I enjoy watching trains run around a track as much as any child. However, as I increase my skills and learn what things can be done I become increasingly less interested in a oval of track nailed to a piece of plywood with a few toys running around it. I recently was vending at a train show when I noticed that there was a small "Micro Layout" near my booth. It was drawing an amazing amount of attention. I saw people look at a layout that was less than 4 square feet total for over an hour. This layout was top notch don't get me wrong, but I was amazed at the response it was getting from visitors. This got me talking to the creator (Ian) of the layout about doing some modeling classes. He was interested in the idea and we talked about some possibilities. With that all said I am happy to say that we will soon be launching a hands on modeling series called "Getting beyond the train set". This series will be taught by Ian (if he agrees to it, PLEASE) it will most likely be Saturdays and in the class we will teach some folks to build a "Micro Layout" like Wingett's recycling (pictured above) from concept to operation in around 8 sessions for 100 dollars or less. There will be no charge for the class other than we will ask that you purchase your products from our store. So if you are interested in this how to series contact us at (763) 856-2140 and we will get you on the list.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Getting beyond the train set
I enjoy watching trains run around a track as much as any child. However, as I increase my skills and learn what things can be done I become increasingly less interested in a oval of track nailed to a piece of plywood with a few toys running around it. I recently was vending at a train show when I noticed that there was a small "Micro Layout" near my booth. It was drawing an amazing amount of attention. I saw people look at a layout that was less than 4 square feet total for over an hour. This layout was top notch don't get me wrong, but I was amazed at the response it was getting from visitors. This got me talking to the creator (Ian) of the layout about doing some modeling classes. He was interested in the idea and we talked about some possibilities. With that all said I am happy to say that we will soon be launching a hands on modeling series called "Getting beyond the train set". This series will be taught by Ian (if he agrees to it, PLEASE) it will most likely be Saturdays and in the class we will teach some folks to build a "Micro Layout" like Wingett's recycling (pictured above) from concept to operation in around 8 sessions for 100 dollars or less. There will be no charge for the class other than we will ask that you purchase your products from our store. So if you are interested in this how to series contact us at (763) 856-2140 and we will get you on the list.
The opening
On December, 19th we opened the doors of our new store to the public. It was a slow day (due to no advertising) but an exciting one for me. I chose not to advertise a Grand Opening due to the uncertainties of the first day. Things like forgetting to order bags for checkout. The store is small and the shelves are not as loaded as I would like to see but these things will improve as we learn more and grow the business. We want the store to be a place that people feel comfortable and want to hang around, drink some coffee and work on models. As I began to set up the store I realized I had greatly under estimated the amount of time it would take to set up all the shelves, decide where to place all the product and price it. So while I had planned to have it all ready to go for the first day, I did not and was still setting up when the doors opened and 10 a.m. It made little difference to anyone that showed up and I even put one to work (Thanks, Ian) helping me set up shelves. All in all the first day was a success in my eyes and gaves me great excitement about the future.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
RailPictures.net
One day I was searching Google for some pictures of the DM&IR R.R.(Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range). I was having some success but I hit the jackpot when I found http://www.railpictures.net/. This site is amazing! There is thousands of photos of each railroad. They have a rule that you can only post photos that you have taken. The photos are categorized in many ways, you can perform searches as general as most popular or as detailed as a locomotives number. I especially like looking at the Peoples choice photos. Some of these are amazing. The author of the post usually writes a few words about the photo and where and when it was taken. I find this site to be a great resource for modeling. The photos can show you what the color of trees are in British Columbia in October for example. I also like to look at the derailments category. It really amazes me how they can even clean up some of those. I use this site mainly to find backgrounds for my computer. All being said have spent many hours looking at the photos on this site and it never ceases to amaze me. Check it out if you dare. Warning! this site is addictive.
Vision
After some talking with my Senior editor (wife) she advised me to have our first post include some information about what I vision for this Blog. With that in mind I had to do some thinking about what my vision was. I would like this blog to serve multiple purposes. First, I want family, friends and customers to read about, and see photos of what I am currently up to with my hobbies and our store. Second, I want to archive my progress on my hobbies. Third, I want to promote our hobby store and would like to linking this blog to the store website (not yet done) and show product reviews and tests.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)