Is Your Layout Ready for Visitors?


Greg@mnrr

Section Hand
Tomorrow, while I have several projects in mind, the first and foremost is cleaning up the messy layout room. I have a bad habit of making a mess on the carpet tiles, leaving items on the work bench, layout projects started but unfinished and letting dust build up on the layout, beside my leaving out modeling supplies all over the place.

My question to the Forum members is "If a fellow model railroader unexpectedly called you and wanted to visit and see your layout, are you ready to run a train or two for your interested guest?" Granted the Covid Virus makes the chances slim to none of a surprise visit, wouldn't it be nice to walk down to your layout anytime and be able to start a train? I've met many model railroaders for the first time at functions like TrainFest or swap meets and they invite me to come and see their layouts. Do I call when I'm two hours away or give them weeks notice before the visit?

My work bench is visible to anyone looking at the layout since the work bench is usually a mess and I'm not proud of the disorganization that is so apparent in the guest(s) plain view. After seeing McLeod's work bench I want to hide!!!

I remember a well known model railroader who layout was on a scheduled tour route and we were the first to arrive the day of the tour. Well, the layout's owner, who was working in his garage, thought that the next day was when his layout was open for visits and he was planning to clean track, assemble trains and to get ready for the tour that evening on the day we visited. A day short and not ready to run.

Sure, layouts can be in various stages of construction, but do you clean up after each work session? And, even under construction there maybe a section or two of the layout where cars could be switched. I worked with a VP who insisted that employees in his area of supervision leave their desks clean before leaving work each evening. His theory was when coming to work and being greeted by a clean workspace (desk) was great motivation to want to do a good job, than coming to work to a dirty desk and left over work to complete. I followed his advise and it worked.

I know when I go down to the train room I find myself more motivated to start a project and do a better job if the room is clean and straightened up, even if it's only for myself. Besides, when the train room is clean I won't waste valuable modeling time looking for the specific supplies I require.

I'll report back after tomorrow's layout cleaning.

So my question is, "Is your model railroad ready for guests?" Then there's Murphy's Law when showing your layout to guests.....!

Greg

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I would not be averse to showing them what is visible and the current state, which is as you describe. I'm in the process of building the yard. I'm wiring ladder tracks, then adding soil and cinders. I hope to be done by Christmas, but SWMBO has other ideas...like baking, cleaning, decorating, rearranging furniture, shopping, and other sundries. I'm not holding myself to any firm deadline. Late January might be more realistic.

I can run trains around the outer loops, so I can at least show people what it's going to be like. That won't become a reality, though, until late April...mebbe....when the general populace has had its first set of needles.

BTW, slightly related, there's a newly discovered mutation of the Coronavirus in southern England, where it has been spreading very rapidly. Don't know what that means for the future of any vaccines.
 
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Is my layout ready. Given 15 minutes notice yes except for my workbench. That is under a portion of the layout and even when clean would be considered a mess by others. I try to run in 20 minutes shots 3 or 4 times a week. I place very little on the layout shelf itself.
So, yes very close for visitors.

TomO
 
Always!
No there's not much scenery, no the buildings and bridges aren’t set in place, and no I can’t actually run a train very far, but I’m always open to to my brothers (and sisters) of the silver rails who can envision what I see.
Others look briefly thru the door and mutter “that’s nice” as they turn away but what the heck, c'mon in anyway!
 
My layout surface is currently cluttered with projects in various stages of completion, so it certainly is nowhere near what I would call "camera ready." OTOH, I'm not advertising that it is open for tours*, either! [ *It does need to be presentable by next October, because I agreed to host an op session for out-of-town visitors to the NMRA's MER 2021 convention being hosted by the Mt. Clare Division.]

People visiting my home for non-mrr reasons, when my wife tells them I have a layout, frequently say they'd like to see it. And usually if I say it's a mess, they reply "I don't care, I wanna see it anyway!" So I show it to them - warts and all. And more often than not, they say "Wow, that's so cool!"

Bottom line is, if visitors show up unannounced, they shouldn't expect perfection.
 
My layout is kept the same near all the time and my buddy from work does come over on occasion, restricted this past two weeks. He is part of my small bubble and a collector with a lot nicer quality engines than I have. My biggest issue is not having enough switches to get my trains off before he comes over with his. Still lots of room for improvement, and I want to eventually operate my engines off the tracks so he can then run his, lifting engines off isn’t as much fun.
 
Mine isn't really ready for visitors depending on what you mean. My aisles are clear! I don't expect visitors anyway, so parts of the layout surface have various in progress projects scattered about. Workbench will never change even if I knew in advance that they were coming. Some sections under the layout are in disarray since I didn't add enough shelves to begin with, project for later.
I went on a layout tour in 2013 and this is two views of one fellow's workbench taken from opposite sides of a free-standing bench in the center of the room. This is actually more cluttered than mine.
train show 013.JPG

train show 014.JPG

The multi-level layout itself snaked through five rooms in the upstairs of his home (including two lines through the bathroom), and also extended out under the high-ceiling of the entry hall below! He kept a 16' extension ladder in the hallway behind the front door for access! Most amazing home layout that I ever saw. I wish that I had taken pictures of his chain driven train elevator that served as his staging yard.
 
I am a real neat freak so am continually straightening up. It is easy now because it is just the newly completed module in the living room and a work desk with tool caddy, with just enough tools to complete the small vehicle projects I am working on now.

My other modules are in the shipping container at our new home site, along with most of our furniture and belongings. I actually periodically dust them off too.

The only time there is a real mess is while benchwork is being installed. Once the track is down, however, I keep my train operational at all times!
 
I'm definitely not ready. I think in a pinch I could get the set up ready to actually run a train or two around the inner loop, but basically none of the turnouts are functioning at the moment and there's a ton of crud sitting on the table itself.

That being said, I think tomorrow, I'll be able to start assembling my servo controllers and get some of them installed. And, hopefully, I'll be able to laser cut some foam for storing the trains later in the week.
 



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