meeting in the summer. We will, on occasion, open the layout to various groups that ask to see the trains (Cub Scout Packs, Water Garden Societies, etc...) I have a policy of allowing all children that are old enough to run the trains (with supervision of course.) We don't charge admission for our open houses but we have been one of the layouts on a tour sponsored by others that charged admission.


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## caferacer (Jul 22, 2010)

Mik we are a registered company with tons of insurance you really need it now a days ,my retirement business is a motorcycles and hotrods museum /shop diner as well. 
Del what a great idea the food bank all for that as well thank you for that idea. 
My idea was to allow the public in to view for a gold coin fee, one and two dollar coins are gold coins down here and all of these coins went to the guide dogs for the blind as well as now the food bank to help others in our community and have this every three months or so all day running,no charge to the cubs,scouts ,photo club etc . 
My main thing was to get other like mined persons into this hobby as well hence the open days I am only to happy to play railroads all day with me buddies and again many thanks guys caferacer


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## Trains (Jan 2, 2008)

caferacer, 
Three feet around the layout is really not big enough for a wheelchair. You need at least five feet.
If they what to look at something they will have to turn there head all the time. It better if they can turn 
there wheelchair and look straight on. Those guy's that stripe parking lots should be kicked in the A- -.
They put up a sign Van parking only and you lower the ramp to a area with a curb, trees, and plants,
or a car parked next to you.


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Trains on 29 Jul 2010 05:12 AM Those guy's that stripe parking lots should be kicked in the A- -. They put up a sign Van parking only and you lower the ramp to a area with a curb, trees, and plants,
or a car parked next to you.


You should try a regular spot. You can get a full sized van/pickup/car IN the space.... but will have to crawl out the windows or something, because you can only open the door 4"


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## blueregal (Jan 3, 2008)

I would love to have a public viewing and try to get some interest here, in West Ne. where there is none for 2-3 hrs from me!! It would be great for other guys/girls in the hobby to come and run, and look, but the public here, well some of them would come and then come back later and let's say borrow what they could, or 5 finger discount for themselves!! Anybody that is going to pass through or around here that is in trains, let me know you are welcome to stop by! I know Del T. and Jerry B. are close but really too far yet!! Also one guy up in Crawford has stopped 2-3 times which is at least 2 hrs north of me, and West of Chadron. If any of you guys are going to the Black Hills for vacation and are coming through Chadron or from the West through Wyoming and or the West edge of Ne. let me know I'll get you directions to this guys layout it's really worth the trip or a little out of your way. From Chadron it's on 9-10+ West of there! This guys layout is worth a look at and he has a shop where he builds some amazing trestles. Regal


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## markoles (Jan 2, 2008)

I've opened my railroad for public open houses and for operating sessions with friends over the years with varying degrees of participation and success. I find it is more fun if people bring something to show or run. Makes it more interesting, for me anyway. It is most fun when a lot of trains are running and there are not many problems. 


For the past 3 years, I have been part of the Railroad Museum of PA's "Garden Railroad Tour", for which the museum charges an admission fee. The museum uses the money for the purposes of restoring and interpreting railroad history as it relates to Pennsylvania. This is a once a year event, and attendance has been 500, 300, 600 visitors (my estimate based on sign in logs) for each of the tours. It is a win-win for the museum and for me because it forces me to get my garden and railroad presentable and the museum offers something else to the local population to get them in their doors. It also allows me the excuse to get out all my rolling stock and run a lot of trains. I actually rebuilt the railroad to make this specific open house work better. If you do a search, you'll see some of the pictures of these open houses. I think some of those threads may be in the archived MLS. 


Initially, my goal for having open houses was to show off my railroad. When I was 17, and hosting my fist open house, we got poured on! Ended up not really running trains, but hanging out in the garage of my parents' house. Still, I felt a bit awkward about it, being that I was younger than most of my guest's children. More recently the goal of my open house events has been create an environment where my guests feel like friends. Most of the people visiting are unknown to me, but everyone who signs up has some interest in gardening or trains, so it is easy to break the ice and get conversations going. That, in turn, creates an environment where conversations can grow and interest can be cultivated, reducing the intimidation factor associated with building a garden railroad. Plus, my railroad, on the surface, is pretty sparse and perhaps a bit boring. But, once I describe how the railroad came about, why it does what it does and the reasons behind the structures and equipment, then I've given the guests something: me. In my case, this railroad is about where I've come from, where I'm at, and where I am going. Rolling stock comes from the area I grew up. Paint schemes are inspired by family and friends. Expansion plans and rebuilds are based around the growing needs of my family. It is a highly personal thing, for me anyway, so in that regard, what I am really opening up is myself. I feel like these people paid their $8 or $10, they should get something for that. 


As a result, I talk to my guests about 99% of the time and am unable to actually operate the trains myself. Instead, I rely on my friends to act as 'guest engineers'. Some bring their own equipment and mix the running between their equipment and mine. In addition, I set up an independent, temporary loop of track specifically for the public to operate. This requires constant supervision by another guest engineer. Most of the operators on the temporary layout are under the age of 10, so wrecks are frequent, but I use equipment that can handle that, so it works fine. I have gotten a lot of positive feedback on the so called 'kids' railroad. They have a lot of fun running the trains, and it makes me think it is less likely someone's 2 year old won't be as tempted to knock $3k worth of train gear off the mainline. 


I have visited large pay to see layouts, specifically Northlandz, and I'm not all that impressed. Let me be more specific: it is a huge layout with a lot of small details spread out through a giant room. But, there's no human element to it. No one to talk to you about the “who, what, why” part of it. That makes it boring after about 2 minutes and made it feel like a rip off. Sort of like, "Here, come see my awesome layout. Pay me some cash, cause I spent way more than I could afford on it, then be satisfied with figuring out what my vision and motivation was." Know what I mean? 


Just my 2c. 


Mark


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## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

We do open houses several times a year and never charge. Sometimes they are for charity events and voluntary donations are collected and passed on to the host. I've often asked if people wanted to bring trains to run, but no one ever does.

BTW, I've got a '71 Triumph T150 Trident (Ser# 1,100) for sale to a good home if you need more cafe racer-related exhibits for your museum.


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## caferacer (Jul 22, 2010)

toddalin please send me a pm on the bike always buying bikes never have too many just like trains. 
blueregal pm me and will talk to you as for 5 finger discounters my sign on the front door says it all ANY ONE FOUND IN HERE AT NIGHT WILL NOT BE FOUND IN THE MORNING even had bikers smile at it when visiting my museum. 
Trains will relook at the space for the wheelies thanks for that once in my bad days we bounced a vehicle three parking spots so we can have access to a parking spot the owner was more than suprised. 
Mark theirs a guy on you tube jeffery71 whom is building a real nice railroad behind his house,tons of bridges, rocks etc he is the one that got me started in this scale and building my railroad hes in Pennsylvania some were and yep only to happy to talk to people and will need guest engineers to run the railroad since looking after the guests comes first appreached your two cents worth all ways keen to learn more. 
The idea to charge a buck or two was to help out the guide dogs and now plan to help the food bank as well my new museum will be ten bucks a head,and five for kids to view the ratrods ,hotrods and caferacer/bikes heck the diner makes the most money still its my retirement project and its fun for me the trains hopefully will take the stress out of my life caferacer.


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## Pete Chimney (Jan 12, 2008)

Mik

i agree with your assesment of the poorly designed wheelchair/handicapped parking spots. My nephew is confined to a motorized wheel chair and his parents move him about in a full size Ford Econoline van with a large hydraulic lift that extends out from the side doors.At times they find they cannot use the typical handicapped spots since when the ramp is extended it just clears the car next to their spot and there is no way to drive the wheelchair off the ramp. WalMart seems to have the bext handicapped slots, wider than normal.

The have taken to using two adjacentregular parking slots and straddling the line between the two. People, unkowning of their need for side space, have made some comments on their parking but when the ramp extends out from the van they tend to stop their complaining.


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## Madman (Jan 5, 2008)

Posted By markoles on 29 Jul 2010 10:22 AM 

I've opened my railroad for public open houses and for operating sessions with friends over the years with varying degrees of participation and success. I find it is more fun if people bring something to show or run. Makes it more interesting, for me anyway. It is most fun when a lot of trains are running and there are not many problems. 


For the past 3 years, I have been part of the Railroad Museum of PA's "Garden Railroad Tour", for which the museum charges an admission fee. The museum uses the money for the purposes of restoring and interpreting railroad history as it relates to Pennsylvania. This is a once a year event, and attendance has been 500, 300, 600 visitors (my estimate based on sign in logs) for each of the tours. It is a win-win for the museum and for me because it forces me to get my garden and railroad presentable and the museum offers something else to the local population to get them in their doors. It also allows me the excuse to get out all my rolling stock and run a lot of trains. I actually rebuilt the railroad to make this specific open house work better. If you do a search, you'll see some of the pictures of these open houses. I think some of those threads may be in the archived MLS. 


Initially, my goal for having open houses was to show off my railroad. When I was 17, and hosting my fist open house, we got poured on! Ended up not really running trains, but hanging out in the garage of my parents' house. Still, I felt a bit awkward about it, being that I was younger than most of my guest's children. More recently the goal of my open house events has been create an environment where my guests feel like friends. Most of the people visiting are unknown to me, but everyone who signs up has some interest in gardening or trains, so it is easy to break the ice and get conversations going. That, in turn, creates an environment where conversations can grow and interest can be cultivated, reducing the intimidation factor associated with building a garden railroad. Plus, my railroad, on the surface, is pretty sparse and perhaps a bit boring. But, once I describe how the railroad came about, why it does what it does and the reasons behind the structures and equipment, then I've given the guests something: me. In my case, this railroad is about where I've come from, where I'm at, and where I am going. Rolling stock comes from the area I grew up. Paint schemes are inspired by family and friends. Expansion plans and rebuilds are based around the growing needs of my family. It is a highly personal thing, for me anyway, so in that regard, what I am really opening up is myself. I feel like these people paid their $8 or $10, they should get something for that. 


As a result, I talk to my guests about 99% of the time and am unable to actually operate the trains myself. Instead, I rely on my friends to act as 'guest engineers'. Some bring their own equipment and mix the running between their equipment and mine. In addition, I set up an independent, temporary loop of track specifically for the public to operate. This requires constant supervision by another guest engineer. Most of the operators on the temporary layout are under the age of 10, so wrecks are frequent, but I use equipment that can handle that, so it works fine. I have gotten a lot of positive feedback on the so called 'kids' railroad. They have a lot of fun running the trains, and it makes me think it is less likely someone's 2 year old won't be as tempted to knock $3k worth of train gear off the mainline. 


* I have visited large pay to see layouts, specifically Northlandz, and I'm not all that impressed. Let me be more specific: it is a huge layout with a lot of small details spread out through a giant room. But, there's no human element to it. No one to talk to you about the “who, what, why” part of it. That makes it boring after about 2 minutes and made it feel like a rip off. Sort of like, "Here, come see my awesome layout. Pay me some cash, cause I spent way more than I could afford on it, then be satisfied with figuring out what my vision and motivation was." Know what I mean?* 


Just my 2c. 
Mark 


*My wife and I visited Northlandz last year for the first time. You could not have said it better Mark. That place has been around for quite some time. My kids were little when I first learned of it. Was always going to go, glad I didn't then. If I remember correctly, he has a have baked G scale display at the end of your walk.*


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## caferacer (Jul 22, 2010)

Pete We have a 15 foot wide full sunshade/rain cover car parking area running the full 229 feet of the building and my wheelie buddies have pride of place with tons of sunshade rain cover parking provided for them my mate is in a chair from Nam and he is a slugger for wheelies hence the whole placed designed around him and allowing kids in chairs to visit my railroad more than happy to spend money so others may enjoy our hobby. 
You no its really a crime to see the lack of places for wheelies at shopping centers etc thats why we did so much for our design caferacer.


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## markoles (Jan 2, 2008)

Caferacer,

Where are you located? Just for fun, here's a video shot by guest engineer, Jim Miller, during last year's open house:


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## curlyp (Sep 4, 2009)

I opened my railroad 3 times last year for open houses. One for our Garden railroad club, once for the local Railroad festival and a special xmas train run. This year I have had one open house that I advertised at the local hoppy shop and via the web on sites like this. I had 70 people attend and 11 visiting trains run including 5 live steam engines. It is a lot of fun to share the hobby and to have others enjoy all of your hard work building the railroad.

Paul Deis


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## caferacer (Jul 22, 2010)

Mark great video so thats your railroad good to see people enjoying it with you ,we are currently in Tasmania Australia bottom of the world and are relocating over to Christchurch New Zealand were we are building the motorcycle and hotrod museum and my rail roads both my indoor gscale and the 7.1/4 outdoor,you and others are more than welcome to come down under and visit once we are up and running. 
Would have liked to build outside but really want to have a indoor and the 7.1/4 outside railroads simlar to Tom Millers place and since I have sold the shipping company I plan to collect motorcycles and play trains for the rest of my life and enjoy meeting people with the same interest. 

Paul well done I think it will be fun to share my railroad with others the same as you do not 100 percent yet on live steam working on it haha. 
caferacer.


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## wigginsn (Jan 9, 2008)

There's a few of us 'G gaugers' here in Chch. Make sure you touch base when you get here. 

Cheers 
Neil


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