Sep 20-21, 2003
NALUG's fourth appearance at the Greater Edmonton Train Show was another success. It was our first big show with DCC-controlled Lego trains and our new transfer table. At 40' x 13' it was our largest layout yet.
NALUG organized a 40'x13' LEGO train display at the Greater Edmonton Train Show on Sept 20-21, 2003. Over 8000 people attended the Mayfield Inn Trade Center show in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The unique features of this show included:
- new DCC system
- transfer table
- working Bascule bridge
- rotary hopper dumper
The downtown has one busy street with bridges at each end. The road passes Andrew's Peace Hills Trust tower, a replica of the real-life building on 109 St in Edmonton. Across the street is the excavation for a small store on the edge of a cliff. Near this activity is a cafe that is a popular area for minifigs who want to enjoy the view of the trains running through the valley below. They have to be careful not to sit on the stone retaining wall. Across the street is Andrew's smaller office tower. NALUG's corporate headquarters is located in a seven-storey office tower. This building has three sections and features a Mindstorms-operated glass passenger elevator in a central atrium with floodlights.
On its way from the mine to the hopper dumper, the coal-laden train passes an industrial area that features Joe's oil tank (with a curving staircase!), Mike's large grey engine shed, a white plastics factory, Andrew's large container yard and warehouse, and John's white grain elevator. Once the hoppers have reached their destination and have been unloaded, the coal can be processed at Joe's grey steel mill, which features a gantry crane and a working ventilation system.
Kevin's Commercial Hotel is on the far left of 82nd Avenue. Michel's Princess Theatre returned near this hotel to impress audiences for another year. James built a series of small Whyte Avenue shops beside the Princess. Further along the street, you can also see some classic three-storey apartment blocks built by Al and Kevin and a police station replicating the Douglas Block. The last buildings are more exotic, such as the House of Gothic and Aromatherapy and the brown building next door.
Chris built a replica of the old fire hall on 83rd Avenue and made sure that the tower was the tallest part in the area. Across the street from the fire hall is James' Strathcona Hotel. It hides an RCX that runs the street car back and forth along this street covered in black tile with embedded tracks. Michel's church is located next to Drew's apartment block and a building under construction. The red CP train station is built near a series of small buildings that Chris built. Jason's white building has plenty of interior detailing and a tall clock tower.
Kevin's automated Bascule bridge supports two parallel 9V tracks. The bridge rises to permit NALUG members to walk into the center of the layout. A LEGO RCX powers two motors that drive Lego racks mounted on the bridge truss. Light sensors determine when these motors should be powered off. When lowered, the 9V motors use electrical braking to ensure a gentle operation.
When the bridge is raised, the power to the approaching tracks is cut off automatically by the RCX to prevent trains from crashing into the counterweight of the bridge or falling into the chasm!
The central part of the layout reflects rural Alberta. Some of the land is swampy, with tall trees that bend in the wind. Drew built two black pumpjacks running all weekend on this fine fall day. A double rail right-of-way bisects James' forest, which is populated with various creatures frolicking near a creek. Near the forest is Michel's farmhouse with Andrew's farm animals. A garden features a pumpkin patch and two kids waiting for the Great Pumpkin to appear. There is also some corn ready for harvesting. Nearby are pigs and some other farm animals. The junkyard is the place where LEGO bricks go to die, proving that old, worn out, or broken parts still have a place in a LEGO display.
Near the bustling downtown, a coal mine is still operating after all these years of change. Hopper cars pull in under Kevin's coal tipple for loading. Coal is quickly loaded from above. Curiously, most of the coal ore comes in the shape of beans. Once loaded, the line of coal hoppers runs through the countryside. Once the hoppers have reached their destination, the coal (beans) can be unloaded without decoupling using John's automatic rotary hopper dumper. In this way, Kevin's vision of transporting goods from one end of the layout to the other without being touched by human hands (including loading and unloading) was successful.
Kevin's transfer table is the first known LEGO transfer table to appear at a LEGO train show. It is a large wooden table that arrives at a show in two sections. The parts of the table are bolted together to form a 30"x90" table. Most of the surface of the table is actually a wide drawer upon which multiple parallel 9V tracks are fastened. This drawer is pull out until it is aligned with the end of a spur. There is room for two spurs at either end, but only three spurs were used at GETS 2003. The track on the transfer table itself is powered by a selector switch so that engines, as well as rolling stock, can enter and leave the transfer table unassisted.
The drawer of the transfer table is hidden from public view by a plywood cover. At GETS 2003, the city buildings were placed on top of this cover. Since the drawer prevented the table cover from being supported underneath, a special beam was required to support the weight of fifty pounds of LEGO. This beam, a two-inch square 1/8"-thick steel tube, was donated to NALUG by Supreme Steel. Kevin's transfer table is the first known LEGO transfer table to appear at a LEGO train show. A large wooden table arrives at a show in two sections. The parts of the table are bolted together to form a 30"x 90" table. Most of the surface of the table is a wide drawer upon which multiple parallel 9V tracks are fastened. This drawer is pulled out until it is aligned with the end of a spur. There is room for two spurs at either end, but only three were used at GETS 2003. A selector switch powers the track on the transfer table itself so that engines and rolling stock can enter and leave the transfer table unassisted.
The drawer of the transfer table is hidden from public view by a plywood cover. At GETS 2003, the city buildings were placed on this cover. Since the drawer prevented the table cover from being supported underneath, a special beam was required to support the weight of fifty pounds of LEGO. This beam, a two-inch square 1/8"-thick steel tube, was donated to NALUG by Supreme Steel.
Each year, the Greater Edmonton Train Show organizers put on an evening party for the exhibitors. This is held in Fort Edmonton Park in the river valley of the North Saskatchewan River. The Edmonton Model Railroad Association has a building in the park, where their large HO-scale layout is located. Pizza and drinks are served (this year in the aircraft hangar), and the EMRA holds an open house of their layout.