Saturday March 28, 2009
Its that time of year again, time for the Doubleheaders Layout Tour!
Like last year, we will be setting up the CNJ Bronx Terminal at the registration hall. If you are planning on coming that day, be sure to drop by and say “Hi”
Here is a list of all the layouts open this year, with a picture and short description.
View Larger Map
-T.
January 24, 25, 2009
While at the Springfield train show last weekend I took a few pictures, well, 650 to be precise. I narrowed that down to 50 or 60 of the more interesting ones, which I will post here.
This is a collection of what I saw and did at the show. There is much I missed, as this is a huge show and covers lots of space. When I did manage to get away from our booth, I took a few pictures. All the images are clickable for a larger version. If you are on a slower connection it is best to wait until the entire page has loaded.
Enjoy.
We got there early on Friday morning. I really wanted to beat the set up rush, plus I was hoping for some time to wander around. When we set up we were pretty much the only ones there.
Here, Clark and I are setting up some of the track on my layout.
Doing a bit of socializing while setting up. Talking here with the owner of Allied Model Trains in California. One of the nicest people you will ever meet.
The Bronx Terminal all set up. This goes quite quick, takes about 45 minutes. Currently.
Around this time all the other vendors and displays were starting to show up. This layout, in the back of a pickup, started out as a summer scene.
Fast Tracks booth all set up, ready for the hordes.
With the booth all set up, I did a bit of a walkabout. Not far from us was Scenic Express, their booth was very interesting to browse. Lots of scenic stuff, mostly O scale, and very cool. They must have set up very early as it was completely up when we arrived.
This O scale brass lift bridge model was built in 1938! Could be as old as the prototype.
Hundreds of bugs
The cows seem to be enjoying the show.
I thought they were going to use these instead of golf carts to get around. They didn’t.
The Dry Hill club modular layout. A very impressive set up with a HUGE yard, capacity for several hundred cars. This modern layout was very well modeled, they managed to capture the look of this scene perfectly. Don’t think I have seen roads accurately modeled, but they managed to do it right.
Clever…
They were kind enough to set up tents between the four buildings. Saved people from having to walk outside. They were nice deep freezers.
A nicely lit model.
The required fire scene on every layout.
A very nice collection of vehicles for sale. I was surprised to see at the end of the show that not too many had been sold. I thought $45 each was pretty reasonable.
Early Saturday, the crowds arrived.
Clark, Terry and Andy showing off the tools. Clark froze, every time the front doors opened we got a blast of frozen air.
Some of the crowd early Saturday. This was one of four buildings.
A few people having a look at the layout.
Ted(?) Lew White, from Tony’s Trains Exchange had a great model of CNJ 1000, the oil electric locomotive that worked the CNJ Bronx Terminal for several decades. He was kind enough to let me display it on the layout during the show. Its very well done, painted correctly and had a DCC sound decoder installed.
I left my brass loco with one of the installers from Tony’s, he will be installing a sound decoder in it for me.
A good summary of the mood.
Me photographing Clark photographing me photographing him.
Back to the Dry Hill layout. This time with rolling stock.
A great model from Seaport Model Works
I bought one for the layout, looking forward to getting started on it!
Its the Turbo Tree!
Thanks Turbo Tree!
The Narragansett Bay Railway & Navigation Company. A fantastic On30 modular layout.
It took a while to realize why I liked this layout so much. It was because they have used Fast Tracks turnouts! I thought I recognized the design of the ties. I drew them.
With the show over, and 19,200 people through the buildings, we started the tear down. With all the extra help we had, this was done in less than an hour!
We all decided to have dinner after the show at a local Mexican restaurant. A good time was had by all. Jean and Dan from Rapido Trains joined us for dinner, their table was right next to us at the show.
They are making guacamole fresh at the table, very tasty!
That pretty much wrapped up the show, except for the 7 hour drive back home. The drive was uneventful and boring….
There was a long reunion with the dogs upon our arrival late Monday night. All was right with the world.
-T.
aka SPRINGFIELD
January 24th and 25th, 2009
Well it took a bit of negotiating, but we managed to snag some space at the largest train show in the US, located in West Springfield, MA. Fast Tracks will be there as will the CNJ Bronx Terminal layout.
If you plan on attending, look for us in the main building!
-T.
