Well gang, I must apologize. It’s already the 5th of February as I sit to write this. I have been told that once you retire, you’re supposed to have all sorts of time to accomplish all the things you couldn’t while you were working. In my case, it seems it was a rather large miracle that I found 40 hours a week to work, time to commute and do some overtime now and then to help catch up with the bills. Great things are happening, so it’s good to be busy. I spent Saturday at the great scale train show in Timonium, Maryland. We had a couple of guys running our booth, hats off to them, and I wish to express my gratitude to all those who helped man the booth and answer questions and promote O Scale 2 rail. My wife and I had tables of goodies to sell so I was not at the Booth. I do not want to miss anybody so I’m not going to name names, but again, thanks to all of those who took a turn at the booth. Feedback was good; several folks reported that they would join; and an O Scale Primer book was sold. I heard from a show attendee that he was listing to a pod cast on the way up to the show and then stopped by the O Scale Central booth only to learn that the podcast star was our own Terry Terrance who was manning the booth! It is a small world. The weekend before I traveled to Springfield, Massachusetts for the Amherst show. It definitely has to be one of the top shows size wise. And they had people attending, lots of people. I spent a good portion of that time talking to vendors and dealers about what the O Scale Central can do to help promote O Scale 2 Rail. The Board of Directors is evaluating different advertising programs, and I hope we will be able to make a decision at our next board meeting on the 10th. Speaking of advertising, one of our newest members has offered to donate a TV stand that’s suitable for a 32-inch flatscreen TV. So now we need a 32-inch flatscreen TV. I will personally give you an “atta boy” if you want to step up and donate a TV. All I ask is that it would be in near new condition. And, if you have the original box, (Yea boxes are important. ha ha) the box would be valuable for us to transport and store the TV. If it makes more sense or is more convenient to make a donation, Walmart has a 32-inch with a built in DVD player for $119.00 on their web site. Contact me for a ship to address. Bruce@oscalekings.org

So, WHAT have you done since the 1st of the year to promote O Scale 2 Rail? We really need to get out there and show what O Scale 2 Rail is all about.

May I make some suggestions? Have an open house, even if your layouts not complete or even running, have an open house. I find that having an open house really motivates individuals to get things accomplished on their layouts. Even if it’s not possible to have trains running, you could set up a TV and just have some railroad videos running. It’s a good opportunity to show people what you’re working on, what challenges have presented themselves and problems you’ve overcome. Go to your local division of the NMRA and offer to give a clinic on something specifically related to O Scale 2 Rail. There are so many different facets of our hobby, it shouldn’t be hard to come up with something that you have some expertise on. Volunteer some time at a local club that’s not specifically O Scale 2 Rail. Get together with a couple of your friends for a rail fan trip (you could even search for that prototype center third rail — NO DON’T do that). Invite a few people over for some railroad movies. Build something for the contest / display room for the upcoming convention in St. Louis or the March Meet in Lombard, Illinois. Pick something you need information about, ask around for help and make new friends. Plan & make a trip to do local research with friends. While taking these trips, PLEASE be safe and do not trespass. If you have another way of promoting our hobby, please share with me. Bruce@oscalekings.org
Thanks, Bruce

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