Two ongoing LCCA Holiday Season Special Events - thru the end of the Year.
This is a friendly reminder that we have two current ongoing LCCA Holiday Season Special Events - one in Charleston, SC and another in North Little Rock AR. These events will remain open and ongoing till the end of the month. If your are in the area, and you have the time, bring the kids and your entire family to these venues. Happy Holidays!
Dec 7-30 - Charleston, SC -Meet Lionel Licensed Artist Angela Trotta Thomas
LCCA member, Angela Trotta Thomas (RM 13961) will be promoting Lionel trains and her original Lionel Art during an art gallery exhibition in Charleston, SC. Angela will be showing new paintings of Lionel Trains at her art exhibition at Coco Vivo Gallery, 25 Broad Street, Charleston, SC.
The show, "The Magic of Toy Trains" which opened to a crowd of 500 on Dec 7th at the First Friday Gallery will be open to the public through the end of the year. Angela will have a small Lionel operating toy train layout on display in the front window for the remainder of the holiday season. This layout will feature a Angela Trotta Thomas train consisting of her Lionel engine and boxcars. This layout will help introduce Lionel trains to the people of Charleston, SC during the holiday season. If you are in the area during the holiday season, stop on by and see and experience the magic of Lionel trains on this operating train display.
Dec 13-31 -Fourth Annual “Lionels at the Library” Special Event
A group of LCCA members and Lionel loyalists in the heartland will present an 18-day, LCCA-designated Special Event during the holiday season. Begun in December 2009 as a holiday operating exhibit of toy trains in the Exhibit Hall of Laman Library in North Little Rock, AR, this event has steadily grown to become one of the largest LCCA-sponsored Special Events.
The first event featured a two-gauge model train layout with Lionel and American Flyer trains provided by the late Bill Albright. Attendance at that “first annual” event was 1,287 visitors.
In 2010, the core group of LCCA members designed and built a four-platform, O-gauge layout for families to enjoy at the library. Thanks to library administrative staff support and media outreach efforts by the library’s PR officer, attendance at that event increased dramatically to 3,522 visitors.
In 2011, the core group recruited and trained other hobbyists in the region to share the fun (and the work) of presenting a six-platform O-gauge layout with two levels of model railroad action. The then-new SPECIAL EVENTS program of the LCCA endorsed this event and provided helpful publicity within LCCA publications and the club’s website, offered recognition items, and contributed a Lionel train set as a free raffle prize to a lucky winner. Visitor attendance during that event set a new record: 5,448 persons.
New for December 2012
The LCCA members of the core group and other participating O-gauge hobbyists in the region will present the six-platform, 14x24-feet layout with a slightly revised track plan, new operating accessories, and technical changes to improve operational reliability. For the first time, the upper level of the layout will incorporate Lionel’s TMCC system, and visitors can use a CAB-1 to activate sound effects and cab chatter. LCCA members attending this event will receive a Special Events commemorative pin and sheet with SE Billboard Inserts and may participate as a Guest Operating Engineer running the trains for several laps around the layout.
18-day Schedule
The dates for this Special Event are December 13 thru 31. The Exhibit Hall will be open for fun with trains during regular library hours. The library will be closed on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day. The layout will be staffed by LCCA members and other hobbyists as Operating Engineers and volunteer Ambassadors for the world’s greatest hobby.
Mike Mottler
TLR Editor and Host Member - "Lionel at the Library"
mottlerm@conwaycorp.net
