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Benjamin, I think that is Tony Sava’s famous New York Streamline. XD
I heard he ran a bunch of straight tracks into an R1000+ circle around the driveway.As Josh said, yes, none of my locomotives will properly run through any curves less than R104. They are all battery powered.
I do have some R104 turnouts (switch tracks) but they lack ballast. It could be a challenge to have these ballasted on MILS before CSC weekend. However, if someone feels inspired to give it a shot, maybe we can work something out.
I think using some disconnected storage/display tracks will be sufficient for this weekend, since I assume we are not aiming to model realistic operations.
The R104 and R120 is indeed all-plastic track, which I understand will be limiting to anyone with 9v equipment.
>> Benjamin, I think that is Tony Sava’s famous New York Streamline. XD
>> I heard he ran a bunch of straight tracks into an R1000+ circle around the driveway.Yeah, it’s Tony’s Flickr account, I’ve followed him for a long time. I met him, in 2018 or 2019, at BWC. It was around the time that the new train standard developed by Cale and Glenn and others was fairly new, and Tony’s group had used it for their display at the event, and we talked at length about how it was working out for them. I haven’t talked to him since, though, so I don’t know if he’d remember me anymore.
According to the photo description, it’s 472 pieces of straight track. I don’t know if the LUG collectively has that many pieces of straight track or not. Obviously the Science Center isn’t going to give us that much space.
The photo is an album that includes a bunch of videos that are fun to watch, including one that’s about 90 seconds long where the train can be seen making two full circuits of the track.
@jupdyke it was great meeting you IRL at the Q4.
So am assuming the 20’x12′ section is the area we have to work with and left about 30″ around the outside for people to walk around.
I am waiting for confirmation from Nicole (our contact at the Science Center) as to whether we will along a wall or out in the middle. If along a wall, we would not need any space in the middle for LUG members as at least one side would be to a wall and that can be cordoned off for LUG members. If out in the middle (with the public on all four sides), then we generally like to have some space in the middle for LUG members if the footprint allows.
Great job with the preliminary BlueBrick. Thank you for jumping on that. In your layout, we could possibly throw in another two independent loops: one in the bottom left quadrant where you already have a loop which interconnects with the existing larger outer loops – that could be made independent; and another in the bottom right quadrant where there is currently open display space. Of course that lessens the available space for “scenery” but increases the number of trains that could be running simultaneously.
Also FYI, the Science Museum tables are 6 foot tables.
If it is desired I can bring my small town loop to the show. For reference it will be what I had on display at BrickFest Live.
I tried to take the input so far and make a rev 2 of the layout. Again, this is just me trying to put some stuff on paper so we can visually see it.
the first picture is showing that I changed the table sizes to be 6ft and pushed them against the wall. I also left a middle table out because we will need to be able to reach stuff inside. A drawbridge might be a good idea for the club to invent. lol
I changed the large outside double loops to use the 104 and 120 curves. My understanding is these are already on MILS. I highlighted them in light blue. I was just guessing about how the MILS plates are. But if someone wants to take a photo of 1/4 of a circle I can update.
Next I made 22 MILS double straight tracks. Those are put in the front and sides and a little in the back. It is a bit hard to see, but they have the yellow box around them. So all of that track should be available and ready to go.
I kept the train yard in the back. This can be for storing trains that are not running, or just a place for people to be setting up and getting it ready to go.
I added 3 more loops around the middle. The two in magenta are just straight loops so a 9v trains can run on them. I tried to keep them from being too big because I remember having trouble keeping all the connections. But some copper tape helped a lot.
I also added one more track section that would work for the newer battery trains. I wanted to try and have one section that was not a normal loop. I just think having the train going back and forth changing direction would be cool.
Dark blue sections would be available for buildings and such. Though we can fit small stuff in between any tracks. And I put the incline in as well.
What does everyone think about something like this? If anyone knows they have something they want to bring, just let me know and tell me how many 32×32 stud square it would take up and I will add them in.
What MILS roads do we have already? I think it would be cool to mix those in between the tracks as well. Maybe put some cars out too.
Please give me your feedback.
MacWow. You’re crushing the Bluebrick game. Thank so much for putting all this effort into planning!
Only 2 Ts and a 4 way mils road done so far, but all it takes is Krista to get a build day together and I’m sure there will be a lot more.
Attached a pic of the mils r120 and 104.
The Bluebrick draft looks nice.
I would suggest eliminating the back to back turnouts in the top left corner. That would allow large models to use the inside or outside loops, and the loops would be independent of each other.
So is there going to be room for buildings? A switch tower maybe? I have one like this one in the attached photo, a design I copied from LUGNET many years ago.
I agree with Glenn. Bluebrick Layout looks great but indeed consider not having the 2 switches at the top left. My Big Boy and Challenger (power functions) are 34 and 32 inches long on their own so like Glenn, having separate loops for people’s giant models would be helpful. Maybe you can use the extra space to add length to some of the side yards.
And those corners look pretty sweet, Josh. You have a lot of patience to make all those 32×32 brick built plates by hand.
Great job with the Bluebrick @jupdyke! Another option for the 9v loop on the left (in maroon) would be to make it a double track. If we do that, I think the small circle 9v track on the right could be eliminated.
@timf and I finished one MILS of the double track curves when we were at Josh’s a week or so ago and set the template for the base of the others. It looks like they would fit (they are 4 baseplates 2 x 2), but that’s something you’d have to verify in the Bluebrick. If they do and we decide to go that way, we’d need another build day at Josh’s to knock them out. Seems to me that it took Tim and I a little over an hour to knock one double curve corner out. It’s a good 2-person job (for checks and balances) and should go quicker than that now that we have the template. We would need another 5 to be built to do the L-shaped layout you have shown.I also added one more track section that would work for the newer battery trains. I wanted to try and have one section that was not a normal loop. I just think having the train going back and forth changing direction would be cool.
Mac, that update Bluebrick looks great At the very least, we’ll need a “crawl thru” to get to the middle (the LUG has some padded floor tiles which help save the knees). My first reaction was “that is an illegal layout which will short out” but then realized you had mentioned it is for the battery trains only. 😀
we’d need another build day
I’m up for another build day but I am not available this coming weekend (Dec. 17-18). Considering the following two weekends are Christmas and New Years, those are out. So January 7-8 may be the weekend to finish things up.
Thank you all for the feedback so far. Please keep it coming. Here is my latest revision. I think we are really getting somewhere now.
Updates
1. I added baseplates to the large corner radius which match the image Josh supplied. So this should be accurate.
2. I added a second 9v look to the inner left track.
3. I removed the double switchback to the lager outer tracks so that large trains could use both outer loops
4. I added a switch towerWith this current layout we have:
2-Large radius battery power tracks
3 9v tracks
1 Small radius batter power track
Train yard
Incline and Switch towerThere are about 25 MILS plate worth of space for MOCs. Does anyone in the group have some other buildings we want to add?
I do recognize that having to crawl under the table to get to the middle section sucks. Personally I don’t mind doing it, but I have toddlers and spend a lot of time on the ground already. I am not sure how many other members are okay with crawling under tables.
I did have an idea for this and it might be a bit crazy in the timeline we have. But What if we built a bridge. We could remove 1 more table and have the bride cover a straight section of the two large outer tracks. Then we are not crawling under a 6 foot table, just a 1 foot wide bridge. Or we could pause the trains on the outer tracks, remove the bridge, go inside and reinstall the bridge. With all the bridges in Pittsburgh it seems fitting. If you have not watched the first season of Lego masters, episode 6 has them building bridges and some held 1000 pounds.
I would have to rework the inside track on the right, but that could be done.
Let me know any feedback you have.
MacMac, that is totally awesome work. Look forward to it.
If anyone has a sticker printer or circut cutter (someone mentioned it a year ago), I do have that eyeball burning neon yellow boxcar that can be seen from outer space. If someone prints out the black outline of the Steel City LUG logo, I’d be glad to stick it on the box car to catch people’s eyes as it’s rolling around. Overall max dimension for the graphic would be 8 studs wide by 6 bricks high. It’s four of the 1x4x3 bricks in neon yellow on either side of the door that can be used for stickers. (Photo attached.) It’s a simple design and wasn’t one of the detailed cars I was planning to bring but if serves the LUG logo well, I’d be glad to include it.
Now there’s no way with my architecture work schedule that I could have a 6ft bridge prototype ready for the January show but if you and Josh would like, I could try creating a framed bridge design that the group could piece together and build in the near future. I can take lessons learned from my ongoing Schnabel train car project to design something with the beauty of brick cladding and a concealed strong Technic frame. I used to work at a small arch firm near the old Smithfield bridge and I have photos from the riverboat tour in grad school of the various bridges so I can whip up something in Studio to share with the LUG builders.
If anyone has a sticker printer or circut cutter (someone mentioned it a year ago), I do have that eyeball burning neon yellow boxcar that can be seen from outer space. If someone prints out the black outline of the Steel City LUG logo, I’d be glad to stick it on the box car to catch people’s eyes as it’s rolling around. Overall max dimension for the graphic would be 8 studs wide by 6 bricks high. It’s four of the 1x4x3 bricks in neon yellow on either side of the door that can be used for stickers. (Photo attached.) It’s a simple design and wasn’t one of the detailed cars I was planning to bring but if serves the LUG logo well, I’d be glad to include it.
@playingwithechoes, I don’t have a sticker printer, but I have these. They’re just regular photo prints of the logo cropped to fit inside 1x6x5 trans-clear panels. Not a direct swap-out with your 1x4x3 panels, but if you have more neon yellow bricks they could be made to work pretty easily.Mac, the revised layout looks good. We won’t need to worry too much about crawling in and out because there is little space on the inside (maybe 2 people at most can fit in there). So most of us will be outside of the display, which is fine.
I have an intermodal (train to truck) warehouse that would take two baseplates. I have other filler buildings as needed and can also supply a healthy number of trees to landscape alongside the tracks.
Bob, I can certainly make that work, thanks. I just gotta find extra 1×6’s and rotate a few parts but it’ll fit nicely to display the LUG logo.
And Mac, I don’t mind crawling inside to the table center. Gotta do a bunch of crawling and careful steps in my line of work measuring abandoned buildings for renovation drawings.
I heard from Nicole. The Science Center does not have stanchions. She said that they have never had any problems and none of the other participants have used stanchions either. So do we proceed without or do we reconsider using LUG tables and the plexiglass?
@timf, @joshhall I can verify having been there before as a spectator a few times that the other clubs don’t typically use stanchions. The kind of crowd you find at the CSC tends to be quite good about not touching people’s models. In fact, one group had to put signs up telling people to touch their one interactive display.
But if you, Josh, and Glenn would like, I could volunteer to be a friendly protector/enforcer of the no touching rule when I’m there, keeping an eye on stray hands and gently reminding people to not touch the display. We haven’t met in person yet but I’m a big dude at 6′-4″ so I can tower over the display. 🙂
Logistically, having to use the LUG tables (+ sneeze guards, skirts & clamps) would be a pain. The loading dock is on ground floor on the Casino side of the building, and the room where this event is taking place is on the third floor of the new addition, which is at the opposite end of the building (maybe ~300 ft.). They have carts, and there’s a freight elevator, but everyone else setting up a display will also be competing for those so the less we have to bring up to the space the faster we’ll be able to get set up.
So, I vote for using the Science Center’s tables, but it’s really up to @emperorofthenorthpole and @playingwithechoes since it will be their trains running on the outer tracks. If we do @timf, you should probably bring your tablecloths so we can drape the front of the perimeter tables, unless of course the Science Center is providing table coverings.
P.S., I know they do have stanchions, but they may not want to make them available to us. They use them at the front desk for the entry ques, but I don’t know what kind of excess they have beyond what they use every day.
@rcgrier3406, @timf, I’m fine without all that based on what I’ve seen at the crowd handling itself well at the CSC, but this is my first time trying to participate with the LUG on trains and you guys have more experience with people at many shows in general. (You’re worried mostly about people touching/sneezing on the models more so than stealing them, right?) I don’t know how @emperorofthenorthpole might feel about it. Could run my UP trains on the one outermost loop of the two mils track as a meat shield to protect his Nickle Plate steam engine since I know that’s his pride and joy. (And it rightfully so since it took him years to build it perfectly details.) Most of my rolling stock is relatively sturdy and can be repaired on site if poked by fingers or struck by camera phones getting a little too close to the scenery.
I am fine with just about anything – I try not to be that particular. I have trains that I’d prefer to keep on the inside line JUST in case, but I have some I could use either way. Or we just go for it and run trains wherever.
Coming from PennLUG, I’m used to plexiglass lol
I apologize that I did not read this entire thread, but can you train enthusiasts a static Polar Express model on siding? I once built Tony Sava’s engine and tender, it might be going to the Northland Library tonight. I also built three passenger cars to go with it. I thought it would be appropriate since the Polar Express is currently showing at the Science Center.
@greg, I love it. It’s beautiful! I think Mac and Josh can surely find room for it on the layout. He does have a small 9v loop if you want to try running it besides doing a static display.
I was sad when I heard the Polar Express on Lego Ideas got rejected. It really is a popular train from a wonderful movie. My family still has the Hallmark Santa plush with ringing bell when it was first released.
I ran the Polar Express at Brickfair 2016 in Virginia on a 9V loop that was a 6 foot wide square with standard curves. It struggled, even with 3 motors. I tried removing pieces that seemed to be cumbersome on the engine, with limited success.
So, the locomotive needs to be restored somewhat. With recent changes in my computer system I no longer have access to the original instructions, but I am confident that someone with a name like Emperor of the North Pole will be able to determine how the Polar Express goes back together. 🙂
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