This weekend, BayLTC is exhibiting at the Train Collectors’ Association Cal-Stewart Spring Meet at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara. 
We have a 25′x25′ train layout with four loops of trains and a monorail. The exhibit is open to the public today from 10am to 2pm.
I took some pictures of the layout this morning which you can view on Flickr (or view as a slideshow)
Technorati Tags: bayltc, lego, tca
Each year for the past couple of years BayLUG has put on an exhibit at the Museum of American History in Palo Alto, CA. 
This year was no exception. The exhibit ran from December 16 through January 14. I didn’t actively participate in this show, though, as I was busy with holiday madness and illness. But the show went on without me, and I managed to go there last Thursday, when the museum played host to a reception for the local Yale alumni club. While I was there I took some pictures using my new phone (I got a Treo 700P recently) and I just now posted them on Flickr.
You can click the photo to the right to view the photoset or see the pictures as a slide show.
Technorati Tags: lego, baylug, bayltc, moah, trains, paloalto
In BayLUG‘s recent exhibit at MoAH, Bruce Chamberlain set up a display of minifigs protesting to save the 9V trains line. Here’s a pic:
If you want your voice to be heard, visit the Save 9V Trains site and register your opinion!
Technorati Tags: lego, trains, 9v, save 9v trains
I spent much of Thanksgiving weekend at the Great Train Expo in Pleasanton, CA, at the BayLTC layout.
Click the photo to see the rest of my pics on Flickr, or check out the slideshow.
As usual, my primary contribution was in the downtown area, where I lined both sides of one street (mostly) with my models, including the Blackburn Hotel and Luigi’s Italian restaurant. I didn’t build anything new for this show, as I really haven’t had the time to build lately and my LEGO work space is currently a big, big mess. Hopefully I can get that cleaned up soon and get back to work!
Technorati Tags: lego, trains, trainshow, pleasanton
Last night we set up the BayLTC show in Pleasanton at the Great Train Expo. I forgot my camera so no pics yet, but I’m bringing it today. Come on down and say hi!
Three years ago (on November 21, 2003) I wrote a page on my old site about
Track Layout Geometry showing some of the interesting things you can do with LEGO train track, for example, this method for running track on the 22.5° diagonal:
For the past year or so, the train station on the Bay Area LEGO Train Club layouts at train shows and museums has been my San Ladrillo Suburban Train Station.
This is a modern suburban train station, with one platform and two tracks. Passengers boarding trains on the outer track wait on the main platform, and after their train arrives they cross the near track to the yellow boarding platform. Of course, this means no trains can pass through the inner track while this is happening! This is modeled after the way many stations on the Caltrain line are designed (but for safety and scheduling reasons, they are moving to a two-platform design on many of the stations).
The feature which started this model is the tile mosaic floor in the waiting area. I got the idea while riding Caltrain. When we were stopped at the Redwood City station I noticed the pattern in the concrete waiting platform of a grid of squares surrounded by long strips. Theirs wasn’t multicolored, but then theirs wasn’t built from LEGO either. :-) The station building was not based on anything from real life, though. I tried to use an archetypal station design. Note also the ticket vending machines on the station wall – tickets must be purchased before boarding!
Click the photo above to see more, or click to look on Flickr (slideshow) or on Brickshelf (pending moderation).
Technorati Tags: lego, trains, town, trainstation, sanladrillo
At long last, here is the blog entry about my micro moonbase monorail.
Last January, I got together with other members of BayLUG to install a “microscale space” display at the Valley Fair Mall LEGO store. I posted pictures and a description of that on my blog back then, but I always meant to post details about my model that was featured in the display. So here they are, eight months later – sorry!
Here we see two buildings connected by a monorail. At the right is a sort of office building which has an opening for the monorail to enter the building, inspired by the way they do at Disneyland (or is it WDW) where the monorail goes into the hotel (or at least, I think it did when I was a kid – does it still?). At the other end is a standalone station with a micro moonbase connection. In both cases, the monorail fits into the building closely enough that you can imagine it is an airtight connection (something that matters a lot on an airless moon…).
For the track I am using the straight 16-stud long track of the type originally produced for the 4.5V and 12V trains from long ago, but which has lately been available at the LEGO store Pick-A-Brick (in New Grey, natch). I designed a monorail car that fits nicely on the track. The only problem with the design is it would never be able to take any turns, so it’s a good thing I only have straight track of that type! :-)
Click the photo above to see more, or click to look on Flickr (slideshow) or on Brickshelf (pending moderation).
This past weekend, Bay Area LEGO Train Club (BayLTC) took part in the Great Train Expo in San Jose, CA.
We set up the layout Friday afternoon/evening. I had to teach a Perl class Saturday, but Sunday I was there all day to help man the layout. It’s always a treat to see the looks on kids (of all ages) as they look over the layout. We also met a few people who might become members of the club, which is another plus. At any rate, I handed out more than a few membership application forms and suggested to a number of people that they might want to come to the meeting on October 8 in Palo Alto.
My contributions to this layout were mostly in the downtown area: the Blackburn Hotel, Luigi’s Italian restaurant, an office building, and a few houses. I also supplied a few trucks which could be seen in the downtown area and my RoadRailer Trailers which were parked in the train yard.
View all the pictures on Flickr (slideshow) or on Brickshelf.
Technorati Tags: lego, bayltc, baylug, trainshow, sanjose, greattrainexpo
On Wednesday night, I got together with a few other membes of the Bay Area LEGO Users’ Group (BayLUG) to set up a new display at the LEGO store in Valley Fair Mall, Santa Clara, CA.
My contributions included the buildings (blue office building and Quik-E-Mart), the cars on the street, and the traffic signals. Charles and Adrienne built the subway and sewer module specifically for this exhibit. Bruce brought a helicopter (based on one from the Batman sets) and a trolley based on a design by James Mathis. Russell provided the street details such as streetlights, mailboxes, fire hydrant, etc. Detailed photos are available on Flickr, or check out the slide show.
You can see more similar models at our exhibit at the Great Train Expo this weekend in San Jose (at the fairgrounds).
Technorati Tags: lego, city, downtown