The little town of North Bloomfield Ohio (MAP) hosts an annual train display in the former Town Hall Building on the town square. Here's a neat time lapse video from Roger Peterson of the fellas starting to get it ready for this year.
Open every Sunday on December.
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Fun video, Rich. Thanks for posting. I wish I could get all that done in two minutes, twenty-four seconds...
Open ever Wednesday from 5-8 & every Saturday from 2-5pm. No charge for admission or refreshments.
Thanks for posting, it means a lot.
Trains in the Townhall is our facebook page with updates & photos over the years.
Roger
Great video! Did anyone else catch the lunch break? 
yes I did catch the lunch break. it was like watching a bunch of sugar crazed folks running around.
rich thanks for posting the video was nice to see a quicktime train display setup. hopefully another video to follow showing all the displays in action!!
Great video and job, watched last years video as well.
Roger,
Will the display be open in November ?
B&O2368 posted:Roger,
Will the display be open in November ?
We can (and are) opening up for special requests. I have a church youth group coming through on an off night, as well as (no lie) an Amish parochial school. If you're in the area, I'm happy to open up.
Roger,
How does Nov 26 at 2PM work for you?
Bill
B&O2368 posted:Roger,
How does Nov 26 at 2PM work for you?
Bill
Hi Bill-
There will be a few of us working getting the trains finished up- the place is still a "construction site", and we aren't "ready" for visitors, but if you wanted to stop in, you're welcome to view what we have completed. During this last week, the ladies will start working their magic with "Decking the Hall".
You may want to call or text me to confirm we are there. Three Three Zero-Four Four Two-Two Three Seven Nine.
Stopped by last Saturday to view the layout in progress. Roger was an excellent host. We talked trains and a great time. If you live in the area, I urge you to go and enjoy.
Bill
Nice video, great photos
Alex
Wow! That is a great event. The video was fun to watch. What a dedicated bunch of folks!!
Great video and pics!
Peter
Very cool way to do a "Show and Tell" video..... Fast and faster......
Gary
rogerpete posted:Open ever Wednesday from 5-8 & every Saturday from 2-5pm. No charge for admission or refreshments.
Thanks for posting, it means a lot.
Trains in the Townhall is our facebook page with updates & photos over the years.
Roger
I don't live very far from you. I live in eastern Geauga County and was curious, your open Wednesdays and Saturday's. I also read at the top where Rich posted, your also open on Sunday's this month. So between now and Christmas, your open. When do you take the Layout down? Thanks.
Hi Tom
I work in Chardon 
We are open Wednesday December 21 & 28 from 5-8 and Saturday December 17 & 31 from 2-5. We are not open Sunday, that was an error.
I start taking down the first week in January because in February we are showing a Cabin Fever reliever family friendly movie night. Its a free admission kids movie, we even make popcorn. Folks just bring a lawn chair, bean bag chair or blanket & pillows to chill out on.
As I take down, I clean, maintain, lubricate, wrap & box each item. I need to take the brass wire wheel on the dremel to all my pickup rollers, wash down with isopropyl alcohol , and check a couple dark light bulbs. I have a numerous buildings I want to mount on thin plywood and make "blocks" of buildings that just require 2 wires plugged in & set. Currently I set each structure, and run individual wires...
If you can't make it in December, there is a rumor that I will open it up on a nonscheduled night. Since I have lived there for two months, that's not my preference, but it is a possibility.
Rich,
What was the actual elapsed time, not counting over night or time away from the layouts?
SantaFeJim posted:Rich,
What was the actual elapsed time, not counting over night or time away from the layouts?
At this point in the video, we were about 80 hours in, counting stuff not seen on camera, or deleted. No one wants to see me running wires for hours...
I used a go-pro camera set on one photo every 5 seconds. We had over 10,000 pictures. The video shows (I believe) 20 or 30 frames per second.
Here is the three minute snippet that First Energy did...
A wonderful community service, for sure. BRAVO!!!!
Roger,
The display was well executed this year. I was glad to see that you were able to put a train up on the HellGate bridge.
What were the trestles made from? Nice copy of the '50's style.
Was there a visitor shield in the front? If not, the idea of a telephone looking pole and a single wire created enough of a visual barrier to hint at "don't reach past here". Clever idea. I am going to show RichO the idea for our display.
Congratulations on another year of smiles!
Moonman posted:Roger,
The display was well executed this year. I was glad to see that you were able to put a train up on the HellGate bridge.
What were the trestles made from? Nice copy of the '50's style.
Was there a visitor shield in the front? If not, the idea of a telephone looking pole and a single wire created enough of a visual barrier to hint at "don't reach past here". Clever idea. I am going to show RichO the idea for our display.
Congratulations on another year of smiles!
Hi Carl-
First off- Thanks so much for helping with the "layout layout". Obviously, you recognize that we used the track plan you designed using SCARM.
No plexiglass used. The wooden dowels were stained, and I put two holes in the top & ran two lines of thin shiny wire through it. It provided the visual that was needed. One train was derailed, but that was because a kid tripped, fell into the layout, and his hand went onto the track. With perfect timing, the train ran over his finger and derailed. I am disappointed to report that our safety record of transporting freight & passengers from point A to point A, has had its first issue. At least the derailment was cleaned up before OSHA showed up.
I wanted to wire the two telephone wires up to a 9 volt battery and post a sign that said, "DO NOT LICK THE WIRES" but I know my kids would have been the first with their tongue out.
The trestles were just some scrap poplar one of our guys had on hand, painted with the texture spray paint. We needed something that would match up to the bridge. The wooden trestles received a lot of comments, and our guy was asked to make more to sell. The design wasn't based on anything- just hand penciled a prototype, made a jig and went to town.
Thanks
Roger
I am still laughing, "Do Not Lick"...
The long train did provide entertainment traveling the "snake".
My buddy Craig did another video for us. If you don't have a good computer/video/photography person involved in your display, that should probably be a top priority.
He does a fantastic job & I am very appreciative of his help.
Another great video. Can't wait to see what will be running in 2017
The seven "Bloomfield Building" Andre cut for me. 2017 will hopefully see the addition of two of our churches, town hall, and the milk plant.
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