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The Traditional Pass
The traditional or cardstock pass is the oldest
form of pass exchanged between modelers and has been around for a good
fifty years. They can be framed for
display on the wall, you can use pins in a map to show where they come
from or you can simply collect them.
They can be produced on anything from a mimeograph machine to a
professional printer and the home computer printer.
This business-card document today represents an
open invitation to the owner for a visit to the home layout and still can
be found at club meetings and conventions but is most often exchanged
through the mail. Most pass
collectors will include a letter that often includes a few simple
checkboxes such as:
__ Thanks for your pass
__ Here is my pass in
return for the one you sent
__ Enclosed is my pass
__ Could you please
send me your pass?
There is usually some form of other enclosure
ranging from a fictional history of the railroad, a biography or some
sort of humorous materials such as jokes or witty sayings. I have also seen very nicely done
fictitious stock certificates suitable for framing. These are sometimes sold for a few
dollars to help defray the cost of trading passes as well as to provide
something interesting to hang on the wall.
The hardest part of collecting of course is
finding new names to trade with.
The NMRA Bulletin carries a list of new names every month and you
can get a list of currently active traders. Some collectors will give you the names
of a few friends for you to try.
Other publications will post lists from time to time.
Stock
I have several passes that where printed on
plain paper but most use some kind of cardstock. Ask for Heavyweight Cardstock between
90 and 110 lbs for a good heavy paper.
This is light enough to pass through your printer yet heavy enough
to endure a bit of handling. If you
want a colored background and want to save on ink ask for a light color
such as buff, salmon or light green etc.
NOTE: be sure that if you purchase anything over 8-1/2 wide your
printer will handle it. BEWARE:
printing the background color of a printed pass eats color ink cartridges
like crazy.
 You can buy “business card” stock that is
perforated for easy separation but this is a bit more expensive, it is
usually a lighter-weight stock and your selection in colors is
limited. I prefer to cut mine
apart using a hobby knife. If you
do it this way you can make things easier by printing a small ‘+’
symbol. Just line the edge of a
steel ruler up and cut without having to measure.
A nice finishing touch is to use a punch to
round the corners to a 1/8 – Ľ radius.
Expenses
Pass collecting can be fun but no matter how
cheap you make the pass there will always be certain expenses. Postage within the USA is $0.39, to Mexico or Canada it is $0.60 and to the
rest of the world it is $0.80.
There is also the cost of the cardstock, envelope, and printer
ink. I figure each pass costs
about a dollar to make and mail and it takes about an hour to reply to a
pass I have received
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