Sunday was a Public Run Day

I got to the track about 10AM and after saying hello all around got to photographing the various trains and cars still there from the meet. I was asked to work in the station as Station Master, a job that I had done for several years before I moved away. What is involved is to be sort of an ambassador for the club and be the person that lets the public know what the rules are involving safety and conduct. I find that the people who come are generally unfamiliar with the structure of the "park" and I try to explain the differences of scale and gauge. I also make the point that these are scale models and they are a labor of love for the operators as well as the fact that we are all volunteers. I also tell them that the rides are different for the two waiting lines as well as the fact that the one inch line has smaller seats and is better suited to kids that are fairly content.

A common question is how many trains do we have and how many trains are running. Of course these are difficult questions to answer as they vary depending on who shows up. I can tell them that the inch and a half line moves much faster than the inch waiting line. Another problem is that I may have a train - engine, engineer and riding cars available but it cannot be used because there is no conductor available. I have asked engineers to park their train and act as conductor for the time being if I have two trains, passengers and no conductors.

After a few hours, we needed more conductors so I volunteered to be a conductor as the traffic was winding down and Walt said he could handle the crowd.

The day was hot and the sun was merciless. But, several hundred people showed up and a good time was had by all.