2009 Doubleheaders Layout Tour

In four videos

Last weekend (March 28) was the annual Doubleheaders Layout Tour which we took part in once again. This is the 14th year that we have participated in the festivities, but now we go there instead of people coming here. Since Burford is a bit of a drive from the K-W area, about 40 minutes, I don’t think too many would make the trip and it would not be worth the effort for us, so instead we loaded up the layout and set it up at the registration hall in Cambridge. The advantage of this is that it is over for us a 3:00 pm and we get to visit with all the people going on the tour, not just the ones who come to us.

In the first video above, we show the process of dismantling the layout for transport. Vita and I loaded it all into the van Friday evening, a process that currently takes about 40 minutes. As more detail is added to the layout this will surely start to take longer as more items will need to be packed up.

There are boxes for all the models, and soon I will also build crates for the layout sections as well as it takes a beating moving it as it is.

Early Saturday morning we head to Cambridge and set up the layout. The registration building for the tour is open from 9:00am to 3:00pm. Attendees show up there, pay their $5.00 and receive a booklet with descriptions and maps to the various layouts. This year there were about 40 open in the area. On a good day you can see about 10, so it is a multi-year event to see all there is to see.

Set up in the hall is a small theater where short videos of each layout is played on a continuous loop, along with a couple picture of each. People can spend a bit of time here to determine which layouts interest them, then plot their routes based on the maps in the booklets and on the walls. GPS coordinates are now included as well to make the hunt much easier.

This year there was about half a dozen layouts being exhibited in the hall, which gives attendees a bit of an appetizer for the day, this is where we set up the Bronx Terminal.

After we packed up the layout, we decided to head over to John Cantwell’s layout, which was open as part of the tour. While there I shot a bit of video of his latest project in On30. Some might recognize John as he worked for Fast Tracks about two years ago.

With the tour behind us, the layout is set back up the next day.

The erection process goes much quicker, as can be seen in this video.

Once again, the tour for us was fun and a great success. Not sure what the final numbers were, but typically there are between 800-1200 registered. The weather can play a big role on attendance, and this year it was warm and sunny, which always reduces the numbers as misguided people stay home and rake the lawn or other such nonsense.

Tips for playing videos

If you have a weak connection, like we do here, getting the videos to play smoothly takes a bit of coaxing. The best way to watch these is in HD. This can be done with any type of connection, but will take longer on a slower service. Start the video, then click on the “HD” button once it shows up. Then, pause the video and wait for it to steam in for a while. A pink progress line will show the progress, once it is about half way across the progress bar the video can be started again and should play smoothly to the end.

On a page with multiple videos, such as this one, I like to start each one and pause it until all of them have loaded, then come back a few minutes later and watch them. Waiting for the larger HD versions is well worth it.

Enjoy!

-T.

About the Author:

I'm your host, Tim Warris, a product developer in Port Dover, Ontario. Since March of 2007 I have been documenting the construction of the former CNJ Bronx Terminal in HO scale. For my day job, I design track building tools for Fast Tracks, a small company I own and operate. Fast Tracks makes it fast and easy to hand lay your own trackwork. Stop by our website to learn more!

Posted by: Tim | 03-31-2009 | 10:03 AM
Posted in: Latest Posts | Video