NMRA National Convention Layout Tours - Any Experience Hosting?

[C855B]

I have been approached by one of the NMRA regional folks suggesting having my layout open for tours during the 2020 national convention, to be held in St. Louis. Obviously I have no idea what its state of completion will be 30 months from now, but I expect enough of it to be operational and scenicked to consider the idea. And it makes for one heckuva motivated deadline!

Has anybody here hosted their layout for an NMRA national meet?

I've never been to a national convention, but what I understand so far is that layout tours are a big feature if not the biggest feature, with bus tours the norm. My trepidation is having read stuff in forums about the bus tours wreaking havoc on layouts and where they live, ranging from damage and theft to grody restrooms by the end of the day. I am picturing buses disgorging 35-40 people on my doorstep three or four times in one or several days and simply being overwhelmed.

[crappie]

  hosted tour in Cleveland, decided we have 15 people in basement at one time. rest on patio  10 min. eamch group. pop and smacks on patio. no damage no problen restroom. Had 56 people from over all world                                                                                                                                                                                     

    had good time.

     

[crappie]

   you will need 3=5 helpers.  you can not do it alone. need some people to run trains,some to help patio. I had 4

[Philip H]

Your building is probably better set up
For tours then most of us. The tour buses can back in to your parking lot, you have a restroom and Robin can do an art show. Get the coffee shop down the block to cater. Do a couple of posters of your construction photos and you will have a great time

[C855B]

I'd have to think about buses in the parking lot. It currently has a thin veneer of gravel which I'm sure would be torn-up in the maneuvering. There would be good bus parking at the curb on the wide street in front, and nobody will gripe about the extra 40 feet. The drivers would definitely appreciate the straight pull-in-pull-out at the curb. I've heard a story or two about layout tour buses getting stuck in narrow suburban residential cul-de-sacs.

I did sort of have public access in mind (far, far future), so you make a good point. I don't so much mind the idea of a large number of folks visiting, it's the concentrated crowds by virtue of the buses. I could easily spread the impact by opening a second destination feature, the historical museum a block away, if you recall my role there. @crappie , as far as helpers go even though I'm located in the hinterlands it's a high probability I could get club members to help.

It's been said numerous times N is 30% of the hobby. That's simply not the representation when it comes to events featuring layout tours, dominated by HO and O, and a surprising amount of G. Which I guess is behind the idea to light a fire under me to have something ready year after next.

[peteski]

I participate, as a helper at two N scale layouts, in the annual Tour de Chooch open house.  Neither layout is nowhere as large and roomy as yours, and we host between roughly 40-80 people per day (9am-4pm).  It is a mix of railfans, model railroaders, and families (husband, wife, and child or children of various ages).  Sometimes the room gets a bit crowded if there are 8-10 people in the layout room at the same time, but things usually go very smoothly. We do offer refreshments, but very rarely any visitor asks to use the bathroom.  Of course in my case people arrive in their cars, so there is no bus to deal with and non influx of a buss-full of visitors at one time, but I still think that you should not have a problem with opening your layout (if it will be ready to be shown).  It will sure be impressive (even in size alone).

[superchief]

having host open house tours for 25+years and several being (greyhound) size buses tours, the real problem is the amount of people at one time, most tours will be given so much time at your layout and the key is how many can your layout hold safely and then rotate out so everyone gets a peek. Have a holding area (patio) with refreshments and some train mags or other forms of entertainment (videos) and a restroom (never had the problem of a messed up bathroom, but if you have been on a bus tour for a couple hours you know the problem). A simple flyer handout on layout stats (room size, layout height, year modeled, and other common questions) with help you be a good host and not get overwhelmed with the same standard questions. helpers are a must (you should not run your own trains, just be the host!!!!) a person at the door so as people come out let the same number in and you will be good. The big tours are eye openers and I have had guest from all over the world and made some great new friends from (Germany, Australia, Nederland's, New Zealand, and more). I say host the tour, just prepare and enjoy showing off your work.
                                                                                            Gordon Bliss- Santa Fe-All the way
                                                                                               Houston, Tx

[Santa Fe Guy]

I have been on the organizing committee for three National N Scale conventions held here in Melbourne since 1991. The last was held in 2013. We had 150+ attendees from USA, NZ, Netherlands etc and needed 3 coaches to do the tour on the one day. On each coach we had a coach captain and he was responsible for controlling time coach arrived (to avoid clashing with others) and the number of folks in the layouts at a time. Refreshments on the deck, mags to read and a brochure of the layout all made ready. A couple of mates to run trains roundy / roundy style so no need top get complicated with switching etc.
Oh and a visitors book for them to sign.
Had a whale of a time and nice to share your passion so go for it.
Rod.

[shark_jj]

Mike, I was the Tour Organizer for the NMRA National Convention in Toronto in 2003.  We had 120 layouts on the tours and dispatched 25 buses a day for 5 days.  We received only positive feedback from layout owners and no reports of theft or damage.  One point to keep in mind, is that unlike a public tour sponsored by a local club for example where you get non model railroaders who don't appreciate how fragile some models are, this is an NMRA National Convention, so everyone on the tour will be a fellow model railroader.  All of the advise you have been given here by others is good, but I will just re-iterate it. 

1: The organizers should talk to you prior to the event about issues such as bus parking.  NMRA Nationals are usually highly organized, they have been doing it a long time.  They won't want busses trapped or parked illegally or unsafely, so the drivers usually have specific routes and parking locations all preplanned and timed out. 
2: Definitely have some helpers, so you are free to talk to visitors and enjoy the experience.
3.  Definitely have a Visitors Book (we supplied them to layout owners) so that you can record who attended.  NMRA Nationals give visitors from around the world a chance to see your layout.
4: Have contingency plans for bad weather such as rain.  To prevent people slipping on floors etc.  Mats to wipe shoes on etc.
5: Determine the max number of people who can be in the room and still enjoy the layout and move around and then limit the number in the room to that number.  Have one of your helpers control the door.
6: I put out some water/pop/coffee urn and cookies and that was appreciated since I was the last layout and they had been on the bus for 3 hours.
7: I did a one page flyer (both sides) that gave basic info on the layout and what I was modelling and trying to achieve and that seemed to be appreciated.

I would recommend being on the tour.  Your conversations with the tour organizers should alleviate any concerns which you may have.

[C855B]

Thanks, all. Good stuff. Pretty sure we'll go for it. I hope to have a lot to offer when we get there.

...  unlike a public tour sponsored by a local club for example where you get non model railroaders who don't appreciate how fragile some models are, this is an NMRA National Convention, so everyone on the tour will be a fellow model railroader. ...

Yes... 99.9% of MRRs are respectful. Sadly, I have some direct experience otherwise with the 0.1%, and two of those are in my club.   I would expect the NMRA convention setting to tip the scale towards the more serious and thoughtful since they're committing a fair hunk of change to be there.

[peteski]

During Tour de Chooch, probably about 50% of visitors (or more) are "joe-public" type of people. Non-modeler people or families, some with children of all ages. We had not had any of them do any damage  to the layouts. Maybe we are lucky.

OTOH, we display an NTRAK layout over a weekend at a Museum of National Heritage. There, the most visitors are fairly affluent (yuppie type) young families with children. They let their kids do almost anything because the model trains are just "toys", and besides, the children are entitled to just do whatever they want. That is the show where the NTRAK layout incurs most damage. 

[kschmidt626]

I hosted my layout on tour for the 2010 NMRA Convention in Milwaukee.  I had a coach bus with close to 40 people in front of the house for about an hour.  I had several friends help out with letting groups of 10-12 down to the layout at a time.  As people would leave more could come down.  I also friends running the trains.  That way I could be free to talk and visit with the guests I met people from all over the world.  In fact I met an MMR and he led me to get my Golden Spike.  It was a great time.  I had some refreshments for people.  Lemonade and cookies worked very well.  I also had a guest book for people to sign and then I can look back and see who visited and what countries they were from .  Having a large on my street was interesting but the neighbors didn't seem to mind.   

I also hosted my layout for the 2013 N Scale Convention in Milwaukee.  My layout was open for an entire day.  4 buses stopped throughout the day.  All kinds of people visited.  Had two shifts of friends help with crowd control and running trains.  Again no problems with damage or anything.  Provided some refreshments and cookies.  Things went very well.  Probably over 100 people stopped by that day. 

I would do again

Keith

[w neal]

Had mine open for the Grand Rapids convention. As long as you have a crew to run trains & be stationed at some key points around the layout, you'll have a grand time. I can't add much to what has already been mentioned. Its all great advice. Be advised that the positives outweigh the negatives by 99%. Hosting is great fun. I continue to do it for NMRA regionals around here. You''ll be glad you did it, and you'll love reading people's comments after its all over!