Lets have some fun with this one....

Aw, look. That one's smoking. It's so cute.

What a pretty town.

(looks around train room) You will never move out of your parents house. (that one makes me want to literally kick them out!)

I get -

1. "How much money do you have invested in all this?" mind you I only have a 5' x 9' layout
2. "Ever consider selling?"
3. 'What does your wife think of all this?"

It always seems to be the "I know somebody that..." story, which is/was bigger, better, more expensive than yours. I don't want to toss them because it's part of human nature that I don't quite understand.

I assume it's a BRAIN CRAMP caused by not knowing what to say. it happens with any story. It's just annoys me, but not to the level of skunks, I just fart.

1. Oh look it smokes does it set off fire alarms

2. You should really come and see my friends layout it iis a lot bigger and more detailed

   (Skunks)

3.Why did you buy all of this when you could have bought Such and Such

We setup the Modular Layout several times a year. We get zingers all the time:

• "If I stole this from you, what would it cost you?" My answer was "Not as much as it would cost you"
• Pointing to a 3rd Rail engine "hey buddy, would you take $50 for this?"
• We always get the how much is this? And how much is that?

Gilly

My question is; Who are these jerks you are letting into your house?

I'm with Mark on this one.  You need to do a better job of screening your guests or friends.

Art

Same here. I wouldn't let those types of people even turn around in our drive way!

As previously stated; "screen your visitors". I usually get, "it's huge", "I didn't realize that the new trains do so much". I've had nothing but positive remarks & have never been asked "how much"?

MY friends and neighbors are not "train folks" and think my layout is great, they have not seen the pictures of the many SUPER LAYOUTS on this forum. 

Brent

Usually the how much does it cost question comes from somebody who accompanies an invited guest. My answer varies from "a couple hundred thousand" to "not as much as you might think" The later answer usually corresponds with the same questioner bragging about somebody else's layout that's so much more ..... than my display.

I don't normally answer with a serious response because I don't take the questioner seriously.

Usually the friends of my kids are in awe, mind you I don't have any scenery and usually there are trains littering every horizontal surface.

Maybe the funniest time was when I paid a friend of a friend come over and do the final connection and vacume test of the last HVAC I installed.  He seemed quiet and a bit nervous when he first got there, but as we talked about what I had done on the AC  in rep he relaxed and then he noticed the orange and blue boxes in some wall cabinets and asked about them we talked some about the trains and at some point during the install, I think will he had the vacume pulled, we went to the train room.  My wife came and scolded us later and forced us to finish the AC install .  Anyway, that guy was much like many of us, just a guy that likes trains, turns out he has an O gauge layout as well, so we hit it off great.  I'm just glad i didn't have to pay in in trains

Maybe we did a good job in screening visitors, or maybe not, but I have had only compliments that were not just window dressing.

Never had a negative incident.

Our guests are individuals attending public displays of the club's modular layout. We're dealing with John Q. Public. Despite it all, yes we have fun. However, in general the typical visitor is clueless to the cost of this hobby. If it's 3 rail, then it's "Lionel" and it's a waste of time even trying to explain otherwise. 

Gilly

Sorry but, the original poster was discussing HOME LAYOUT visitors. The people at "shows" are a whole different story, and should be treated accordingly.

"You really ought to be into model airplanes instead . . . ."

"Is your electric bill higher since you had all this?"

"Could you press the button to make all the little people move, too.?"

Wow. I never imagined this kind of Model Railroad???? Oh my Gosh....Never a Negative, and it's Always, Where do you find these Trains??? I Win Them???  

How about: "How fast can they go?"

It' s been my experience that everyone who is passionate about something wants it to be recognized by others for how special it is. Many times it's natural to be disappointed when they don't.

More often than not the situation has more to do with lack of knowledge or understanding as opposed to condescension.  So I try to be pretty understanding of those who might not get it.

Also, I've been in enough situations where my friends are gaga crazy excited about something and I'm wondering to myself ......"huh? Really?"  I see their excitement and try to ask more open ended questions like...."tell me about this....." Or "why did you choose this particular .........?"

In the end I learn a lot about what people I care about are interested in and riciprocally I'm always happy to share my interests too.

I get the "Wow, that looks like such a fun project". Um no, ive got thousands of hours of actual work invested

"Joe, you sure are talented."

Ah yes, I forgot this one. I tell them that it costs $1,000 per crash, but since they are good friends, I'll only charge them $500

Well...I get a variety of comments when folks visit but usually, and especially from non-model railroaders, a lot of exclamations.  But I do get the one question that somewhat irritates me..."How much did all this cost"....?  I have never understood this question as it seems rude.  It is akin to me asking them how much they have spent on this or that.  But...I usually answer "Gosh...I really haven't kept up with how much" to "several million" which is not accurate but was the answer to a guest of a guest who was particularly "loud" about how much he spent on his hobby and was trying to impress us...so I thought I would shut him up!!  Worked pretty well...!

Alan

Depending on the person asking the question first response might be "Less then it costs to hang out in bars" or if I am a bit more cranky "Not near as much as you paid the Plastic Surgeon for your wife's ____ job(fill in the blank).

I don't have a layout at present but have about 100-120 modern era O scale locomotives on display. I get:

From other train people:

"Would you sell me that XXXX??, I really need IT for MY collection" 

From the occasional non train visitor:

"I didn't know they still made Lionel trains"

"I had a train like that one when I wuz a kid"

"Did you build all those from kits?"

"I like the GREEN one an' I like that BLUE one,I likes them red an' green ones with the antennas (GG1's).that silver one is purdy too"

"What does your wife think about this?"

and occasionally the growner,"What did this all cost?" 

the financial questions are generally just rude. I do, however answer them honestly. "Less than $250,000"

It isn't a lie.

Now that you mention it, it's been a long time since I've heard that "How much is all this worth?" nonsense.  But the last time I did, my answer was "I have no idea, since I'm not planning on selling it."

Generally, I don't get stupid comments about my layout.  But then, I seldom invite stupid people into my basement.

I had this happen once.  I have a n=scale layout in one room under construction and the O 3 rail is in another room.  I was showing off the progress of both layouts and left the n-scale running while I showed my progress on the O.  When I came back out the n-scale trains were on their side and the kid that originally asked claimed they didn't touch anything.

I've had plenty of friends and family over to see the layout.  By far the most common question is, "Grandpa, when do I get a turn?"

Because my layout is in the garage, whoever is taking a look is usually on their way to something else..into the house itself or the backyard patio.  So the comments are generally kind but abbreviated.  And it's something to do with smoke.  It's always about the smoke!!!  "That's so cool."  "What scent is that, etc."

Alan, maybe next time you get hit with the "how much" question, you should counter that with, "can't recall...btw how much does your wife weigh these days??"  

- Mike

My answer to the cost question is "I don't know, I just paid for things as I needed them and I didn't keep track. It's a hobby." 

Now, I love when kids come see the layout, but the other day a family that lives in my community came over.  The mother had the gall to ask me if her youngest son, who coincidently was suspended from year-round school last week for destroying school property, could run my layout because “he wanted to make the trains go fast”. 

"CUTE!"

Of my three hobbies the "cute" comment just curdles me the most in all of them.  Trains, cars, and guns.

"CUTE" my wrinkled tired old butt.

It's rare that I am able to show people my trains, but when I've mentioned my involvement in the hobby to people, one of the most common questions I've been asked is: "How big is the track?"  When I respond with track gauge, I find out they are actually asking about layout size (to them it's just "track").

One I would often get when I was in school was something like: "Do you make it jump through hoops?"  (As if it were a Hot Wheels race track set!!! )

Aaron

I guess I've been lucky with my guests.  No one has ever asked about cost. My layout is far from complete and does not come close to those I see on the forum, yet most people are blown away by what they view as complexity, control panel and display of trains.  

The biggest comment I get is folks asking if they can bring their children/grandchildren back on the next visit. 

Hopefully I never get the "whats' it cost" or the "I have a friend whose layout is bigger, etc".  I don't respond very well to rude people.

Ed

My layout is in my garage and no one really see's them unless I or my wife makes a point to mention them. I personally don't care what others think or say. It's MY hobby for MY entertainment and MY wife and daughter fully support it.

I'm sure those who may say a disparaging word also has a thing or two that others could put down. Glass houses you know.

The comment I most often get when people learn of my trains is "I (my father, brother, uncle etc.) used to have a set of trains . . . They were the big ones"