Where am I? How to help your operators figure that out

When I am operating on people's layouts, the most common question both myself and others have is "where am I?" on the layout, particularly if you are a new operator there.  Even on layouts where I operate often I still need to sort out what location I am at.  

My friend Tim has a small business that does laser cutting (Schist Lake Designs) and other work.  I asked him to design some signage for my layout that would help operators know where they are and what direction they are travelling.  

He sent me some PDF of the signs to review. I asked some others what they thought of them as far as readability, clarity, etc. We agreed on CN style lettering for the signs, along with CN and HBM&S logos. Once I was happy with the signage I gave the go ahead to get them done.  He used material with a white surface, giving a nice readable sign when it is cut.

I received the signs in the mail earlier this week, and I'll be putting them in place prior to my layout open house as part of the Railway Modellers Meet of BC coming up in late May. If you would like to take part in the meet register today.  

I think small touches like the signs will help the overall operating experience for visitors.  Now to get things up and running...