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Subject: 
Re: SuperTrain 2001 - I'll be there
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.org.ca.nalug, lugnet.trains.org
Date: 
Sat, 16 Dec 2000 01:14:42 GMT
Viewed: 
2548 times
  
Sorry I am so late in replying to this thread.  We just came back from
California, and yes, Legoland is neat.  I was disappointed by the selection
of Lego in their store.  No large technic sets, only train sets were the
track, the station and loading crane.  I couldn't even find any of the 2001
Star Wars, except for the millenium falcon.  I really wanted to get the escape
pod, that Kevin has bought out in the Edmonton stores!
I stopped at a Shell on the way to Legoland, opted not to buy their sets, not
knowing how much I would buy in Legoland.  After buying almost nothing in
Legoland, (a few of the small black and red semi cabs), I went back, and the
whole display was gone.  I spoke to the spanish speaking teller, he had no idea
what I was talking about.  The next morning on my way to the airport, I decided
to drop in again, hoping to talk to the manager, lo and behold, the display was
back up, so I bought one of each set, they look pretty.

With respect to Supertrain.  Just let me know what you want me to bring to
Edmonton.  I'll try to drop it off at James place, some may have to be stored
at my parents in Millwoods.  (I don't think I could fit all the tables in
one load, and still have room for 4 passengers, I could barely fit the
original set of tables the last time.)  Do you want me to list an inventory?
As far as the tables are concerned, I need to assemble more legs to use all the
current tables, but I don't think I'll have time to paint them.  Will James
have time to make a set of tables before the show?  In order to use the layout
we planned previously?  If so, do you want me to drop off the leftover green
paint?  For the skirt, we could reuse some of the blue plastic Walmart
tablecloth for this show, I won't have enough for a larger layout (I have 40
linear feet), but you might be able to find more, at $1.99 for 10 feet it is a
great deal, if you also need the stapler, and staple remover, remind me to drop
them off as well.

Steve, don't overextend yourself.  A larger layout isn't necessarily a better
layout.  Even eliminating the assembly of the tables leaves a lot of work
setting up the track and structures.

One thing that will need to be prepared before the show is more barriers.
Unless we wnat to use the GETS 2000 money for T-shirts some of the money
should be used for these.  The choices are more wooden bases like I made, very
labor intensive (They took 3 coats of paint.) and not that sturdy.  Or simpler
is to collect atleast a dozen of the blue bins, center a few short lengths of
plastic pipe in them, and pour ready made concrete inside to hold the pipe in
place.  The 1 1/2 inch vaccuum pipe is what I used.  It has a female end,
which is what we would put facing up from the concrete.  For the show a 3
foot length of pipe would be added.  So that it takes less room for
storage.  More 1/4 inch rope would be needed as well.  The layout size
would have to be approximated before leaving Edmonton, to be sure enough
of these are built.

The only weekend I am free in January is the 13 and 14, I would like to get
together with the rest of NALUG in Edmonton then.  I could take my first load
down as well.  I also could send a load with my parents when they return from
their New Years visit with us, but I will need to know what you will need
before they leave Edmonton, so that I could ask him to leave some of the seats
from his van at home.  My fathers health isn't the best, I don't think he would
be able to unload a loat of stuff, even if it is light, he has bad emphysema.

Do we use some of the GETS money to order train plates and boggies and motors?
I don't mind supplying a couple loops of track for the play area, I have lots.
I am nervous about modifying too many of my transformers, so maybe we need to
buy one for the group.  Who was the electrical guy, who was going to add a
resistor in the transformers to limit the speed?  Our GETS money should pay for
the electronic parts for this.  The other choice is to buy a 4565 for the group
from the gets money, it has several plates, wheels and boggies, I'll have to
compare the cost of both.

You should find out who the other Lego displayer is, and maybe coordinate
together, rather than compete, another body to help would be great, and a
childs perspective on the whole thing might be useful.

Michel

The tables are 2'x8', so $40 would give us a good chuck more space
than we have with the existing tables.  The cost shouldn't be an
issue due to the "gate-share" cheque - the better our display, the
more votes, the bigger the cheque.  The tables are what take most of
the room in the van and are the main pain with setup and tear-down.
I'd rather spend several hours setting up a van full of LEGO, than
half the time and half the LEGO with all the extra table hassle.
Besides, the tables there would probably be lower to the ground,
and that's going to make all those "shorter viewers" happier, not
to mention easing the strain on parents shoulders.   :-)

I was just talking to the chairman of Supertrain2001 by phone, and
I'm thinking that perhaps it would be best to use both the existing
tables AND some rentals.  With James Powell's large contribution,
we have enough track and trains to make a layout far larger than we
could fit on Michel's tables.  The track could incline up from the
lower tables to the higher ones - I'd only need incline supports on
one side of my bridge instead of both.  Perhaps we could even
incorporate the mountain into the differential, resulting in an even
larger mountain.  This is just me throwing around some ideas - All
things considered, I'd probably still go with a bunch of rental tables.

I told the chairman that we can basically fit anywhere.  All the other
layouts need particular dimensions and can only show on certain sides.
We can have any shape and/or display sides - corners and building
support pillars don't bother us a bit.  I used the analogy of propeller
planes and supersonic jets - still flying airplanes, but a whole new
scenario.  That's the kind of shift we're talking about when it comes to
flexibility between LEGO trains and conventional model trains.   :-)

We discussed the kid's play area - he's going to look into getting tables,
volunteers to supervise the kids, etc., and I've heard back from TLC...
" We are very happy to support you with this.  Please let me know where
you would like the K8's sent. "  (There's another part of the e-mail that
I'm dying to share, but I've gotta make sure it's alright to do so.)  ;-)

The chairman also mentioned that there is a (12yr old?) boy who will
be displaying his own LEGO train(s) there also.  We'd better make
sure that he doesn't show us up - we'd never live it down.   8-)


SRC
StRuCtures



Message has 2 Replies:
  Re: SuperTrain 2001 - I'll be there
 
(...) I can include some (2 or 3) controllers, without the 9V wall wart. I have 2 110 ones which I am using the plugins for Mindstorms, and a Euro one (no different, same wall wart connection). LMK if you want 1 or 2 of them thrown in...I find them (...) (24 years ago, 16-Dec-00, to lugnet.org.ca.nalug, lugnet.trains.org)
  Re: SuperTrain 2001 - I'll be there
 
In lugnet.org.ca.nalug, Michel Magnan writes: <snip> (...) I've got a staple gun - just pliers for removal though. ;-) (...) We've got more time available, (they let us in at 15:00) having the tables ready and waiting should help a lot, and I'm (...) (24 years ago, 19-Dec-00, to lugnet.org.ca.nalug)

Message is in Reply To:
  Re: SuperTrain 2001 - I'll be there
 
(...) I was just talking to the chairman of Supertrain2001 by phone, and I'm thinking that perhaps it would be best to use both the existing tables AND some rentals. With James Powell's large contribution, we have enough track and trains to make a (...) (24 years ago, 15-Dec-00, to lugnet.org.ca.nalug, lugnet.trains.org)

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