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Subject: 
2009 LEGOPalooza at Morehead Planetarium
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.trains.org.ncltc, lugnet.events, lugnet.loc.us.nc, lugnet.org.us.nclug
Followup-To: 
lugnet.org.us.nclug, lugnet.trains.org.ncltc, lugnet.loc.us.nc
Date: 
Wed, 28 Jan 2009 20:49:43 GMT
Highlighted: 
(details)
Viewed: 
40791 times
  
On Saturday January 31st and Sunday February 1st, NCLUG and NCLTC will exhibit
at the 5th annual LEGOPalooza at the Morehead Planetarium in Chapel Hill, North
Carolina.

This is a free event.  The event will run from 11-4 on Saturday and from 1-4 on
Sunday.  If you are in the area, please plan to stop by.  More details can be
found on the NCLUG web site at:  <http://www.nclug.us>

Show Flyer:
<http://www.nclug.us/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/the_5th_annual_legopalooza_v2.pdf>

Hope to see you there!

Mike

--
mike underscore walsh at mindspring dot com


Subject: 
Event Report: LEGOPalooza, Morrhead Plaetarium, Chapel Hill, NC
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.loc.us.nc, lugnet.org.us.nclug, lugnet.trains.org.ncltc, lugnet.general, lugnet.events, lugnet.robotics
Followup-To: 
lugnet.general
Date: 
Mon, 5 Feb 2007 06:07:36 GMT
Viewed: 
853 times
  
Hi all,

as announced previously, NCLUG was the host of LEGOPalooza this weekend at Morehead Planetarium. This year, the event was expanded to 2 days, and was earlier in the year compared to previous paloozas.

This time, we had a Star Wars display with sets from Sabrina and Signe Gravatt and customs by Gareth Bowler:


a Harry Potter display by Jennifer Joy Poole:


a Batman display by Taylor Poole:


a town layout by Joe Evangelista, Mike Walsh and Joe Meno

Joe E:


Mike Walsh:


a castle display by Cyndi Bradham:


a retro town layout by Carin and Jane Proctor:


a heliport by Team Joe:


and an NXT demo/display by me:


There were also displays by Ian Brusso (Technic), David Winegar (Space) and Gupreet Jawa (Castle).

There also was a building zone:


Attendance was about 1300 for the event - 700 on Saturday and 600 on Sunday.

So how was it?

It was a lot of fun! Having way too many events for my good, I can say that I really enjoyed doing this one because I did a live demo and did some true interaction - the NXT models were from instructions and progras that Philippe Hurbain posted last week The spy bot was perfect for the event, as it was small, easy to repair (they did fall off the table), and used one set each, which was really nice to talk about the sets.

I also had a joystick built, but for the fast pace of the event, I wasn’t able to use it, so by Sunday it was converted to another NXT spy bot. Also the joystick was stuck to interaction with one person, while the spybots could interact with anyone it happened to ‘see’.

There were a lot of questions about the NXT, and I had my laptop running to show the program for the bots. And the general reaction from the kids was summed up by this:


Gallery is here after moderation:

We also got media coverage from a local TV station (NBC17) and two local papers.

Many thanks to all those who participated, and also to Karen Kornegay and the staff of Morehead Planetarium - it’s always fun to do a show, and this has become the event I look forward to the most!


Yep, it’s blurry, but it summed up how I felt - this rocked!


Joe Meno
Administrator, NCLUG


Subject: 
NCLUG Show / LEGOPalooza at Morehead Planatarium in Chapel Hill
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.loc.us.nc, lugnet.org.us.nclug, lugnet.trains.org.ncltc, lugnet.announce
Followup-To: 
lugnet.loc.us.nc, lugnet.org.us.nclug
Date: 
Sat, 3 Feb 2007 11:13:04 GMT
Viewed: 
291 times
  
On February 3rd and 4th NCLUG in cooperation with the Morehead Planatarium
at the University of North Carlina Chapel Hill hosts LEGO Palooza.  The 3rd
LEGO Palooza expands to a 2 day event running from 12-4 both Saturday and
Sunday.  This year the display exhibits expand from Space themed to all
themes.  Al particular interest are large Castle, Star Wars and Town
layouts.  NCLTC will have a small train layout on display.  There is also a
large collection of bricks for kids and adults to build with.

For more information and directions, visit the Morehead Planatarium web
site:

http://www.moreheadplanetarium.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=news_item&id=371

Admission is free.


--
Mike Walsh - mike_walsh at mindspring.com
http://blog.carolinatrainbuilders.com - My LEGO Blog
http://www.ncltc.cc - North Carolina LEGO Train Club
http://www.carolinatrainbuilders.com - Carolina Train Builders
http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=mpw - CTB/Brick Depot


Subject: 
Re: What has become of NCLTC?
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.loc.us.nc, lugnet.org.us.nclug, lugnet.trains.org.ncltc
Date: 
Wed, 18 Oct 2006 14:33:41 GMT
Viewed: 
273 times
  
"Jordan Schwarz" <jbschwarz@ThisIsReallygmail.com> wrote in message
news:J7Ao4L.CEx@lugnet.com...
Hi all,

I've noticed a lack of activity regarding the NC LEGO Train Club and
wanted to
find out whether it still meets and if not, whether there are individuals
interested in restarting the club.

I should add that, one goal of my query is to encourage local train fans
to join
the Save 9V Trains movement (joining is free, but we want more
participating
members), <http://save.9vtrains.com>, in addition to evaluating if there
is
still interest in NCLTC.

Thanks!
Jordan

NCLTC is still alive and well although not very active.  With GATS falling
apart there isn't a regular train show coming to Raleigh any more.  The one
regular show  in this area is run by the Neuse River Valley Model Railroad
Club (http://www.nrvmrrc.org/) and it is held the first weekend in November.
Unfortunately this is a weekend which I have a family commitment and this
year is no different.

We are however, gettting ready to set up our layout for a 2-3 month stint at
South Hills Mall as part of their Holiday display.  We are just in the
planning stage so if anyone is interested in participating in this layout,
please contact me so I can add you to the planning mailing list.  We have
plenty of room this time in the space SHM has given us.  There is more
information on the NCLTC web site at:  http://www.ncltc.cc

The bulk of the NCLTC (and NCLUG too) communication is handled via two Yahoo
Groups (one for each).  If you want to participate in either, see these
links:

NCLUG:  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nclug/join
NCLTC:  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ncltc/join

Regarding your solicatation for new members for the 9V Trains forum, the
train community seems to be quite content with LUGNET.trains.  This is one
of the reasons ILTCO has never set up discussion forums.

Mike


--
Mike Walsh - mike_walsh at mindspring.com
http://www.ncltc.cc - North Carolina LEGO Train Club
http://www.carolinatrainbuilders.com - Carolina Train Builders
http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=mpw - CTB/Brick Depot


Subject: 
NCLTC @ Raleigh GATS April 24-25
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.events, lugnet.loc.us.nc, lugnet.org.us.nclug, lugnet.trains.org.ncltc, lugnet.trains, lugnet.trains.org
Followup-To: 
lugnet.loc.us.nc, lugnet.trains.org.ncltc
Date: 
Wed, 21 Apr 2004 02:25:14 GMT
Viewed: 
291 times
  
On April 24th and 25th the North Carolina LEGO® Train Club (NCLTC) will be
participating in the Great American Train Show (GATS) at the Jim Graham
Building at the NC State Fairgrounds in Raleigh, North Carolina.

The NCLTC train layout is constructed entirely of LEGO® bricks. The layout
is approximately 25' long and 15' wide and will have five trains operating
simultaneously. In addition to the layout, NCLTC will have a play area where
kids can build with a large pile of LEGO® bricks and run a LEGO® train.

NCLTC will be collecting canned food on behalf of the Food Bank of North
Carolina. Each person who makes a donation of two cans of food will have an
opportunity to win a LEGO® train set we are giving away. In 2003 NCLTC
collected almost 500 pounds of food and $250 for the Food Bank of North
Carolina.

More information about NCLTC and the event itself along with pictures from
previous events can be found on the NCLTC web site: http://www.ncltc.cc

If you are in the area, stop by and say hi!

Mike

FUT:  lugnet.trains.org.ncltc, lugnet.loc.us.nc

--
Mike Walsh - mike_walsh at mindspring.com
http://www.ncltc.cc - North Carolina LEGO Train Club


Subject: 
NCLTC @ Raleigh GATS
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.trains.org.ncltc, lugnet.org.us.nclug, lugnet.loc.us.nc
Followup-To: 
lugnet.trains.org.ncltc
Date: 
Mon, 22 Mar 2004 22:03:46 GMT
Viewed: 
10186 times
  
On April 24-25 NCLTC will have our layout on display at the Great American
Train Show in Raleigh, North Carolina.  We still have a small amount of open
space available in the layout, if you are interested in participating,
please contact me directly.

Thanks,

Mike


--
Mike Walsh - mike_walsh at mindspring.com
http://www.ncltc.cc - North Carolina LEGO Train Club
http://www.carolinatrainbuilders.com - Carolina Train Builders
http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=mpw - CTB/Brick Depot


Subject: 
NCLTC Holiday Layout at South Hills Mall - Raleigh, NC
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.announce, lugnet.trains, lugnet.trains.org, lugnet.trains.org.ncltc, lugnet.loc.us.nc, lugnet.org.us.nclug
Followup-To: 
lugnet.trains.org, lugnet.trains.org.ncltc, lugnet.loc.us.nc
Date: 
Thu, 11 Dec 2003 02:26:50 GMT
Viewed: 
318 times
  
The North Carolina LEGO Train Club (NCLTC) has our layout on display for the
Holiday Season at South Hills Mall in Raleigh, North Carolina.  This is our
second holiday layout, we were in the same mall a year ago.  This year's
layout is a tad smaller than last year but I think we have done a much
better job detailing the layout than we did a year ago.

This year's layout is 12'x17' and features a Christmas parade and three
loops of track.  The layout is unmanned and the trains run from 8:00 AM
until 9:30 PM everyday.  If you are in the Raleigh area, please take a
minute to stop by and check it out.  South Hills Mall is right off I-40 at
the intersection of I-40 and Route 1.  South Hills Mall is open daily from
9:00 AM until 9:00 PM and Sunday from 1:00 PM until 5:00 PM.  Our layout
will be on display until January 4th (or there about).

On Saturday, December 13, 2003 from 1:00-4:00 NCLTC will host a building
event adjacent to our layout to benefit the Food Bank of North Carolina.  A
two can contribution to the Food Bank will gain an entry in a drawing to win
a LEGO train.  The building event coincides with the December NCLUG meeting
which will also be held at SHM.

Here are some pictures of our layout - a few more details have been added
since I took these but for the most part, this is how it looks right now.
We'll tweak it from time to time (which is one of the fun parts about it
being up for a while).
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=65028

Layout on Display:
--------------------
Dates:  December 1, 2003 - January 4, 2004
Location:  South Hills Mall in front of Tom's Train Station
Admission:  Free
Hours:  Daily 9:00 AM - 9:00 PM, Sunday 1:00 - 5:00 PM
Driving Directions:  http://www.tomstrainstation.com/map.html

Building Event & NCLUG Meeting:
-------------------------------------
Date:  Saturday, December 13, 2003
Hours:  1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Benefit:  Food Bank of North Carolina - http://www.foodbanknc.org/

During the building event - donate two cans of food to the Food Bank and be
entered in a drawing for a LEGO Train!

More details:  http://www.ncltc.cc/events/christmas2003/index.htm

FUT:  lugnet.loc.trains.org, lugnet.loc.trains.org.ncltc, lugnet.loc.us.nc

Mike

--
Mike Walsh - mike_walsh at mindspring.com
http://www.ncltc.cc - North Carolina LEGO Train Club


Subject: 
Re: NCLTC Takes 1st Place at Raleigh GATS! (Long)
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.trains.org, lugnet.trains.org.ncltc, lugnet.loc.us.nc
Date: 
Wed, 6 Aug 2003 21:12:44 GMT
Viewed: 
275 times
  
"John Morgan" <trees@utk.edu> wrote in message
news:HJ7s83.1rxn@lugnet.com...

[ ... snipped ... ]

Congrats! thanks for sharing all this good Pictures and movies.

Thanks!

  I have seen the wireless cameras available online and was wondering how • well
they would work as a train engine mounted video source. Great to see the • trains
eye view of the layout!  Was the camera you used the same camera as this • site
offers?

http://www.plantraco.com/product_ptv16.html

Nope, it was this one:  http://www.e-metaresearch.com/

Do you think the static we saw on the movies might have been lessened by • some
foam padding aroudn the camera. I know this was spur of the moment setup • so
thanks for giving it a try and sharing it with us.
hope you've gotten a chance to rest up !

congrats again on a job well done!

  John

I don't know if padding would have helped, it might have.

http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=478182

The camera sits in a crade that looks basically like this:

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/mpw/trains/Misc/cameratrain.jpg

There is virtually no play horizontally with the camera, it is almost a
perfect fit between to two small thin walls.  Vertically there is a bit of
play.  I think the static was from some interference source although I am
not sure what it was.  If you watched the camera (which I realize you can't
do from the video) for five or six loops, the interference always happened
at about the same point in the track.

It was fun to play with.  When ever we do our next show I would like to
mount the camera on a monorail chassis plate, I think the trip up and down
the spirals would be pretty cool to watch.  I had hoped to do that for this
show but simply didn't have the time (plus I need another monorail chassis
plate).

Mike


--
Mike Walsh - mike_walsh at mindspring.com
http://www.ncltc.cc - North Carolina LEGO Train Club
http://www.carolinatrainbuilders.com - Carolina Train Builders
http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=mpw - CTB/Brick Depot


Subject: 
Re: NCLTC Takes 1st Place at Raleigh GATS! (Long)
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.trains.org, lugnet.trains.org.ncltc, lugnet.loc.us.nc
Date: 
Wed, 6 Aug 2003 21:00:28 GMT
Viewed: 
269 times
  
In lugnet.trains.org, John Morgan wrote:
In lugnet.announce, Mike Walsh wrote:
This past weekend NCLTC had our layout on display at the Great American
Train Show (GATS) in Raleigh, North Carolina.
...
Was the camera you used the same camera as this site offers?

http://www.plantraco.com/product_ptv16.html

If was different, but very similar. The camera fit easily in a 5 wide housing,
and was less than three studs wide itself. Mike Walsh made a cradle of 1-high
panels, separated by one stud, and the camera sat there. Mike never did figure
out how to get the auxilary battery pack to work, so we ran off the camera's
internal / rechargable battery, which lasted 10 or 15 minutes. Having a camera
like the one shown on this web site that takes a regular 9V battery would be a
great improvement.

Do you think the static we saw on the movies might have been lessened by
some foam padding around the camera?
...
We thought that the interference was caused by the motors and other electrical
devices, not by jarring the camera as it went around, but maybe we're wrong. One
of the neighboring layouts also had a train-camera and it had about as much
static. But the foam is a good idea, worth trying.

Also, it isn't our club's camera -- Mike borrowed it from a local train store,
so we may not be able to experiment any time soon.


Congrats again on a job well done!

  John

Thanks
Cary


Subject: 
Re: NCLTC Takes 1st Place at Raleigh GATS! (Long)
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.trains.org, lugnet.trains.org.ncltc, lugnet.loc.us.nc
Date: 
Wed, 6 Aug 2003 20:14:27 GMT
Viewed: 
261 times
  
In lugnet.announce, Mike Walsh wrote:
This past weekend NCLTC had our layout on display at the Great American
Train Show (GATS) in Raleigh, North Carolina.  This is the third GATS show
we have done and while our layout has always been popular, we have never won
the competition.

Much to our suprise, Sunday afternoon we were awarded 1st Prize!  There was
no doubt that our layout consistently had the biggest crowd all weekend, but
as many LEGO Train Clubs can attest to, having the biggest crowd usually
doesn't mean much in the GATS competition.  We were (and still are) pretty
excited about winning the contest and it was nice to see many of the other
groups come up and congratulate us.

Congrats! thanks for sharing all this good Pictures and movies.
  I have seen the wireless cameras available online and was wondering how well
they would work as a train engine mounted video source. Great to see the trains
eye view of the layout!  Was the camera you used the same camera as this site
offers?

http://www.plantraco.com/product_ptv16.html

Do you think the static we saw on the movies might have been lessened by some
foam padding aroudn the camera. I know this was spur of the moment setup so
thanks for giving it a try and sharing it with us.
hope you've gotten a chance to rest up !

congrats again on a job well done!

  John


Subject: 
Re: NCLTC Takes 1st Place at Raleigh GATS! (Long)
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.trains.org, lugnet.trains.org.ncltc, lugnet.loc.us.nc
Date: 
Wed, 6 Aug 2003 15:07:43 GMT
Viewed: 
257 times
  
[ ... snipped ... ]


I think having a vendor that actually owns a "brick and mortar" store is • great,
that means he can sell sets at a reasonalble price.

jt

By the time I got to Tom's booth he only had one 10013 set left and it was
marked at $16.99 - same price as the LEGO catalog.  I don't know what he
sold 4511 and 4512 for but I suspect it was also catalog price.

Mike


--
Mike Walsh - mike_walsh at mindspring.com
http://www.ncltc.cc - North Carolina LEGO Train Club
http://www.carolinatrainbuilders.com - Carolina Train Builders
http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=mpw - CTB/Brick Depot


Subject: 
Re: NCLTC Takes 1st Place at Raleigh GATS! (Long)
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.trains.org, lugnet.trains.org.ncltc, lugnet.loc.us.nc
Date: 
Wed, 6 Aug 2003 13:21:56 GMT
Viewed: 
266 times
  
In lugnet.trains.org, Mike Walsh wrote:

It was really nice to be able to point people who asked to one of the vendor
booths right on the show floor.


I agree. We did a show in March and there was a vendor selling LEGO trains. Most
of them were older collectable trains so the prices were a bit high for the
standard show visitor, but it was nice to be able to point people in his
direction when people wanted to buy.

I think having a vendor that actually owns a "brick and mortar" store is great,
that means he can sell sets at a reasonalble price.

jt


Subject: 
Re: NCLTC Takes 1st Place at Raleigh GATS! (Long)
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.trains.org, lugnet.trains.org.ncltc, lugnet.loc.us.nc
Date: 
Wed, 6 Aug 2003 12:52:16 GMT
Viewed: 
257 times
  
"Cary Clark" <cary@corp.nospamwebtv.net> wrote in message
news:HJ5Bs2.8z6@lugnet.com...

[ ... snipped ... ]

...
Mike, this was an excellent writeup. One more note about Tom from Tom's • Train
Station: Tom now carries LEGO at his store (got his first shipment on • Friday),
and brought seven each of the new trains to sell at his GATS booth on • Saturday.
As I understand it, he sold out within hours. He brought the remainder of • his
shipment to GATS on Sunday, then sold the rest. I hear that Tom is getting • bit
by the LEGO bug, too, and is already planning his addition to the NCLTC • layout!

Cary

Cary brings up a good point, one I had forgotten about.  Here are a couple
of deep links of people holding LEGO train sets under their arm.  It was
nice to see this at a train show.

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/mpw/TrainShows/GATS-2003/Saturday/dscn0607_tn.jpg
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/mpw/TrainShows/GATS-2003/Saturday/dscn0608_tn.jpg

Tom told us he believed he could have sold quite a few more if he had them
but he had no idea what the demand would be.  In addition to four sets each
of 4511 and 4512, Tom also sold out of the supply of 10013 Open Freight
Wagons he had.

It was really nice to be able to point people who asked to one of the vendor
booths right on the show floor.

Mike


--
Mike Walsh - mike_walsh at mindspring.com
http://www.ncltc.cc - North Carolina LEGO Train Club
http://www.carolinatrainbuilders.com - Carolina Train Builders
http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=mpw - CTB/Brick Depot


Subject: 
Re: NCLTC Takes 1st Place at Raleigh GATS! (Long)
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.trains.org, lugnet.trains.org.ncltc, lugnet.loc.us.nc
Date: 
Wed, 6 Aug 2003 12:37:01 GMT
Viewed: 
258 times
  
In lugnet.announce, Mike Walsh wrote:
This past weekend NCLTC had our layout on display at the Great American
Train Show (GATS) in Raleigh, North Carolina.  This is the third GATS show
we have done and while our layout has always been popular, we have never won
the competition.

Much to our suprise, Sunday afternoon we were awarded 1st Prize!

snip

Mike

Congratulations to all the participating NCLTC members!
Mike, thank you for crafting such a detailed report.  Nothing can ever take the
place of being there, but your descriptions along with the pictures in the links
you provided are certainly the next best thing.

sheree


Subject: 
Re: NCLTC Takes 1st Place at Raleigh GATS! (Long)
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.trains.org, lugnet.trains.org.ncltc, lugnet.loc.us.nc
Date: 
Tue, 5 Aug 2003 12:24:02 GMT
Viewed: 
264 times
  
In lugnet.announce, Mike Walsh wrote:
This past weekend NCLTC had our layout on display at the Great American
Train Show (GATS) in Raleigh, North Carolina. • ...

Tom Staley of Tom's Train Station (a local model railroad store) loaned me a
wireless video camera.
...
Mike, this was an excellent writeup. One more note about Tom from Tom's Train
Station: Tom now carries LEGO at his store (got his first shipment on Friday),
and brought seven each of the new trains to sell at his GATS booth on Saturday.
As I understand it, he sold out within hours. He brought the remainder of his
shipment to GATS on Sunday, then sold the rest. I hear that Tom is getting bit
by the LEGO bug, too, and is already planning his addition to the NCLTC layout!

Cary


Subject: 
NCLTC Takes 1st Place at Raleigh GATS! (Long)
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.announce, lugnet.loc.us.nc, lugnet.trains, lugnet.events, lugnet.trains, lugnet.trains.org, lugnet.trains.org.ncltc, lugnet.org.us.nclug
Followup-To: 
lugnet.trains.org, lugnet.trains.org.ncltc, lugnet.loc.us.nc
Date: 
Tue, 5 Aug 2003 04:22:56 GMT
Highlighted: 
!! (details)
Viewed: 
307 times
  
This past weekend NCLTC had our layout on display at the Great American
Train Show (GATS) in Raleigh, North Carolina.  This is the third GATS show
we have done and while our layout has always been popular, we have never won
the competition.

Much to our suprise, Sunday afternoon we were awarded 1st Prize!  There was
no doubt that our layout consistently had the biggest crowd all weekend, but
as many LEGO Train Clubs can attest to, having the biggest crowd usually
doesn't mean much in the GATS competition.  We were (and still are) pretty
excited about winning the contest and it was nice to see many of the other
groups come up and congratulate us.

http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=477625

The weekend didn't start out so well for us though.  I was in Portland, OR
for work last week and had scheduled myself to take the last flight from
Portland to Raleigh on Thursday night.  When I got to the airport I learned
that my connecting flight to Dallas wasn't anywhere close to on time and
would miss my connection to Raleigh.  I had an awful lot to do on Friday and
it was going to be a real problem if I wasn't at home!  I managed to get as
far as Chicago on Thursday and flew from Chicago to Raleigh on Friday
morning.  From the time I landed it was a scramble the rest of the day until
GATS kicked us out at 9:00 PM on Friday night.

Even though we had reviewed our track plan many times, we simply overlooked
the fact that the track on top of Cary's subway module was in a fixed
location.  Doh!  We realized about 8:30 that our track plan wouldn't work!
Fortunately we were able to adjust (we added a local loop and re-routed the
other line) and moved on.  The monorail spirals ran into Joe Meno's museum,
something else we missed on the plan.  A little more rearranging and we
resolved that dillema.  I had mentioned to Cary as we were getting ready to
leave that this was about the most inefficient set up we had ever done - six
hours of set up and we still had quite a bit of work to do in the morning.

On Saturday we all staggered in (me being one of the last) and finished
getting everything set up just as the show opened.  We were about as far
from the entry as you could get yet by 11:02 we had people around our
layout.

This was by far the busiest of the three GATS shows we have done.  Press
coverage for this event was much better than in past years, the weather was
rainy on Saturday, and the venue was air conditioned (unlike last year).
All of these contributed to a show which I'd estimated was twice as busy as
last year.

We have lots of pictures, Joe Meno has posted quite a few in the last 24
hours including some very nice video clips.

Friday (Setup):  http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=52264
Saturday:  http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=52265
More from Saturday:  http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=52267
Sunday:  http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=52269

I have also uploaded some pictures that my daughter (who is six) and I took
although these folders are currently unmoderated:

Friday:  http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=52400
Saturday:  http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=52308
Sunday:  http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=52309

Some of the highlights from the show were:

Will Pedersen's Roundhouse:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=477537

Will Pedersen's model of the Backshop at Spencer (the old Southern Railway
maintenance facility):
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=477522

Cary Clark's Subway Module
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=477483
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=477627
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=477507

Mike Walsh's Amusement Park:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=477553
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=478775

Joe Meno's Natural Science Museum:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=478764

We had Cary's monorail spirals out again (these are a crowd favorite):
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=478765

Tom Staley of Tom's Train Station (a local model railroad store) loaned me a
wireless video camera.  On Saturday night I built a locomotive to mount the
camera in and on Sunday we ran the train for a while with the camera on.
This was a real crowd pleaser although the battery life of the camera isn't
very long (about 15 minutes).  I was able to capture some video of the train
running on three of the five train loops we had operating.

Video from a wireless camera mounted on a LEGO locomotive:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=52316

For this show we also held a canned food drive to support the Food Bank of
North Carolina.  Anyone who donated two cans of food was entered in a
drawing to win a LEGO train.  We gave away a My Own Train locomotive and two
additional cars.  We were overwhelmed by the donations, we completely filled
two collection barrels that are a little larger than a 55 gallon oil drum!

Barrels:  http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=477586

The play area was extremely busy all weekend.  Special thanks out to my
father-in-law, Rex Tracy, who manned the play area almost all weekend.

http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=477584

Lastly, we did well in the local media coverage department.  Our layout was
featured on the news of four different local TV stations, one on Saturday
night, and three on Sunday night.  One of the oddest clips (WB22) featured
an interview with a classic model railroad fan talking about what he came to
the show to see.  It was all about seeing regular model railroading stuff
but it was filmed in front of our layout!  The best coverage was from NBC17.
I have captured all of the clips and uploaded them to BrickShelf.

Media Coverage (after moderation):
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=52306

Deep links:
NBC17 -
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/mpw/TrainShows/GATS-2003/MediaCoverage/nbc17_news_clip_030803.mpg
WB22 -
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/mpw/TrainShows/GATS-2003/MediaCoverage/wb22_news_clip_030803.mpg
News14 -
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/mpw/TrainShows/GATS-2003/MediaCoverage/news14_news_clip_030803.mpg
WRAL -
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/mpw/TrainShows/GATS-2003/MediaCoverage/wral_news_clip_030802.mpg

I think that is about it although I am sure I missed something.  We had a
blast and we are all tired (even 24 hours later).  We met a lot of really
nice people and we hope we have convinced a few more to come join our merry
band of builders.  It was also nice to do a bit of community service and
quite a few parents commented on how they appreciated what we were doing for
the Food Bank.

If you stuck with me this long - thanks!

Mike


--
Mike Walsh - mike_walsh at mindspring.com
http://www.ncltc.cc - North Carolina LEGO Train Club
http://www.carolinatrainbuilders.com - Carolina Train Builders
http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=mpw - CTB/Brick Depot


Subject: 
NCLTC to display at South Hills Mall March 1st and 2nd in Raleigh, NC
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.announce, lugnet.loc.us.nc, lugnet.trains, lugnet.events, lugnet.trains, lugnet.trains.org, lugnet.trains.org.ncltc, lugnet.org.us.nclug
Followup-To: 
lugnet.trains.org, lugnet.trains.org.ncltc, lugnet.loc.us.nc
Date: 
Fri, 1 Aug 2003 10:30:22 GMT
Viewed: 
274 times
  
This weekend, August 2nd and 3rd, the North Carolina LEGO Train Club (NCLTC)
will have our layout on display at the Great American Train Show at the
Raleigh Civic and Convention Center in Raleigh, North Carolina.  The show is
open from 10 AM until until 5 PM on both Saturday and  Sunday.  Admission is
$7 for adults, children 12 and under are free.  A $1 off discount coupon can
be found at http://www.gats.com.

The layout will be approximately 15'x25' with four train loops and a
monorail loop, a working roundhouse, a working amusement park and much more.
The monorail loop will feature twin spirals which bring the track level up
to approximately 44 bricks off the surface of the table!

We will also have the play area where kids (and adults too) can build and
run a LEGO train.  We will also be collecting canned food for the Food Bank
of North Carolina.  Donate two cans of food and you will be entered in a
drawing to win a LEGO train!

Direcitons and more details and a preview of the layout plan (which of
course is subject to change) can be found on our web site at:

http://www.ncltc.cc/events/gats2003/index.htm

If you are in the area please stop by and say hello!

Mike

--
Mike Walsh - mike_walsh at mindspring.com
http://www.ncltc.cc - North Carolina LEGO Train Club


Subject: 
NCLTC to display at South Hills Mall March 1st and 2nd in Raleigh, NC
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.announce, lugnet.loc.us.nc, lugnet.trains, lugnet.events, lugnet.trains, lugnet.trains.org, lugnet.trains.org.ncltc, lugnet.org.us.nclug
Followup-To: 
lugnet.trains.org, lugnet.trains.org.ncltc, lugnet.loc.us.nc
Date: 
Fri, 28 Feb 2003 19:47:31 GMT
Viewed: 
269 times
  
This weekend, March 1st and 2nd, the North Carolina LEGO Train Club (NCLTC)
will have our layout on display at the South Hills Mall Model Train Show at
South Hills Mall in Raleigh, North Carolina.  The Mall is open from 10 AM
until 9 PM on Saturday and from 12 Noon until 5 PM on Sunday.  Our layout
will be on display during all mall operating hours.

The layout will be approximately 8'x18' with four train loops and a monorail
loop. The monorail loop will feature twin spirals which bring the track
level up to approximately 44 bricks off the surface of the table!

We will also have the play area where kids (and adults too) can build and
run a LEGO train.

Direcitons and more details and a preview of the layout plan (which of
course is subject to change) can be found on our web site at:

http://www.ncltc.cc/events/southhillsmall2003/index.htm

If you are in the area please stop by and say hello!

Mike

--
Mike Walsh - mike_walsh at mindspring.com
http://www.ncltc.cc - North Carolina LEGO Train Club
http://www.carolinatrainbuilders.com - Carolina Train Builders
http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=mpw - CTB/Brick Depot


Subject: 
Re: NCLTC Christmas Layout Display Wrap Up - Long
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.trains, lugnet.trains.org, lugnet.trains.org.ncltc, lugnet.loc.us.nc, lugnet.org.us.nclug, lugnet.town
Date: 
Mon, 6 Jan 2003 11:30:15 GMT
Viewed: 
273 times
  
"Martin Legault" <mlegault@nortelnetworks.com> wrote in message
news:H8AG4z.E6@lugnet.com...


[ ... snipped ... ]


Hi Mike,

It is a real good display that you have done there, congrat tho both of • you. I
would like to know who build that chruch
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=296610

thanks,

Martin


[ ... snipped ... ]

Martin - thanks for your comments.  The church was built by me with some
help from my son and daughter this past November specifically for this show.

Thanks,

Mike


--
Mike Walsh - mike_walsh at mindspring.com
http://www.ncltc.cc - North Carolina LEGO Train Club
http://www.carolinatrainbuilders.com - Carolina Train Builders
http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=mpw - CTB/Brick Depot


Subject: 
Re: NCLTC Christmas Layout Display Wrap Up - Long
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.trains, lugnet.trains.org, lugnet.trains.org.ncltc, lugnet.loc.us.nc, lugnet.org.us.nclug, lugnet.town
Date: 
Mon, 6 Jan 2003 10:36:35 GMT
Viewed: 
266 times
  
In lugnet.trains, Mike Walsh writes:
NCLTC just completed (it came down today) a six week run - our layout has
been on display at a mall here in the Raleigh area since Thanksgiving.  This
was an interesting experience for us and it actually worked out much better
than I expected.  While we didn't make the news, we did get a nice two page
write up in the paper and did a building event to support the Foodbank of
North Carolina.

<...>

Hi Mike,

It is a real good display that you have done there, congrat tho both of you. I
would like to know who build that chruch
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=296610

thanks,

Martin

Mike


--
Mike Walsh - mike_walsh at mindspring.com
http://www.ncltc.cc - North Carolina LEGO Train Club
http://www.carolinatrainbuilders.com - Carolina Train Builders
http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=mpw - CTB/Brick Depot



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