NMRA National Train Show, July 6-10, 2016

[zephyr1934]

Hi all,

as some might know, the NMRA National Train Show will be on display July 6-10 in Indianapolis, IN this year. There has been vague talk between my club and one of the NTS show organizers. They mentioned "one other club" would be attending. We are planning on going but have not yet gotten a confirmation back from them.

If there are other clubs interested in displaying post back or drop me a PM (please include a tentative size for the space you'd want and if you have any specific questions for NMRA) and when I eventually get through to NMRA I'll try to get info for you as well. At this point there are no commitments either direction, just a request for information, but that could change on short notice. Probably little or no pay for the show, but it is a neat show to do.

[Chumley]

I'm interested. Approx 20x20 area needed.

[zephyr1934]

Excellent! PM sent

[xboxtravis7992]

I definitely won't be at the 2016 show (to far away!), but the 2019 show is in my area... So for the next few years every time "NMRA Convention" is mentioned I'll be psyched for 2019.

Also anytime somebody says "Golden Spike" it will psych me out for 2019...

2019 :)

[dr_spock]

There is pay for the NMRA shows? How does that work?

[lostdriveway]

My Dad is talking about flying over from Australia for the show but he's into N Scale! I would love to go too but if he goes I'll get him to stop by and say hi!

[zephyr1934]

I definitely won't be at the 2016 show (to far away!), but the 2019 show is in my area...

I know what you mean, but there have been some great looking lego displays at the western shows too

There is pay for the NMRA shows? How does that work?

Used to be nominal pay (didn't cover expenses) but even that seems to have dried up, still free admission to the show floor. It is good fun to show 'em what can be done in brick and to see what they are up to though.

My Dad is talking about flying over from Australia for the show but he's into N Scale! I would love to go too but if he goes I'll get him to stop by and say hi!

Sound good, there should be some nice lego trains there, but I'll post plenty of photos after the fact so little will be missed by those who can't make it.

[BMW]

Glad to see this. Are they providing tables?

[zephyr1934]

They are VERY reluctant to provide tables, so far all they have said is "MAYBE a few". Trouble is that they have to pay the venue price for the tables, which is about $75 per.

[BMW]

Sadly I am already overbooked so won't be able to make NMRA. But I'm glad to heard a number of AFOLs will be showing Lego there.

[zephyr1934]

NMRA NTS completed its run this past weekend with five clubs represented across four layouts.

In no particular order, there was the small but excessively detailed Pewaukee Road Lego Train Line layout,

Next there was the over the top one man show of the Central Indiana LTC, a mighty fine layout of the true modeling sense with numerous buildings and other sights to behold.

Then the strictly OKILUG layout that consisted of three excellent buildings and about 100 parallel tracks (my kind of layout)

Finally, the "OhioLUG" layout that was really a collaboration among OhioLUG, Northern Illinois LTC, and OKILUG members with a heavy emphasis on trains (we were the only layout with almost no baseplates).

One of the highlights of the show is the fact that two of the layouts won NMRA awards in the competition across ALL of the model railroad layouts, congratulations Pewaukee and Central Indiana!

There were all sorts of great trains and other goings on. One of my favorites was Gerrit's working interlockings

The OhioLUG (et al.) layout was strictly PF, using ME 88 and 104 curves for the mainline, which made the long train cars happy and gave for some graceful sweeping trains

Many more pictures can be found in my full gallery

[3D LEGO]

zephyr1934,

That was quite the photo gallery you took there. But it was worth perusing from beginning to end. How was the attendance of the event?

It was great to see all these different but equally amazing MOCs altogether in one place that I have read about and seen pictures of individually.

I love how this shot shows just how bad the midwest lines actually are: Midwest Lines

How was the lantern lit in this photo: New Haven R.R. Cabose

Very lovely perspective shot here: Northern Pacific R.R.

Any disruptions of service to report on? Wrecks, derailments, collisions, out of control trains, failed brakes?

Lastly, that interlocking.

I would love to be a part of one of these collaborations in the future. For now, I will have to pick up the building pace.

3D LEGO

[legoman666]

zephyr1934,

That was quite the photo gallery you took there. But it was worth perusing from beginning to end. How was the attendance of the event?

It was great to see all these different but equally amazing MOCs altogether in one place that I have read about and seen pictures of individually.

I love how this shot shows just how bad the midwest lines actually are: Midwest Lines

How was the lantern lit in this photo: New Haven R.R. Cabose

Very lovely perspective shot here: Northern Pacific R.R.

Any disruptions of service to report on? Wrecks, derailments, collisions, out of control trains, failed brakes?

Lastly, that interlocking.

I would love to be a part of one of these collaborations in the future. For now, I will have to pick up the building pace.

3D LEGO

Tell Zephyr to put up a photo of what my Amtrak looked like at the end of the show ;)

[pirzyk]

Here are my photos from the event: https://www.pirzyk.org/zenphoto/index.php?album=lego/national-train-show-2016-indy

Tell Zephyr to put up a photo of what my Amtrak looked like at the end of the show ;)

There was also 3 other failures on the IndyLUG layout including the C&NW diving twice!

[xboxtravis7992]

Wow spectacular work here! Hopefully some of this talent is willing to make the trek to the 2019 convention, I'd love to see it up close.

[legoman666]

Wow spectacular work here! Hopefully some of this talent is willing to make the trek to the 2019 convention, I'd love to see it up close.

The 2017 show is in god forsaken Orlando, so all (well, the OKILUG people anyway) us mid-westerners are going to sit it out I think.

[pirzyk]

The 2017 show is in god forsaken Orlando, so all (well, the OKILUG people anyway) us mid-westerners are going to sit it out I think.

Thinking about doing TrainFest sometime in the future, maybe when they highlight the IC.

[xboxtravis7992]

Orlando is pretty far from where I'm at to. But at least one can visit Disney World and Universal while down there! (Not to mention Legoland Florida...)

[pirzyk]

Orlando is pretty far from where I'm at to. But at least one can visit Disney World and Universal while down there! (Not to mention Legoland Florida...)

The issue really is that it is in Orlando in July, not January. I think the latter most people would be open to it. If you are going to Orlando, then KSC is a better stop for the engineering types :)

[CrispyBassist]

I've got a couple videos up on my Flickr as well: https://www.flickr.com/photos/91993389@N08/albums/72157670317883542

...How was the lantern lit in this photo: New Haven R.R. Cabose...

I've got a Brickstuff Pico LED running to it under the conductor's feet. I fit one of their small battery packs into the interior of the caboose and made the cupola removable for access. The side benefit is that the LED wire kept the lantern from falling off during the show!

Gerrit's interlockings are pretty awesome. I spent quite a bit of time manipulating the levers in the towers, and chastising those engineers who passed stop signals!

The 2017 show is in god forsaken Orlando, so all (well, the OKILUG people anyway) us mid-westerners are going to sit it out I think.

Maybe the bars there are open later than the ones in Indy...

[zephyr1934]

I love how this shot shows just how bad the midwest lines actually are: Midwest Lines

The lines are fine, your eyes are just a little off (grin), the hired tables were asking for quality control but they still might be flatter than my club's tables. That train is about 14 ft long though.

Tell Zephyr to put up a photo of what my Amtrak looked like at the end of the show ;)

(blush) yes, I killed a train with my bare elbows and I am ashamed. For you ambulance chasers here's what it looked like before and after... or was it this?

There was also 3 other failures on the IndyLUG layout including the C&NW diving twice!

It was more than that, I think the steam engine took a stage dive three times in one day, but on the third jump he found parts lost on the first. Very quick with the rebuild though.

Wow spectacular work here! Hopefully some of this talent is willing to make the trek to the 2019 convention, I'd love to see it up close.

The 2017 show is in god forsaken Orlando, so all (well, the OKILUG people anyway) us mid-westerners are going to sit it out I think.

2017 is Orlando- GFLUG territory

2018 is Kansas City, and like this year's show, it is already boasting of:

The Incredible Lego® MiniLand - It’ll stop you in your tracks! This 2,500 sq. ft. area is dedicated to the creation of a dynamic, originally-designed display featuring operating model railroads, hundreds of train cars, various landscape settings and waterfalls, scale building, retractable bridges, and more…and all made entirely out of millions of Lego® pieces! Attendees are invited to “meet the modelers” and learn how to build their very own original display

2019 is Salt Lake City and the 150 anniversary of the golden spike

[legoman666]

(blush) yes, I killed a train with my bare elbows and I am ashamed. For you ambulance chasers here's what it looked like before and after... or was it this?

2017 is Orlando- GFLUG territory

2018 is Kansas City, and like this year's show, it is already boasting of:

The Incredible Lego® MiniLand - It’ll stop you in your tracks! This 2,500 sq. ft. area is dedicated to the creation of a dynamic, originally-designed display featuring operating model railroads, hundreds of train cars, various landscape settings and waterfalls, scale building, retractable bridges, and more…and all made entirely out of millions of Lego® pieces! Attendees are invited to “meet the modelers” and learn how to build their very own original display

2019 is Salt Lake City and the 150 anniversary of the golden spike

You snapped several very nice photos. Even my splattered Amtrak looks neat. I might be persuaded to go to KSC, although it's a bit of a drive. Rather save my gas money for brickworld and brickfair.

Maybe the bars there are open later than the ones in Indy...

honestly, that was sad that we had to give up so early. Best part of Brickworld is sticking around after public hours and drinking, the old timers at NMRA call it quits at like 630p and go to bed.

Edited July 15, 2016 by legoman666

[3D LEGO]

CrispyBassist,

Thank you for the inside scope on your model. I really like the end result as it has a very lovely vintage feel to. All of your MOCs are splendid. Okay, I might be slightly partial towards electrics. (GE Box cabs, GE "Little Joes", PRR E44, EMD GF6C, EMD GM10B <- This one is ugly as sin but wickedly cool at the same time, Siemens Eurosprinter ES 64 U "Taurus". Mostly historic brutes but the last one is a sight to behold.)

Great videos. Your New Haven EP-3 was hauling down those tracks and around those curves. (By the way, that is how Milwaukee Road broke their EP-3s. - Compare them to the NH EP-2.) Then again the larger ME curves make it a lot easier to do.

legoman666,

Your locomotive looks a lot worse than a lot of pictures of much newer GE Evolution series that I have seen rolled over and that have been tagged for the scrap heap. I know well the horrors of appendaged monsters blundering their way through the micropolis. I would assume it is safe to say that it got the good old fashioned logging railroad treatment: pound out the dents, patch the holes and place it back on the trucks and out the shop to get back to work. (Please do not say Amtrak treatment as that would mean stuck in legal limbo.)

zephyr1934,

Nice casualty shot. 2019 in Salt Lake City, Utah sounds like a good goal. Maybe I can stir things up in ULUG and get them involved.

I dare not ask but curiosity gets the best of me: How can your LUG's tables be worse than the provided ones? Are they falling apart? Are they broken? Are they three-legged?

3D LEGO

[Rotundus]

Well done to all the clubs and individuals involved with those marvelous displays. And congratulations to Pewaukee Road LTL and Central Indiana LTC on your awards. Its nice to see LEGO getting its proper due from the NMRA.

--> I love how this shot shows just how bad the midwest lines actually are: Midwest Lines <--

It might look bad, but it is quite prototypical. At least for the early years of Amtrak.

All in all it seems like you were quite busy, Zephyr. Looks like I'll have to plan for a road trip in 2019!

[zephyr1934]

I dare not ask but curiosity gets the best of me: How can your LUG's tables be worse than the provided ones? Are they falling apart? Are they broken? Are they three-legged?

Well, we shimmed all of the tables and that helped a ton (pirzyk doing most of the heavy lifting) and at that point most of the tables were good (except for the finger piercing staples hanging off of most of them). A couple of them had sags and one was complete trash. That was one of the saggers and the sag in the 8 ft table is highlighted in that shot because of the oblique angle. Some of my club's tables sag a similar amount but they do so in just 5 ft. We have plastic banquet tables and members who like to stand on them to assemble 6 ft tall skyscrapers. That makes running steam engines a real challenge, it took a few generations but I've figured out how to keep them on unlevel track.