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The Tribute to Springfield Young Building module setup at The Big E. |
After many years of enjoyment, I have decided it was time to retire the Tribute to Springfield layout. After talking with the Railroad Hobby Show Show Director John Sacerdote and Amherst Railway Society President Joe Biagioni, they mentioned the society would be interested preserving a portion of the layout. We decided to save the Young Building module and I completed some work to rebuild the section as a stand alone diorama display.
We agreed to transfer the display at an appropriate venue - the Eastern State Exposition during the 2023 The Big E. The Amherst Railway Society has a booth in the Better Living Center to promote the society and the Railroad Hobby Show and this year, the Tribute to Springfield layout will part of the display for the seventeen days of the fair.
I spent a few weeks in August cleaning up the benchwork, moving details to the Young Building module, and rehabbing the scenery. The rest of the layout joined the big layout in the sky. I met up with folks from the Amherst Railway Society the day before the fair opened on September 14 to setup the module one last time.
I'm very appreciative the Amherst Railway Society was interested in keeping a part of the layout and will be making space for it in their clubhouse. It has been a fun eight years learning about the history of the rail spur and the Railroad Hobby Show as well as building and sharing the layout. I plan to keep researching the history around the show and venue - who knows - maybe I'll revisit this layout theme when I celebrate my 50th anniversary of attending the Railroad Hobby Show in 2039!
In the meantime, I hope to bring a new layout to the show next January which is currently under construction. Hope to see you there!
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Completed updates to the Young Building module in the workshop. |
