Pointers on 1st time Tour Leader

[Fixitphil]

I need some pointers on leading a Model A a one day tour for the first time. About 180 miles round trip.
Thanks, Phil

[Tom Wesenberg]

As Brent said, list the miles and road names from each turn to the next.
Also see if there are gas stations along the route that sell good gas without the corn crap, and list them.

[SeaSlugs]

Every town has some form of history or another. Some havent looked like theyve been updated since the 50's

[Curly]

Don’t go too fast. 50 mph is too fast.

[CarlG]

You might want to re-think that now that you have your new tires & wheels (:>)

[Ray Horton]

This is some of what I try to do for each tour I lead.

1a. Provide a route map with the cell phone # of the leader.
1. Avoid high traffic city driving with lots of stop lights.
2. Minimize left turns across busy highways.
3. Stick to back country and small roads as much as possible. Avoid freeways. (I never take a tour on a freeway or an unpaved road.)
4. Schedule regular potty stops, especially on a long tour like you’re planning.
5. Have a lunch plan.
6. Try to find historic sites or photo ops along the way, or as your tour destination.
7. Designate a trouble car to bring up the rear, and have the ability to communicate with it in case someone has to stop or gets lost.
8. Advise drivers to be aware of traffic and let non-tour traffic pass. Use turnouts when you can and as necessary to let other traffic pass.
9. Provide water for each participant.
10. Have a fun ancillary event, like a visual scavenger hunt for things to find along the route, and provide small prizes.
11. Make sure every car meets operational safety: brakes, lights, horn, wipers.
12. If you have modern iron in the tour, let the Model A’s be in front and require the moderns to be at the end.
13. Gauge your speed to the slowest vehicle in the group so the cars don’t get too spread out, separated, lost, or left behind.
14. Tell every driver to watch the car behind, and if that car stops, tell them they must stop too, when safe to do so. This will stop the tour so proper action can be taken regarding the first car that had to stop. This is very important!
15. Carry basic emergency equipment: flares, first aid materials, tow ropes. Every car should carry a jack, crank, wheel block, small tool kit, adequate spare tire, and a fire extingusher (and know how to properly use it).

Many clubs have a touring rules list that each tour leader is asked to follow, and there are probably more complete tour planning documents on the MAFCA and MARC web sites.

[H. L. Chauvin]

Hi Ray,

Like No. 14.

On Military Convoys years ago, we used this same No. 14 "Safety Feature" of a driver stopping while watching other following vehicles stopping behind. Best to stay together in a group ----- one never knows what can happen.

[JDupuis]

Ok Phil, make sure you have it mapped out and written up at least a month in advance. Have another member drive it, you can ride along, but go strictly on your written instructions. You learn alot about how difficult it is to plan tours, once you've done your own.
A lot of stops along the way can be anything of interest. Make sure you keep the ladies in mind when doing some of the stops. Example: antique shop, curiosity shops, ect... Do you have any goat farms near you? Ice cream stops. Other members or friends personal collections to tour? Restaurants that can handle the crowd? Is there a fuel stop? If not make sure "everyone" knows to have enough fuel before heading out on tour.
I usually plan on roads that I feel safe to let my 90 year old In-laws drive on.
Setting up a tour is alot of work, once you get the hang of it, it becomes rewarding. Good Luck. I know you will do fine!
Jeff

[Mitch]

Wow it is certainly a lot of work. I wonder if Phil still wants to lead!

[Ray Horton]

I need some pointers on leading a Model A a one day tour for the first time. About 180 miles round trip.
Thanks, Phil

180 miles! That is pretty ambitious for a first tour!

[Big hammer]

Don’t try and do a parade!
Pre- run your planed route take good notes
provide a good map from your notes
Enjoy the trip, take a lot of pictures! We like pictures :-)

[Mike V. Florida]

I need some pointers on leading a Model A a one day tour for the first time. About 180 miles round trip.
Thanks, Phil

Get someone else to do it.

[BNCHIEF]

My friend and I have put on two national Model T tours good directions are key, avoid busy roads at all costs, good directions and check for last minute closures or road work that can bite you.

[JDupuis]

Yes, BNCHIEF is right, check for road closures. I did a tour once based on the antique bridges in our area. I only found out the week before the tour that they closed one road and two bridges on my route. I had some last minute scrambling to re-route and re-write the tour.
Jeff

[BNCHIEF]

So much fun huh, Jeff

[carolinamudwalker]

I found that if you have 8-10 model "A"s on a long tour you have an accordion effect where the cars in in the back are constantly riding there brakes or speeding up to catch up. I would consider splitting into two groups, overdrives and non overdrives with planed stops. I am not comfortable driving 35-40 on a 70 mph road. I have been rear ended by an 18 wheeler in a VW and don't want to repeat it in a model A. Our tours are long and you can not always avoid the highways. One big sore spot with me is people with cars that are not set up for touring. I actually had a member with one tail light, no turn signals, would not drive over 35 ask me and my wife if we would mind bringing up the rear because he was afraid of being rear ended. When I asked him why he did not add a second tail light his answer was he did not like the look. No longer in the club

[CM2]

He didn't have any arms?if he drove with his feet he could stick those out the window..

[Mitch]

This was from the French Lick tour. A direct result of the accordion effect and possibly poor brakes.
I have this hanging on my office wall


4F5D7207-56BA-497F-BE56-DB54BDC833B5.jpeg

[carolinamudwalker]

Mitch, I tried to print this for our club meeting on seat belts but could not. Damn computer wont do what I tell it also cant spell & does not know proper grammar.

[BNCHIEF]

I myself am not responsible for anything I write because my computer does all of it.

[Ray Horton]

How did the accordian effect cause this?

[Mitch]

From what i heard the line stopped and he tried to avoid hitting the car in front.

[Fixitphil]

Wow guys!!! You've given me a lot to think about, that's for sure.
I do have an "Old Hand" that is mentoring me and I'm actually going to let him lead and I'll bring up the rear.
I'm about 1 1/2 months out and am driving the route this Sunday. my wife will drive and follow my directions and I'll take a lot of note.
By now I have a long list (with all of your help) of the car prep, rules of the road (so-ta-speak), maps, cell phones, etc.
A lot of what you suggested is going to ad to my list.
I know that I'll probably wished I took "Mike V., Florida's" advice but I've got to jump in sometime.
Thanks Guys.

[BNCHIEF]

If no one does it then it will die. Good for you.

[SeaSlugs]

Don’t try and do a parade!
Pre- run your planed route take good notes
provide a good map from your notes
Enjoy the trip, take a lot of pictures! We like pictures :-)

yea deff run the route in a modern car. If CA is anything like IL half the roads in real life arent marked (or marked at all) the same way google maps likes to name them. Maybe take note of any landmarks at turns as some people cannot read street signs anymore.

[Gil]

You can please all the people some of the time,
you can please some of the people all the time,
but you can't please all the people all the time.

Remember this.
Gil. NoCal

[BNCHIEF]

Gil the people who complain are usually the ones who would never do it themselves and then wonder why nobody does it. Do it and do not worry about it.

[Bob Giles]

I think the idea of a scavenger hunt is a great idea. What items do you look for?

[BNCHIEF]

A lot of car clubs do that and it does seem to be popular, pick places that interest both the men and women on the tour as well.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Factory tours are great. On one of our Model A day trips the leader took us to a fiberglass factory, and I was amazed at the products they make and what a big operation it was. Other day trips we visited a guy's very large antique car collection. He had his cars stacked by using double car 4 post hoists. I'd never heard of a double car hoist before.

[BNCHIEF]

Great ideas and points Brent

[arvon]

We use c b radios to keep in touch with the leader. Have been on many tours over the past 30 years and it helps a lot.

[arvon]

Each to his own Brent.

[Mitch]

You need to be in contact with the leader, because they look out for the smokeys. This allows the rest of the field to haul ass through the town

[BNCHIEF]

Convoy! Lost 1 this here's Lost 2 where we at son?

[BNCHIEF]

All kidding aside the model t groups I have run with never use a cb, we do use a cellphone and we usually have one or two trouble trucks along everyone has two phone numbers the tour leader and the trouble truck. Good directions most dangerous thing folks do is bunch up and ride everyone's tail, with good directions follow them leave plenty of room for folks to pass you safely, after all they have places to be we don't. Now I know a lot of folks in the model a group do have cb's and feel the need for them me I never found them to be that effective because of range electrical noise etc. Gotta agree with Brent on this one and I have put on a couple of MTFCA national tours and what Brent said about writing directions is spot on.

[Fixitphil]

Wow. Again guys. When a Model A'er ask for advice you get it from all sides. This is so good. If I follow all of this advice I can't go wrong. LOL.
Thanks again to all of you VFF'ers. You guys always come through.

[Ray Horton]

Phil, the number of cars on the tour can influence how you organize it. If it’s less than 20 cars and not much city traffic it’s a different problem than a national tour with more than a hundred. Typically our club tours are 10-20 cars, and I’ve done many of these over my 48 years in our club.

I organized the grand tour for the 1984 MAFCA National Meet in Portland, and we had about 225 cars. I got ten leaders to each take a group of 20 or so cars, and we went out at five-minute intervals. This minimized the impact on regular traffic, and made for an orderly and quick departure. It was a circular route, so five groups, about 100 cars, went one direction, and five went the other. It was fun for the two groups to meet each other going the opposite direction, seeing 100 Model A’s coming toward you as you were driving your Model A. Only one leader missed his turn and got lost with his group, but it all worked out. The tour was about 125 miles, and went through some small towns, where the local police felt they had to escort us (that wasn’t necessary, but we couldn’t avoid it). If your tour is going to be that size and in that kind of situation, let the local police department know your plan.

Please keep us informed of how your planning is going, and ultimately give us the story of how it went.

[Bob Giles]

A scavenger hunt with a camera is a great idea. I’m planning a Tour right now and it will be included.

[Denis4x4]

The Speedster Reunion tours have some very detailed route maps. They also show two routes to the same destination: one for faster cars and one for slower cars.