Subject:
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Re: Questions about doing a museum show
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.trains.org
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Date:
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Sun, 16 Jul 2006 09:50:54 GMT
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Viewed:
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4037 times
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In lugnet.trains.org, Gail Meagher wrote:
> I'm looking to pick the brains of clubs who have done longer duration
> shows, especially at a museum. NovaLUG (Nova Scotia, Canada) has been
> approached by a museum, but the longest show we have done before was one
> day setup and two day display. In this case we would be there on
> weekends, but let the museum staff handle things during the week (with a
> couple of members working nearby, available in an emergency). Time
> periods from three weeks to three months have been mentioned.
BayLTC is currently on display at our sixth museum show. Our displays have
ranged from one week to six weeks. We usually have at least one person at the
layout on weekends, and the museum staff covers on weekdays. My cell number is
always available to them for any problem solving.
> What sort of things have you required the museum supply? I'm thinking
> secure barrier, tables (we don't have them), electricity, and some train
> motors(1). Maybe a suggestion box for things to add to the layout if it
> is a three month show. Perhaps free parking and museum passes. Anything
> else?
BayLTC uses our own tables and secure barriers (sneezeguards). The museums
usually don't supply us anything but electricity. All of the museums we have
worked with take donations for entry, so we have never paid to get in. They all
offer free parking as standard. The museums have never supplied things like
train motors. We don't use a suggestion box. Each time we have displayed at a
museum, our members always add stuff.
> I'm also curious about how many train motors we might go through. I know
> motor life will vary depending on many things (track design, weight of
> train etc.), but does anyone have a rough idea for how many motors we
> might need for a three week show, running 9-5 7 days a week? How about
> three months? I was thinking n+1 motors for n loops, but I don't know if
> this is reasonable. If we are doing simple ovals, would it help to change
> the direction the motor is travelling every week? I haven't run my trains
> long enough to wear out a motor yet (no home layout and short shows).
We have never really worried about motors. Some of our motors have been in use
for up to four years. Almost every engine we run has two motors, and depending
on the length of a train we have up to four motors per train. Most of those
engines run the entire duration of the show without any problems.
> Anything different in planning this type of layout? The only thing I can
> think of is to use an RCX 1.0 with power adapter for any controlled things
> (cows especially).
Make sure your members are willing to allow their stuff to remain in use for
that long of a period of time. Don't put anything valuable near the edges of the
layout where someone can pick it up and carry it off. We use battery-powered RCX
bricks. When our members are present we turn it on and let it run. We then turn
it off at the end of the day. We don't show the museum staff how to do it, so on
days when no members are present the animated stuff does not run. Make sure
there is no way for little ones to get inside the layout. We follow the rule
that for self-running layouts you want the least number of switches on the
mainlines. This gives you a better chance of not having a derailment.
> How have others planned for possible overheating power supplies? I know
> some have used timers to run for a certain amount of time, then shut off
> for awhile. Would a button to press to make the trains run for 10 minutes
> work better?
For our very first museum show, we used a household timer. The trains ran for 20
minutes and then stopped for 10 minutes. It worked great, but visitors
complained that when they got there no trains were running. We explained why we
were doing this, but they didn't care. They wanted the trains to run.
My best advice is to pick up one of those remote controls for Christmas trees.
You plug your power strip into it and plug it into the outlet. The remote looks
like that of a car alarm. Push the "on" button to turn on the trains, and push
the "off" button to turn them off. Set you trains to a constant speed. Show the
museum staff how to use it. When there are guests, they turn on the layout. When
they leave, they turn it off. This way the trains are not continuously running,
and therefore they won't overheat. We put super-magnets on our trains so that
with the sudden starting they won't pull apart. We use the ones Mat Clayson
suggested:
http://news.lugnet.com/org/us/baylug/?n=513
> Any advice or tales of how you worked something like this out greatly
> appreciated.
We have had only one very bad experience so far. Contact me offline if you want
the details.
> (1) Instead of the many 'wow....'(2) thoughts that could have sprung to
> mind when this opportunity came up, my first thought was 'no one will want
> to run their perhaps soon to be discontinued train motors for that long'.
I don't think that should be an issue. Museum shows are a great experience and
they are very fun.
> (2) Wow, what an opportunity. Wow, I've been so jealous of other clubs
> who have gotten to do this sort of thing. Wow, doing a longer show should
> be more relaxing, and we can add to it over time. Wow, this is such a
> cool space and we can add to the harbour to tie into the fact that it is
> the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. Wow, we'll get to meet a whole
> different bunch of people and maybe recruit more members. Wow, this will
> be great publicity for the club.....
They are a great opportunity. We were a little jealous before we started to do
them as well. Many of our mrmbers prefer museum shows because there is no
pressure to have to take it all down again after a couple of days. We constantly
add stuff to the layout during these shows. Many of our members have built local
landmarks to tie-in with the display. We don't get that many new members from
these shows, but they do trickle in. We have had great publicity from these. We
have been in local papers 2-3 times because of these shows. I have personally
been interviewed once for the paper and once on live TV as a direct result of
doing a museum show.
--
Russell Clark
President/Co-Founder, BayLTC/BayLUG
http://www.baylug.org/russellc/
Fire Chief, PCFD
There is a very fine line between
"hobby" and "mental illness".
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Questions about doing a museum show
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| I'm looking to pick the brains of clubs who have done longer duration shows, especially at a museum. NovaLUG (Nova Scotia, Canada) has been approached by a museum, but the longest show we have done before was one day setup and two day display. In (...) (18 years ago, 13-Jul-06, to lugnet.trains.org, lugnet.trains)
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