Modular Group News, Update 9/18/24

@Putnam Division posted:

From last weekend's Ashland Train Day......the group was set up in the Depot Restaurant, hence the dark......but it really highlights the Menard's buildings!

Happy Mother's Day to all!

Peter

Peter, Menards's parking garage puts me in mind of the "Pigeon Hole Parking Garage" from my hometown.  Dave McKay caught some pics in the Morning Sun book of my hometown.  There were five levels above the ground floor.  But  you drove in , they drove the car onto a turntable on an elevator the car was positioned and then lifted and move from front to back, then car was placed into a stall "Pigeon Hole."  If I ever built the layout designed wanted to try somehow to incorporate a smaller version!

Ron

The lights really do show up well in the photographs!  How about that brick wall backdrop in one photograph?

@Mark Boyce posted:

How about that brick wall backdrop in one photograph?

Mark......I believe that is the wall in the restaurant.....

Peter

@Putnam Division posted:

Mark......I believe that is the wall in the restaurant.....

Peter

I know 😄

Some shots from earlier this month.....

......from July through October, the next door "exhibit space" will be used by the "Spirit" retail store to sell costumes..... we built a temporary wall this past week to divide the spaces.....

.....they clear out by November, when the annual November Virginia Train Collectors Marketplace/Train Show will be held......

Peter

Peter, the layout looks great!  That is a good use of space where once there were stores filling them all.  The temporary wall makes great sense that it can be opened back up for the train show attendees having access to your club space!

The big layout has gone down.....electrical upgrade, ballast refresh and new (stronger/thicker) plexiglas.......we also built/installed and now painted barriers to separate us from a "pop-up" retail store.

Unfortunately, although we ordered the plexiglas as 47&15/16" and 35&15/16", we got 48&1/16" and 36&1/16"..........modular member Rick is cutting them down this week and we'll be back at work on Weds, the 6th.

It's always nice to see the layout without the barriers......

Have a great weekend, folks!

Peter

An eighth of an inch!  Oh my!  The layout does look great!

Besides the annnouncement of our next event at the Keystone Tractor Museum (see Announcements for details), we've been meeting and working on the layout. The Station Module team is in the middle of a major scenery upgrade......here is the 1st part... a nursery scene......

Have a great day......

Peter

Pictures from our recent meeting......

Peter

That is some nursery Peter, good work on the stones, stone bridge, and the water below it. Hats off to you all.

@Dave NYC Hudson PRR K4 posted:

That is some nursery Peter, good work on the stones, stone bridge, and the water below it. Hats off to you all.

It's made by a fellow who is not even an official member.....he just "likes" doing scenery projects for us!

Peter

@Putnam Division posted:

It's made by a fellow who is not even an official member.....he just "likes" doing scenery projects for us!

Peter

You'll have to hire him for your layout scenery. I was telling Gunrunner John he needs to get Harry Henning to work on the scenery for his layout. If you've ever seen Harry do something with scenery on YouTube, you know how great he is. I don't quite remember if John said something funny about it would cost him too much to hire Harry.

It's  been nearly two months since I updated this thread.......since that time, we've spent more than 100 hrs in public displays: an Open House for the public, two weekends at the Keystone Tractor Museum, the Virginia Train Collectors Charlottesville show and 9 days at the CHesterfield County Fair. Here are pictures from my 3rd day at the Fair....

As always, we had a blast......

A unique and "on the fly" approach to transformer cooling......

Have a great weekend, folks!

Peter

You folks have been very busy!  I have seen that before that a transformer gets pretty warm running trains all day at a show!

It looks like a lot of fun and a lot of work.  Peter, it's nice to see you have a nice group of members to work with.  In today's world that is always hard to find friends who have the time, resources, and desire to do what you all are doing.

I'm watching grand dog Winnie this week and she joined the group for our regularly scheduled meeting. The meeting was followed by a well attended Open House.......Here are some pics:

Have a great weekend, folks!

Peter

Looks great Peter.  Nice group, nice layout and great Puppy. 

Wow, Peter!  Winnie is a winner!  I could see it now if our Bentley attended one of your meetings!  He would loudly object to every motion made!  At least he has gotten used to the sound of trains running!

Lunch break after a work day building this year's Raffle Layout.....a gorgeous fall day!

Our raffle poster:

Loading up the trailer for Midlothian Days this Saturday.

Peter

You fellows are pretty efficient now!

Setting up for our 12th consecutive year at the Annual Science Museum of Virginia Train Show....

The show runs Friday through Sunday 8:30-5 in the Science Museum of VIrginia which is the re-purposed Broad Street RR Station.....come join us if you can.

Peter

Love the Kodak/Xerox trailer car in the last picture (Rochester native here).

Looking good, Peter!  I went to a train show at the Science Museum when we lived in Fredericksburg in the late ‘80s early ‘90s.  I know that was long before your club.

What a fun way to show off the hobby Peter. What is the setup/breakdown times for your modulars?

@BenLMaggi posted:

Love the Kodak/Xerox trailer car in the last picture (Rochester native here).

So is/was the owner of the module.

Peter

@Ron_S posted:

What a fun way to show off the hobby Peter. What is the setup/breakdown times for your modulars?

I separate it out in two ways......the frame includes electrical, legs, clamps, jumper track sections, plexiglass and curtains........and then the top decoration.

If we have 10-12 people......the layout frame goes up in two hours with one to two hours added for each member to decorate their individual sections.....depending on size and/or complexity.

For example: I have 18' x 32" to decorate. The station team has 18x6 ft to decorate, but there are 6 people. Tom (Gilly@N&W) has a corner, a bridge and a yard lead, of which, the scenery is partly modular. Ken (Kanawha) has a two corners and a 4 ft module. Many have just a 4' x32" module......so times are all over the place.

Take down......when the tops of the modules are cleared, it's broken down, packed and loaded in just under two hours.........as a separate issue, the clearing of the tops usually takes about an hour.

Peter

Our next big event……..7 consecutive weekends at the Great Big GreenHouse in BonAir/Midlothian, Virginia……..starting with a NEW event, Kids Day at the Train Station!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Peter

Peter, those are all great ideas for kids' interests.  I like Bach to Rock!  Our daughter, the musician, says she likes all genres of music as long as they are done well.

Ugh, it’s Bach to Rock not Back to Rock!! 🙄

Running trains on an off day with some of the fellows……

Peter

Ah, the percs!

A group of fans, picked up on the fly…..

Peter

We just ended our 9th year of holiday train running in the Great Big GreenHouse in BonAir/Midlothian, Virginia. It was a great 8 week run and capped off a 10 week run of public displays.....

The ending event at the GBGH was the annual Kids Day in the Garden which was attented by over 1000 children and their attendant parents/grandparents/etc.

A blast was had by all.......all were sad when we packed up and.......but, the good new is, that we'll be back for set up Monday, Nov 27th at 9AM!

Pictures from the 8 week run.......

Pictures from Kids Day in the Garden.......

Take down at 2PM........

......and, 2 hours later......

A picture of the take down crew.......

.....and last, a picture with the GBGH staff......

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Peter

Incredible turnout Peter! Great looking layout as well. Fast take down but I’m sure it wasn’t easy. Having a great crew helping probably makes it go smoothly. Thanks for sharing!

That’s a great run, Peter and everyone!!  It looks like kids’ day was well attended!

I’m ready for the pancake breakfast at your house now!  😉

That really inspires me to want to start a modular group in my area so we could set up at the one brewery in town. It looks like a great time!

A few more pics from our last day of 2023 at the GBGH......

Have a great and safe weekend, folks!

Peter

How often does the group set up shop throughout the year?

@BillYo414 posted:

How often does the group set up shop throughout the year?

Billy......we are in a vacant storefront (as long as it is unrented) and we try to have free Open Houses once a month.

In April, we take our 12x15 layout to Ashland Rail Days (a 1 day event).

In July, we'll take some combination of layouts to the Keystone Tractor Museum for a two weekend show.

In August, we'll take the 12x15 and 6x11 to the Chesterfield County Fair for a 10 day run.

In October, we'll take the 12x15 to Midlothian Day (a 1 day event)

All during the year, when the Virginia Train Collectors has a 2 day train meet in the adjacent storefront, we're open to the public.

In November, the weekend before Thanksgiving we're open for a VTC train meet.

Then we're packed and set up at the Science Museum of VA for their annual Thanksgiving Weekend show.......and the day after that we set up at the Great Big GreenHouse for our run until the 3rd Saturday in January.

Interspersed, while set up at the store are group run days and work days.....

Peter