Exhibitor Thursday: ScaleTrains.com

The ScaleTrains.com booth inside the Better Living Center at the Railroad Hobby Show.

Exhibitor Spotlight Name: ScaleTrains.com Display Style: Booth Type: Manufacturer Size: 10'x10' Show Location: Better Living Center Home Location: Benton, TN Website: ScaleTrains.com Social Media:

One of the newest manufacturers in the hobby made its Railroad Hobby Show debut this past January: ScaleTrains.com.  Founded by a number of hobby industry veterans, the company is offering a range of products in HO and N scale.  The first major release - announced last fall at Trainfest in Milwaukee, WI - was a model of the Union Pacific Turbine.  Two different finish levels were offered - a Museum Quality and a Rivet Counter quality.  The models are both exceptionally detailed - with the Museum Quality setting a new bar for detail possible with a model locomotive.

In addition, the company has also released several rolling stock items - also in different quality levels: Operator Series, Kit Classics, as well as the Rivet Counter level.  Each level offers a different advantage for a particular use.  The Operator series is built a bit more rugged for more frequent handling.  The Kit Classics helps drive down the price - leaving the assembly up to the customer.  This is a neat concept and hopefully will prove to be successful for the company.

TrainMastersTV did a great three part series chronicling the companies start up and followed along with the production of the companies first locomotive offering - the Union Pacific Turbine.  The show is in three parts (and free to watch today).  Just follow the links below to watch the show (about 90 minutes total).

Part 1 - http://trainmasters.tv/video-player/tmtv-2015-11-act-iii-alt

Part 2 - http://trainmasters.tv/video-player/tmtv-2015-12-act-i-alt

Part 3 - http://trainmasters.tv/video-player/tmtv-2015-12-act-ii-alt

At the Railroad Hobby Show, the ScaleTrains.com booth was located inside the Better Living Center - just across from the Amherst Belt Lines layout.  The UP Turbine was on display and they held a demonstration of sound and lights on the Belt Line layout during the show.  In addition, the company unveiled new products - including a 53' refrigerated container and 53' dry container in both HO and N scale.

To learn more, visit their website at: www.scaletrains.com

Module Monday: Orange Tree Company

The completed Orange Tree Company BranchTRAK module.

That brightly colored module above is the first, of what I am expecting to be a couple dozen BranchTRAK modules which will be built for my club over the next couple of years.  During the last week, I finished adding trees and details to the module which is the second edition of the Orange Tree Company module theme.

Starting as an inside joke that has taken on a life of it's own, the Orange Tree Company features an industry which harvests orange leaves to send them to other modules.  Basically, one of my friends in my club gave me a hard time about my early fall tree color selection on past module projects - in particular the orange trees.  To have a little fun, about two years ago I built a 2' spacer module for our standard HO modular layout featuring the Orange Tree Company.  The other members liked it so much, it has become a running joke (it even has its own t-shirt line).  I decided to save myself some money and recycle all of the details from that old two foot module and place it on this demo BranchTRAK module.  Happily, finishing this module clears my schedule (and shop) to get back to work on the Tribute to Springfield layout.

In the meantime, as I mentioned a few weeks back, there is a presentation planned for my club's April 24 Clinic Night about the BranchTRAK concept.  These Clinic Nights are open to the public if you'd like to stop by and learn more about these modules and see the Orange Tree Company in person.  Details are available at our club website: www.mprr.org

History Fridays: Show Flyers

The 2000 Railroad Hobby Show flyer.

The History Friday story this week is from Joe Scolastico via the Tribute to Springfield Facebook page.  Joe is a fan of the Edaville Railroad and noticed something familiar on the historic show flyers from the 1990s and 2000s. 

Back in the mid-1940s, Ellis D. Atwood, rescued various pieces of Maine two foot narrow gauge railroad equipment for his cranberry plantation in Carver, MA. Most of the equipment came from the Bridgeton and Harrison/Bridgeton and Saco River Railroad. Although Atwood didn't intend for his railroad to become a tourist attraction, it did. It was named Edaville Railroad (from his initials) and a 5.5 mile loop of track served as a base of operations.

Through the years, a number of modifications were made to the railroad's equipment - including painting the locomotives in bright colors and giving the engines fake diamond smoke stacks and older style headlights to make them look older.  From all the historic photos and videos of the railroad, it appears almost all of the locomotives received this treatment at sometime or another.  At some point, starting as early at the 1970s, one of the railroad's original locomotive profiles (#8, a two foot gauge 2-4-4 T) was made into the official Edaville logo. 

In 1991, the original Edaville closed and most of the original equipment became the nucleus of the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad in Portland, ME . For a couple of brief periods in the 1990s, different groups were able to get the railroad operating but nothing was able to be sustained.  In 1999, a new group reopened Edaville, using both new and old equipment.

Sometime after Edaville closed in the 1990s, the profile of #8 was added to the Railroad Hobby Show flyers - without the Edaville name and a change of number from #8 to #2.  This logo could be found in the corner of the flyer (top right corner on the 2000 flyer above).  This logo was removed in the mid-2000s when the current show logo was adopted and the show was officially renamed the Amherst Railway Society Railroad Hobby Show.

Some of the old signs with the original Edaville logo are preserved at the current Edaville operation and some nostalgic t-shirts with the historic logo have been put up for sale by the railroad. Since re-opening in 1999, Edaville did have a table at the show for a few years, but stopped for a while before returning again this past year.

If you'd like to learn more about the current Edaville Railroad, visit: www.edaville.com

Thanks for the story Joe! If you'd like to share a show story, we'd love to share it here on the blog.  Please visit www.tributetospringfield.com/contribute to share your story.

Exhibitor Thursday: Vermont Rail System

The Vermont Rail System booth at the Railroad Hobby Show.

Exhibitor Spotlight Name: Vermont Rail System Display Style: Tables Type: Railroad Location: Booth #138 Present Location: Mallary Complex Home Location: Burlington, VT Website: Vermont Rail System Social Media:

Besides the model railroad exhibitors and vendors, the Railroad Hobby Show includes numerous displays from railroad companies located in the northeast.  One of the largest railroad displays is presented by Vermont Rail System.  This regional railroad has been operating for over 50 years offering rail service to industries across Vermont.  The railroad grew from the remnants of the bankrupt Rutland Railroad and through a variety of mergers with other Vermont railroads - like the Green Mountain Railroad, Clarendon & Pittsfield, and the Washington County Railroad, to create the 350 mile rail system of today. 

While most of the traffic on the lines is freight, the railroad offers a number of passenger excursions, particularly on its Green Mountain Railroad line, which allows folks a chance to take in the scenic Vermont countryside in a variety of seasons.  This upcoming year, the railroad is expanding its excursion service with a dinner train between Chester, VT, and Ludlow, VT, along with its other special event and fall foliage trains.

At the show, the railroad has a display inside the Mallary Complex where they bring along a locomotive simulator, located in it's own trailer, which allows show attendees a chance to learn how to run a real locomotive.  In addition, the display includes a video display about the railroad as well as literature about the company's annual excursion schedule.  If you are looking for souvenirs, the railroad brings along apparel, like shirts and hats, as well as calendars featuring scenes from the railroad.

To learn more, visit the Vermont Rail System's website at: www.vrs.us.com

Exhibitor Thursday: AA Hobbies

John at AA Hobbies inside the Young Building.

Exhibitor Spotlight Name: AA Hobbies Display Style: Tables Type: Retailer Size: 30"x40' Present Location: Young Building Home Location: Warwick, RI Website: AA Hobbies Social Media:

One of the largest dealers inside the Young Building is AA Hobbies - a hobby shop from Warwick, RI.  John, the hobby shop owner, and his crew bring a large Penske truck filled with HO scale locomotives and rolling stock to sell at the show.  A 40' long set of racks are setup near door 4 - directly across from the entrance which leads to the Better Living Center.

John started attending the show all the way back in the mid-1970s - back when the show was still on the UMass-Amherst campus - but was only able to secure his table location in 2000. That first year he was able to attend the show as a vendor, he was able to create quite the shopping frenzy with huge sales on his HO scale merchandise.  For that show, he cleaned out his hobby shop - bringing two Penske trucks filled with model trains but needed less than one for the return trip back to Rhode Island!  Needless to say, many of us in the Young Building at the time kept checking in with his table on an hourly basis to see what new items were being re-stocked on the shelves.

Today, John mostly stocks the most popular brands of HO scale rolling stock and locomotive manufacturer's such as Athearn, Kato, Intermountain, Broadway Limited, Atlas and Walthers.  You can see his display under the 100 sign inside the Young Building during the show.

To learn more, visit AA Hobbies website at: www.aahobbies.com

Wordless Wednesday: Bus Parking

Wordless Wednesday: Essex Steam Train Parking

Layout Update Mondays: Highball to Indy 2016

I'm excited to announce the Tribute to Springfield layout has been invited to be displayed at the 2016 National Train Show which will be held on July 8-10, 2016, at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, IN.  The railroad will be setup with the Mohegan Pequot Model Railroad Club's HO scale modular railroad.

This will be the third National Train Show for the club and my fifth.  Back in 2014, we brought our HO scale layout to Cleveland, OH, and in 2009 we displayed at the show in Hartford, CT.  This will be, by far, our longest journey with the layouts outside of our home base in New England - but we are very excited about the trip.

Obviously, this show will keep me busy for the next few months as my goal is to have everything done - including the interiors of the buildings and a few animated features for the railroad. My plan is to share a number of these items over the next couple of months as we get closer to the event.

A couple of links to get you ready for the show:

• National Train Show - The official show site where you can get up to the minute information about the entire show.
• 2016 Highball to Indy! - The official NMRA convention website.
• NMRA 2016 Facebook page - A place to get real time updates from the organization holding the convention.
• Layout Update Mondays - Here on the blog, I will be chronicling construction progress on the layout up until show time.

Hope to see you at the Indiana Convention Center on July 8-10, 2016 in Indianapolis!

History Fridays: 1990 Railroad Hobby Show

The club's 1990 Railroad Hobby Show HO scale layout.

As many who have been following the blog know, my connection to the Railroad Hobby Show has been as an exhibitor with the Mohegan Pequot Model Railroad Club.  In just over a year, we will be celebrating our 30th anniversary at this event.  So, as a lead up to the 2017 show, for the next year during History Fridays I will take a look back at all of the different modular layouts we have displayed each year at the show.

At the 1990 Big Railroad Hobby Show, the club once again displayed three layouts.  The main layout was the HO scale modular railroad which expanded slightly to 40'x52' (up from 40'x48' in 1989) and configured in an L-shape.  In addition, the O scale, 2 rail, switching layout also returned.  This was setup next to the entrance by door 5 in the Better Living Center.  In addition, the debut of the club's Ntrak modular efforts occurred at this year's edition of the show.  The layout was still fairly small at this point - just 10'x14' - but it would grow over the next couple of years - particularly when the club moved over to Young Building in the 1990s.

This year would mark the final time the show would only be open for one day - as it would expand to be a weekend long festivity in 1991.

The 1990 Big Railroad Hobby Show Floor Plan.

Exhibitor Thursday: Providence Northern

The Providence Northern display in the Young Building.

Exhibitor Spotlight Name: Providence Northern Years at the Show: 15+ Display Style: Table Type: Model Railroad Club Size: 30"x16' Present Location: Young Building Home Location: Warwick, RI Website: Providence Northern Social Media:

Located in Warwick, RI, the Providence Northern is a model railroad club building a large layout featuring New England railroading at their home in the "Old Warwick Garage."  The club was formed in 1994 and built a large HO scale model railroad (as seen in the video below from 1997) at their first home on Hathaway Street in Providence, RI.   Due to circumstances beyond the club's control, the group moved to their current home in Warwick, RI, in 2006 where a new layout was constructed.  Typically, the layout is open to the public most Saturdays from 12-4 pm - but make sure to check in before heading over for a visit.

At the Railroad Hobby Show, the club has a pair of tables inside the Young Building.  The group brings a small switching layout featuring custom painted Providence Northern locomotives and rolling stock.  In addition, the display usually includes a slideshow along with other static photos of the current progress on their permanent layout in Warwick.

To learn more, visit the Providence Northern's website at: www.providencenorthern.com

Wordless Wednesday: Northeast T-trak