From the Dome Car: Train 11 Track 4 (March, 2002)

 

One thing about Morgan that can’t be denied: He was an enthusiastic promoter of the hobby of model railroading! Whenever and however he could, he found ways to help others, especially kids, learn about the hobby—as this Dome Car shows. 

That commitment to showing off the hobby included his decision to make collectible train cards, which he freely gave out to kids at shows across the country. Maybe some of you still have some! When I helped clean out his basement following his death, we found boxes and boxes of cards that his widow donated to the local model railroad club to give away at train shows. Morgan would be pleased to know he is still promoting the hobby from beyond the grave! 

In February I received a letter from the president of a model railway club in Beaconsfield, Quebec which gives me hope for the future of this wonderful hobby. 

In the letter, he told me how delighted he was when we announced the release of the President's Choice train set, and how he had waited eagerly for its arrival at his local Loblaws store. Little did he know that later efforts revolving around this scenario would pay big dividends for the rest of us! 

As most readers know, we at Canadian Railway Modeller magazine have joined with Kalmbach Publishing and other major model train manufacturers from the U.S. to promote a program called 'The World's Greatest Hobby'. It's a campaign to introduce the general public to our great hobby of model railroading in much the same way that clubs, modular groups, train show organizers, Internet web sites and hobby shops do when they put on shows and displays. But who would have thought that this could be accomplished in a grocery store! 

Enter our letter-writer from Quebec. He said that, after talking with the store manager at his local Loblaws store about the President's Choice train set, and explaining the significance of this obvious out-of-place product, the manager agreed to allow the local West Island Modular Train Club, of which he and an employee of the store belong, to set up their HO scale club modules and run trains in the store's demonstration room for a weekend. 

The 'event' was advertised for free in the local community newspaper, flyers were put up in the community and preparations were made for the big weekend. During the show, club members ran trains—including, of course, the PC Bullet-Nosed Express—and answered questions about model railroading.

Naturally, they also handed out copies of this magazine with the PC train set article in it. 

The results were phenomenal! Over 500 customers stopped to watch trains and talk about the hobby. The manager also offered the use of the store's video equipment on which 'how to’ modelling videos were shown on Saturday and steam train tapes, including CNR 6060, were shown on Sunday. Many people expressed the hope that they would present the display again. 

Our hobby is one that can obviously be promoted in many ways, as is evident by efforts such as this. Our compliments go to our friends in Quebec, and to everyone else who promotes model railroading. The vast majority of us got into this hobby because we were introduced to it early in life. It's the same today; we need to create interest in young people so, when they grow into adulthood, they'll remember seeing those trains or that bit of video and make the choice to take up the hobby of model railroading in a more personal way—just as we did. 

If you or your group have any plans to promote our wonderful hobby in some unique way such as this, we'd like to hear about it. Drop me a line at the magazine and we'll follow up on it for our readers. We have pamphlets avail able outlining this promotion that you can use at your event. Yes, this is the World's Greatest Hobby!