Showtime: 2016 Railroad Hobby Show Preview

On my way to the Young Building...

By the time you are reading this, I will be all packed up and on my way to the Eastern States Exposition for the show.  Setup starts today and continues tomorrow in preparation for when the show opens to the public on Saturday morning.  It is a lot of work for the 450+ vendors and exhibitors to have everything ready by the time the show opens and it is always a bit hectic.  Fortunately, our club is allowed in early which takes off some of the pressure during setup.

Just a few reminders, the show will be open this Saturday and Sunday, January 30 and 31, 2016. On Saturday, doors will be open from 9 am to 5 pm.  On Sunday, the show will be open from 10 am to 5 pm.  The Tribute to Springfield layout will be on display at Section 85 in the Young Building along with the HO and G scale layouts from the Mohegan Pequot Model Railroad Club.  We are right in the center of the building and tough to miss.

As a reminder, below are some links to official show sites if you need up to the minute information.

• Railroad Hobby Show Official Website
• List of Exhibitors
• Show Map
• Amherst Railway Society Facebook Page

I hope you make it to the show at some point this weekend and if you stop by the layout, feel free to say hi.  Looking forward to seeing you at the show!

Wordless Wednesday: 1987 Railroad Hobby Show

Layout Update Mondays: Two Minute Drill

An overview of the layout with less than 72 hours until the truck arrives.

As I have for many years, I spent the NFL Championship weekend in the shop feverishly working on a layout for Springfield with the games on in the background.  In some ways, I feel like every year at this time, preparing the layout is always a two minute drill - a mad rush to have everything looking good for the "Big Game."  Even though the plan wasn't to have the layout done for this year, I still want it to look somewhat complete which means there was a lot to finish over the weekend.

One project I wanted to finish was a billboard for along Memorial Avenue.  This was scratchbuilt and designed so that the signage can be changed.  The top of the billboard is removable and the sign was printed on cardstock which slips into the frame. This year, for the 100th anniversary of the spur, I created a billboard using the Eastern States Exposition's Centennial Logo.

The billboard along Memorial Avenue with the sign celebrating the Big E's 100th.

One project which I wasn't planning on having ready for the show this year was the Mallary Complex.  However, to tease the project for next year, I added a construction site. Construction fencing, with billboards promoting the building, were added around the perimeter of the site and stakes were added to outline the footprint of the structure.

The Mallary Complex construction site.

While almost everything I wanted done for this year is ready to go for the show, there is one big project which isn't ready yet - the Young Building.  For some strange reason, the red paint is curing very slowly.  I need it dry so that I can add the mortar.  My hope is that it will be ready to go later today so that I have enough time to finish the exterior of the building. As they like to do in Hollywood, this is the cliff hanger I'll leave you with for the week.  If you stop by the show, you'll find out if I made it - otherwise you'll have to tune in here to the blog next week for the show recap...

Will the paint dry on the Young Building in time for the show?

Exhibitor Thursday: Mohegan Pequot HO Scale

Dan Delany's Brookside Farm Module on the club's layout.

Exhibitor Spotlight Name: Mohegan Pequot - HO Scale Years at the Show: 29 Display Style: Modular Layout Type: Model Railroad Club Size: 42'x72' Present Location: Young Building Past Location: Better Living Center Home Location: Ledyard, CT Website: MPRR Club Social Media:

Besides working to prepare the Tribute to Springfield layout, the other task keeping me busy in the run up to the final weekend in January is my role as the HO Module Coordinator with the Mohegan Pequot Model Railroad Club's HO modular layout.  We've been busy developing the plan for our club's display since the Monday after last year's show (seriously).  Our HO layout features over 300 linear feet of mainline spread across 80+ module sections and many of our projects each year are geared around being completed for the Railroad Hobby Show.  We have about 20 members who own modules and another dozen or so who help operate the layout each year.  All of these folks have many projects they want to build each year and it takes a fair amount of planning to make sure everything fits in our space during the show.

With such an active group, over the last 10 years or so, the club has completely re-built and expanded its HO modular layout.  Of the club's 82 module sections available for a show, all but one module is less than 10 years old!  At last year's show, we debuted 21 new module sections.  Most of these modules only had track at the time but each of these sections has been undergoing extensive construction activity over the last year and will all be greatly improved for the 2016 edition of the show.  Quite a few members have contributed to this effort and the layout has steadily improved over the last decade. 

At the Railroad Hobby Show, our 42'x72' layout is inside the Young Building and setup in a U-shape.  We try to keep traffic busy on our mainlines with six trains operating at a time on the double track mainline.  It takes a crew of about 30 people to keep this much traffic rolling over the 15 hours the show is open to the public.

This year we have a number of new modules which will be on display along with the continued improvements on the modules which debuted over the last couple of years.  The Tribute to Springfield layout will be setup on the end of one of the legs of the layout.  As a sneak peak, our layout plan is below.

To learn more about the club, visit the website at: www.mprr.org

The club's HO scale modular layout plan.

Wordless Wednesday: Alco RS-3 No. 1968

Layout Update Mondays: Show Prep Projects

An overview of the layout showing the installed skirting.

Last week was pretty busy in the shop with a number of projects checked off the list.  First, my friend Stu stopped by to install his Ardunio based DC throttles.  These are pretty interesting and I plan to share more details about these in a later post.  Debugging went fairly quickly and trains were finally running on the layout.

As can be seen in the photo above, one big piece which is needed for the show arrived this week - skirting.  This will give the layout a clean appearance and help focus the viewer on to the top of the layout.  The skirting was custom ordered so that it had Velcro sewn onto the back for quick setup and tear down but more importantly it was fire retardant. One of the requirements of most venues where modular layouts are setup - including at the Eastern States Exposition - is that the skirting needs to be certified flame retardant.  Fortunately there are a number of vendors which provide this product so I was able to find a supplier who could make up the sections to fit around the layout at the correct height.

On the actual layout, I was also able to complete a number of scenery projects this week - such as plant trees and add some more ground foam around the layout.  In addition, the loading dock is now complete and installed on the layout.  This was a fairly simple project - the base of the loading dock was a 2x4 cut to shape and then wrapped with styrene.  A few scribes were made in the styrene to represent expansion joints before everything was painted and weathered. 

New loading dock (front) and dwarf turnout signals (near grade crossing).

One of the projects I wanted to add to this layout that wouldn't be very prototypical for such a short railroad were turnout indication dwarf signals.  These were scratchbuilt from Right Angle PC Board LEDs (5mm) from LEDtronics.  (Basically, a pair of LEDs come inside a plastic case which was detailed to look like a dwarf signal.)  At the moment, these dwarf signals aren't hooked up yet but were planted so the scenery could be completed around them.

Overall, the layout is getting closer and closer to where I'd like it to be for the show.  However, I still have a fair amount of items I'd like to finish over the next 240 hours before this layout is packed up and heading on up the road to West Springfield...

Looking down the track on the MOW module. The dwarf signals can be seen in the distance on the left hand side of the track.

Figure Fridays: Bill Evans

Bill stopped by the shop to see...himself!

A big part of modeling the show will be filling the Young Building and Mallary Complex with lots of people. I'm going to try - to the extent its possible - to model people who actually participate in the show.  When I built the HO version of the Young Building, as a joke I built a model of one my friends - Bill Evans.  He is pretty popular at the show - so much so they put that HO model of him on the flyer for the 2016 Railroad Hobby Show! Given his A-list celebrity status, I figured I needed to model him again in O scale. Fortunately, the base figure I used for the HO scale model was also available in O scale from Woodland Scenics. I was able to use this figure again, paint the sweater red, and add a beard. Bill stopped by the shop earlier in the week and was happy to see he had made the layout!

Wordless Wednesday: Decaling

Layout Update Mondays: Young Building

The O scale Young Building in progress.

The big step forward this week was the completion of the core of the Young Building.  All of the exterior brickwork and trim was finished along with a number of doors.  As you can see in the photo above, the building is really getting close to completion.  My plan is to paint the building over the next week, add a few exterior lights as well as the distinctive blue and white building lettering.  While it has taken five months, the scene is starting to come together as it was planned.  (The mockup picture taken back in August is below.)  With only another 17 days until this layout needs to be packed up and headed to the show, I think I need to get back to work in the shop!

The mockup of the Young Building scene from five months ago.

A view of progress on the MOW module - a few more details and scenery.

Wordless Wednesday: Module Covers

Layout Update Mondays: Crunch Time

An overview of the layout looking at the loading dock of the Young Building.

It seems like every year as I watch the ball drop in Times Square, I think about how much work still needs to be done to finish whatever module or layout I am working on for Springfield.  This year is no different and with only 625 hours (!) until the show doors open - I still have a lot to do.  While this year is a bit different in that I wasn't planning on completing the layout for this show (the plan is for everything to be complete by 2017) - I still want the layout to look good during the event and not truly look "under construction."

Over the weekend, I was able to get the layout closer to the point where it will look presentable for the show.  About 98% of the landforms have at least been painted and many of the road surfaces have been painted as well.  Most of the track is ballasted with the small exception in front of the Young Building and a short stretch near Memorial Avenue.

A few areas, like the MOW area are almost nearing completion.  I've been adding more and more details to help fill in the scene and the only pieces remaining are a few trees and bushes.

Details around the MOW area are coming along.

My plan for the next few weeks is to complete the exterior of the Young Building, finish the railroad headquarters building, add the remaining ground cover around those two buildings, along with adding a few more details.  I also plan to paint my locomotive sometime in these last couple of weeks!

The Railroad Headquarters Building is in progress.

While these few pieces will make the layout on the surface look somewhat complete, there will be a few things to look forward to in 2017.  The big projects will be the addition of the Mallery Complex and the completed interior of the Young Building.  On a smaller scale, I plan to have a number of animated details which are already in motion but won't be ready for the show.

Anyway, back to the shop...every second counts...