The Northeast Region of the NMRA had their spring 2004 convention in Fishkill, NY. We were invited to be the "on-site" layout on June 12th. As there was no room in the convention rooms, we set up in the hallway. We had two linear layouts, one on either side of the hallway. Eight members and kids attended. Other than the two hour drive for those from around Albany (three from Amsterdam?), it was a great day.
We had our first train running by 9:00, and ran trains until after 4:00. There were two linear layouts, so we had four loops of track. The trackwork was very solid - there were almost no derailments or uncouplings. Some trains just ran and ran for hours.
There were some very memorable moments. One of the convention clinics was about creating a "train cam". One of our members had purchased one, and some of the other members were captivated by watching the layouts on video.
We also had one loop running DCC. The two throttles were wireless, so we have people in chairs running trains across the hallway.
Between the layout-on-camera and the operators seated in comfy chairs, there were a number of jokes about taking "armchair model railroading" to new levels!
The slightly larger layout, with two kids. I never got a shot of the smaller layout.
This is the other end of the larger layout - Mike's BendTrak end loop.
Mike had his set of New Haven engines running.
Kathy's VTR engine ran for over six hours straight (here it's on Ed's modules), and some other engines ran quite a while as well.
This is the camera engine, made by Milo and owned by John Henry Low.
Here's one picture from the TV. The camera car is in the middle of the train, shooting forward over several flat cars.
Here's a second picture from the TV. Here we're going through the junkyard on the Rossman's module, and passing another train.
And, here's how captivating that TV can be.
Wireless throttles - what a concept! It was a very relaxing day. Ed and Mike show us how to do armchair model railroading.
