Today's Pet Peeve - Use of Tables at Train Shows

["Ira Schneider" <ira_schneider@iname.com>]

Hi,

For those of you who have been around for a while, you know I occasionally sound off
about my latest pet peeve.  It has been a while, so here is today's rant and rave.

We generally have a few tables inside our layout at a train show.  These tables
are for all members to share.  We normally use them to stage trains on and off
the layout.  Members will unpack their trains on the table so they can put them
onto a track.  When a member is finished running a train, he will take his
trains of fthe layout and put them on a table while he is packing them up for
storage.  This normally only takes a few minutes.  Members usually store their
trains under the layout or under the tables, out of the way of the other members.

In my opinion, it is rather unfair for a member to monopolize one or more tables
all day to store his trains.  At the show this past weekend, one member had
one table entirely full of train cars and a second table half full of boxed trains
for a portion of Saturday and all day on Sunday.  I feel this is inconsiderate
behavior.  We have to share these tables.  Trains should be stored under
the tables or the layout, not on top of the tables.

Also, even though it didn't happen at this show, members sometimes leave
trains on the tracks (especially on the sidings) over night, intending to use
them early the next morning.  Again, if the member doesn't get to the show
bright and early the next morning, we have a track (or a siding) which
contains trains which the members who are there have to remove to be
able to use these tracks.  In my opinion, this is also behavior which we
should discourrage.

We have limited resources (i.e. tracks, table space, etc.) and we have to
share them among all of the members.

Please keep this in mind for future shows.  (The opinions stated above are my
personal opinions, not club policy.)

Thanks for listening to my rantings.


Ira