Subject:
|
Full Report: PNLTC unofficially breaks Guinness Book Record for longest rail line.
|
Newsgroups:
|
lugnet.trains
|
Date:
|
Fri, 25 Aug 2000 10:10:55 GMT
|
Highlighted:
|
!
(details)
|
Viewed:
|
1003 times
|
| |
|
|
Not to upstage my comrades here, I've been asked by many to provide a full
report including many detailed notes of the event.
12:45PM, Saturday, August 19th, 2000: PNLTC broke the official Guinness Book
World Record for Longest LEGO Train Line of 545 meters (1788 ft) set in 1992.
Clubmembers operated a train over a 3343-foot continuous length of rail which
took 43 minutes to complete (vs. 18 minutes previously). Hence, the old
record was nearly doubled.
A secondary record, the Longest Freight Train, was set with 3 locomotives
pulling 68 cars for 5 complete laps around an approximately 250 foot loop
(loop size not claimed but to be conservatively confirmed by math).
Static features of the 89'2" x 39'6" full layout to be submitted as 'World
Records' include:
1. Largest complete layout outside a LEGO theme park: 3522.1 square feet
2. Number of bridges used: 28 spanning a total of 90'10".
3. Longest single bridge span: 16'10".
4. Longest elevated railline: 249' at 6" off the ground.
5. Number of skyscrapers: 15 w/ minimum height of 24 inches.
6. Largest multi figure-8: 15 loops.
7. A total of 565 pieces of rolling stock at the event. (full yard - ed.)
8. Longest monorail circuit: 277.5 feet.
Event Summary:
Setup took the equivalent of 2 12-hour days. The final solution to powering
track was to use a few controllers, and jumpers at many locations. The record
train was equipped with the new odometer. The main record was a little touch
and go: a child walked onto the track minutes beforehand, the first start
derailed a few feet into the run, and we nearly lost all power due to a switch
set wrong!
The final leg of the run consisted of the train tracing the red-backed
initials P-N-L-T-C with the crowd chanting these. Stacked 5-deep, they
erupted into a cheer as we reached the last dot. The judges checked the odo
before we touched the train.
Descriptive features of the layout:
at 3500 sq ft, twice the size of your average american home. A wildwest
scene, expanded european city, sprawling space colony, 4.5v circuit, bustling
airport (20+ planes, 2x8 foot runways), the biggest switchyard you can imagine
(no, bigger. BIGGER! Now double it.), and a show-stopping metro skyline that
took your breath away. Lots of misc structures, 6 minor-parent guest-teams,
and a burgeoning Kid's Building Area showing off their creations. We had a
colossal Duplo train circuit for awhile but we needed the 200 sqft area to lay
more 9v. The 3x80 foot river provided a home for watercraft of all sizes, a
Navy fleet, and many dockside industries. Aside from walkways, it was a
packed and lively layout. I'll corroborate Dwayne's or Tony's claim of 32
trains running at one time.
The switchyard contained another 100+ feet of track not counted in the main
record, and we had boxes full of curve track that went unused. Had we used
everything including plumbing in the remaining 2 circuits belonging to the
minors, we could have added another 200+ feet.
List of guests and/or contributors (in abstentia):
Dean Husby, Kevin Maynes and his friend, Sharon (regretfully, I've forgotten a
last name), Mark Sandlin, David Schilling, Kevin Wilson, Brian Wong, and
Zonker Harris. Larry Pieniazek lent much track and rolling stock. We shall
be posting a separate list of the Ambassador cars.
The most impressive aspect of the show, however, wasn't a physical feature or
record. It was the way everyone worked together. This was remarkable in the
fact that most of these people had never met and we experienced several
changes to the original plan.
If folks are interested, I can paraphrase the original GBWR article which I
obtained from Denmark (internal company newsletter LEGO REVIEW).
thanks to all the contributors and well-wishers, it was a spectacular event.
We shall be returning all loaned materials and assembling the documentation
for Guinness.
d/PNLTC
|
|
Message has 1 Reply:
2 Messages in This Thread:
  
- Entire Thread on One Page:
- Nested:
All | Brief | Compact | Dots
Linear:
All | Brief | Compact
|
|
|
|
