Home Layout Tour Debrief

[TinGoat]

Hi,

The following notes are from the Home Layout Tour Hosts.

The Home Layout Tour was poorly (NOT) attended.

It was the first time that Narrow Gauge Madness has attempted this and we recognize that the layouts are spread across a very large area.

It would be good to get some feedback from all of you to find out what we did right and what we did wrong so that we can assess if we should try again, or not...

I did not have one visitor Yesterday.  Very disappointed.

Dave L. Manary

Disappointing day today, one visiter here.

Cheers

Lex A. Parker

I had two people show up, One lives in Waterloo and the other in Guelph.

John Cantwell

I had one.

Actually, I had none, it was my neighbour who was at the show Saturday, but he saw the sign so he dropped in to pick up a book I had loaned him.
 
Cheers, Gerry Cornwell

I had 2 visitors, one legitimate and my next door neighbour whom I don't know to be illegitimate, he just followed the signs I provided.

The experience was pleasant but not pleasant enough to devote 6 hours to, no offence Larry.

Don Hamilton

Ron Scott and I had 3 each (the same people). Both men, one was a man and wife, were at the show Saturday. One is from here and the other was from the County. It will be very interesting how many the others had. Both of our visitors are in On30. We had a good visit anyway. There were long distances between layouts.

I was disappointed, but not surprised, at how few people came to visit.

Anyway, we wondered how it would work, now we know!

Dave Mehew

I had 4 plus one of my friends. I suspected that turnout would be low as most people do not live near the show venue.

Also, they came out on Saturday and probably would not want to drive a long distance again the following day.

Anyway, we tried it and it did not go too well. I think it was a worthwhile effort.

Regards,

Keith Stamper

I had two from Kitchener Waterloo but nobody as a result of the convention on Saturday.

Doug Nelson

[oldiron]

  Is this surprising considering the distance these layouts were from Schomberg? When layout tours are set up, they are usually less than an hours drive from the show venue. In this case layouts were 2 to 3 hours from the venue. No wonder no one attended.

John Vincent

[TinGoat]

Hi John,

Thank you for your prompt feedback.

Yes, we recognize that distance is a factor.

Some of the people that attended the show on Saturday came a long distance to get there.

The idea was that there may be a layout closer to home for them to visit on the day after the main show.

We had a pair of Layouts in the Hamilton to St. Catherines area.

Another Pair in the Kitchener - Galt area.

That covers the western region.

A pair of Layouts in Peterborough for the Eastern region and a Trio in the Toronto area.

The opportunity was there to visit at least two layouts within a reasonable driving distance.

There is also the suggestion that guys may not be able to get two "Train Days" in a row.  A lot of guys that I talked to at the show said that they were interested in checking out the home layouts, but it was the timing that came into play.

If we attempt this again, it may be better to wait a couple of weeks after the main show before having the Home Layout Tour.

I know that this was a factor for me.

[TinGoat]

Here's a note from Peter Reisiger on visiting Keith Stampers Layout:

I was at Keith's yesterday afternoon and had a great time, personal tour of the layout and the whole nine yards. One guy was there before me, and while I was there Alex Rydydk and Larry MacDonald dropped in and we all ran trains, what a blast running 3 Geese while the other guys ran trains.
It's too bad more did not attend the layouts, as this was a great oppurtunity to see quality narrow gauge layouts and perhaps run some trains. I know the distances were large, but thinking back to the National Narrow Gauge Convention in Detroit, they were few and far between too, some an hour's drive from Convention headquarters.
I guess guys just couldn't get a "pass" for Sunday too.
Maybe we'll have better luck next year with a little more advance promotion of the Layout Tour portion of the Show.

Cheers,

Peter