The Columbus  Garden Railway Society's Dispatcher Program

This is a voluntary program designed to help CGRS garden tour hosts during the annual garden railroad tour which is the Sunday AFTER labor day.

Many hosts have requested help for handling the large crowds we get for our annual garden tour. We want to find volunteers among CGRS members to help out garden hosts.

Real railroads have teams of "Dispatchers" - folks who's responsibility it is to handle train movements and keep the trains running. CGRS volunteer Dispatchers will help out garden tour hosts with running trains and/or answering visitor questions.

One big advantage of being a Dispatcher is that it is a lot of fun running trains and interacting with the general public. One big disadvantage of being a Dispatcher is that you won't be able to tour other railroads while you're busy helping out tour hosts.

We want to minimize that disadvantage. So, on a voluntary basis, some garden hosts will open their garden railroads to Dispatchers on the day before the tour. The host's railroads may well be unstaffed and not operating, but anyway, the Dispatchers will get a sneak peek at the railroads. Some hosts may want to head out and get a sneak peek at other railroads themselves.

Like I said, this program is voluntary. It worked last year so we're doing it again.

Interested persons are requested to fill out the form below. Return the forms to Richard Abler, coordinator of the CGRS garden tour. Richard will act as the "clearing house" for Dispatchers and tour hosts requesting help. (If you have already made arrangements to help out a tour host do not fill out this form.)

Sneak peek hours yet to be arranged.

Deadline: Information must be in Richard's hands by September 1st. 
Assignments and Sneak Peak info will be snail-mailed or, preferably, emailed after the September 1st deadline.