My first "real" train exhibition

[HiFish]

Hello everybody,

I just spent the weekend at a model train exhibition, for the first time with a pre-planned layout. Im still to tired to finish unloading the car ;-). But i have some questions in my Mind while everything is still fresh. Oh, and i got some pictures a bit further down.

First some words about the Setting: It was a Model Train exhibition in a nearby small town, about half a Soccer-field in size. Mine was the only Lego-centric booth (so far i never heard of an lego-exclusive event in my state). Since "real" model train layouts are "hands off" i was one of the few "interactive" booths. I set up 2 controllers for a big and a small track which the kids could control, and a little freight-unloading-station to play with, but i basicly spent the whole time supervising kids which got quite stressful. I havn't figured out what is a good line between "no touching" (easy for me but rather boring for the little ones) and "fully interactive". Do you have any recommendations or experiences to share? one a high note: Most parents were quite helpful/responsible, i only hat one annoying "customer" during 2 days, and as far as i know nothing went missing.

As usual i was limited by the number of straights in track design, and any comments on improving the layout are welcome. Now something to look at:

My Layout planned in BlueBrick:

https://goo.gl/photos/KJX1NiBE3Ui2bBRC9

Everybody setting up on Friday:

https://goo.gl/photos/rN5j4Yoer4MAdScv6

My Layout:

https://goo.gl/photo...NuDiTKM1dgW8K76

https://goo.gl/photo...U8gwKiTazefCWdA

Some of my trains:

https://goo.gl/photo...V8xvwk74aau8BA8

Everything in action:

https://goo.gl/photo...cr59MgE8cgHd8G8

https://goo.gl/photo...cszAxpeCttEtyt9

I apologize for the link format and quality, most of those are taken waving a smartphone around and i havn't found a way to include google fotos as pictures because the urls dont end in .jpg .

Edited February 15, 2016 by HiFish

[legoman666]

At our LUG setups and shows, we don't allow interactivity for our train exhibits, regardless of the amount of supervising adults. I only let 2 other people even control my trains, much less every lug member. We normally have a bins of Duplo out for kids who need to get their hands on something.

[Duq]

My experience with train shows in quite different but my models are also different. My layouts are absolutely hands-off for the little one because the models are just too fragile. The kids still love our layouts, even if they can't touch them. We tend to win the public vote every time... And the organisers love having us because we bring in families. You probably noticed that the model train hobby for 99% consists of men over 55.

What works for you is up to you. If you want to focus on entertaining kids (and yes, I know how draining that can be) then the more loops, twists and trains the better. If you want to go for displaying models then I'd suggest reducing your table space by half; go for quality over quantity. Over time your collection of buildings and landscape sections will grow.

This was one of the first train shows I took part in. The layout was built by 6 guys I think. My contribution was the train shed in front of me and two or three trains:

(http://www.brickshel...ry.cgi?f=240179)

Fast forward nearly 10 years and this was the display I had at Brick 2015 in London, all of it mine (me and mrs. Duq that is):

Brick 2015 - Overview by Duq, on Flickr

It helps to not be on your own. It helps in the size and variety of your layout, and it helps you take breaks and get through a show weekend without needing a holiday afterwards ;-)

[dr_spock]

I think having a few more people available can help with taking breaks. Also so you don't get burnt out. Watching and interacting with kids is hard work.

Our train display is not hands-on for the kids. I've been toying with the idea of letting them drive and having a microcontroller "PTC" override their actions if they go too fast or run a signal.

We also have a GBC display and I ask kids to help me pick up balls and put them back into the machine. It saves me having to crawl under or over tables to get the runaway balls. They would watch and wait for a runaway ball.

I think having something interactive can make it more fun for the kids. We also have play bricks for the kids to build and play with.

[M_slug357]

Kudos to you for attempting a show all by yourself!!

I think that for your next show, maybe have only one aspect of the layout be interactive?

For example, having just the speed and direction of the engines be controllable while you load the freight, or have the kids load and you haul?

But it's definitely hard since there were no barriers between you and the guests.

[baard]

Generous and brave, letting the kids play with your trains!

I do not let kids play with my trains at shows. Moving trains are always fun for them to watch anyway. Once I made a crossing inside a tunnel. This of course created a lot of interest because the trains did not come out of the expected openings in the mountain. At one show, a kid was laying in front of my layout (as this was close to the floor) for a couple of hours .

I must admit that exhibiting non-moving MOCs is far more relaxing on the exhibitor, but seeing the light in kids eyes is of course rewarding in itself.

Good luck with your next show!

[HiFish]

Thank you for your responses, I guess i makes a big difference if your'e on your own or an organised group of people for what you can pull of. I put the show in the middle of a vacation-week and convinced some relatives to drop by and help out for 2 hours each day, but still it was more exhausting than i expected. I seem to be living in an "Here Be Dragons"-Area of the map LUG-wise, at least so far i havn't stumbled upon any nearby.

Once I made a crossing inside a tunnel. This of course created a lot of interest because the trains did not come out of the expected openings in the mountain.

Thats a great idea, i had no real use for the one 9v-crossing i got so far! But i bet a proper tunnel takes a lot of bricks..

For example, having just the speed and direction of the engines be controllable while you load the freight, or have the kids load and you haul?

But it's definitely hard since there were no barriers between you and the guests.

I set up a second set of 9v controllers on my side of the table, so i could do emergency breaks or keep the kids from running backwards. Im not sure if that's the reason one of my controllers burnt out during the show :-/

several time i had siblings to do cooperative freight-loading, meaning the big one was controling the train, and little one the crane. That was one of the biggest hits, and since there is no fast driving involved this turned out to be less stressful that the few kids trying to constantly go full speed and crashing with the Metroliner or Horizon Express. I plan on setting up a dedicated play-train and freight station in the next layout, so it doesn't interfere with the regular trains.

The green table-cover-thingys in the pictures could be set up as symbolic barriers, but i guess the only real solution in a cramped environment like this would be plexiglas...

I've been toying with the idea of letting them drive and having a microcontroller "PTC" override their actions if they go too fast or run a signal.

My long term project is to convert everything to digital control with a RasPi and implement at least some form of collision protection, but that's far of. Thats one of the reasons i cling to 9v.

It helps to not be on your own. It helps in the size and variety of your layout, and it helps you take breaks and get through a show weekend without needing a holiday afterwards ;-)

i fully agree, i guess i have to look harder for next time ;-)

We normally have a bins of Duplo out for kids who need to get their hands on something.

We had some wooden trains and some garden-sized toy trains set up on an unsupervised table nearby, but that attracted mostly the realy little ones like duplo would. One thing that caught me by suprise was that several kids managed to operate switches whithout me noticing because i placed them in unfortunate positions.

Edited February 16, 2016 by HiFish

[ecmo47]

http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=102373&st=25

Not much time this morning, but checkout my thread on the same subject. For the kids, the seek-and-find was a great thing for them to do rather than running your trains.

[Dav1d]

I have a 9v layout and I let the children control the trains. I normally have 3 separate loops so three children can control them. Depending on how busy it is they can swap train over in a passing loop or even do some shunting. I stop them playing with cars on level crossings. Everyone enjoys, it its good to let the children have a go. I don't think it would work so well with power functions.

You need a least a tablecloth to hide the table.

Edited February 16, 2016 by Dav1d

[BricksMcgee]

Definitely helps not to be on your own: takes some of the stress away from it.

Love the idea of interactivity, but not sure where the line is for me, either. Considering having a button kids can press to activate something (like a light brick or lift), but not sure if I'll end up doing it. I do find most parents are great, but over a weekend I'd expect one or two troublemakers ;)

[HiFish]

Something that's quite hassle-free for interactivity is the classic monorail control mechanism when you preset it to stop somewhere and allow the kids to turn it back around. I had zero derailments with that ;-) I just have to place it better in the layout next time. Seek and Find is a good idea for "hands of"-Interactivity, but for this reason also quite common among the small scale "hands off" non-lego model train exhibits...

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Little pictures bur very nice layout!

Thanks for sharing!

[Q3671]

It's nice to let kids controle your trains but you have to build in an override controle, give them just 2 pushbuttons, back and forwards and a timer.

I did once, but that was a long time ago, a track controlled by one button, a timer and a low noise buzzer.