To All Fellow TRAINBOARD MEMBERS planning on attending the DERBY CITY EXPRESS. Does anybody have any questions about ANYTHING not covered at the DERBY CITY EXPRESS website? Trains, railfanning, eating, motels/hotels, shopping, anything going on in the area while the DERBY CITY EXPRESS is going on? I'll be glad to get an answer for you. The DERBY CITY EXPRESS Website covers a lot, but it seems that there is ALWAYS some question that websites don't answer. Please post the question here, maybe somebody else has the same question, or you can PM/Email me if you like. I'll be working at the DERBY CITY EXPRESS, am a KSONS member and live about 10 minutes from the DERBY CITY EXPRESS hotel/convention center, so I sorta know the area. Don't forget that the DERBY CITY EXPRESS is in LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY, but we have a lot to offer over here in Southern Indiana(shameless plug!) too.
When does layout construction officially start? I see preliminary construction to begin on Wednesday at 8:00 am. My plans are to arrive on Tuesday so will I be unloading first thing on Wednesday morning? I have about 2/3 of BANTRAK's contribution to the layout. Rest is planned to arrive during the day on the 25th. Martin Myers
Martin, The best way to get this type of information is to work through your Loop Captain, Hans-Jochen Trost. Contact me directly for his email address. He should have the details for your loop. But you should be able to drop your stuff on Wednesday morning.
Well, a quick question from my side of the pond: My club is not doing Ntrack (there are no Ntrack clubs on Northern Germany that I am aware of), but I would like to bring a trainset to run a train myself. I would love to show my kitbashed NP Class Y1 Consolidation plus a few freight cars... Questions Is running a train possible for a beginner? Is it necessary to be a Ntrack club member? I can bring my Digitrax DT400 (with radio), is that OK? Is there anybody willing to give me a short introduction (so I am not doing too many stupid mistakes? Many thanks for any help to show the public some steam! Cheers Dirk
Dirk, I can tell everyone you loaned me your trains and they are running as part of my modules. Or you can join our club, no dues so its free. I seriously don't think there will be a problem running trains. Where there is a will, there is a way. Anything for more steam.
Dirk, You had better come to this show! And certainly, bring your own trains to run. The last time (in Chantilly) you kept me company while I ran mine. This time you're on your own. I'm sure there won't be any trouble finding you a spot to run at the show. I look forward to seeing you again. Paul
Russel, Paul, thanks for the encouragement. I will bring a nice train (one more reason to go to the basement and fine-tune the loco and detail those cars), my DT400, some spare batteries: I am sure that I will find someone to give me a short introduction to running on a N-Track layout. If there is a traffic jam it is probabla me trying to figure out what to do next.. Paul, the run we did together was so much fun that I just NEED to do that again!! Cheers Dirk
Hey Mark or Paul, If I remeber right at a KSONS layout a long time ago I remember seeing milepost or something like that. Someone did some math and all that and it showed that if that was real size it was so many miles. Do you know about how many miles this would be in N Scale?
We don't have a good number yet because some the the modules have the red line running back on the yellow, but 80-100 miles is where we'll wind up. As soon as it is all finalized we'll have an exact number.
For those of us not bringing trains, will we be able to sign up to run a train or assist running trains?
Flash, if you help me with my modules, I'll let you borrow one of mine. I hope you like Southern Pacific.
Paul, PITA again. Just wondering if there will be limits on power tools, loading/unloading, etc. at the convention center. There hasn't been any talk about this so can we assume that union rules won't be an issue at this convention? Martin Myers
No union rules apply at the convention center. You will be free to unload or use tools as you see fit.
If I bring a few items to sell will there be an opportunity to do that? Maybe in the hotel rooms the first night? Is that allowed? Is there a silent auction or something?
As I understand from some of the Derby City Express people you will be able to sell stuff out of your room, maybe go in with several other people to group all your stuff in one room. Post a notice at the registration table or in the same general area. The room sales will be where you get the bargains! There will not be a multi-day silent auction at this convention. There will be a one day, 3 1/2 hour silent on Wednesday night. Each registrant can only enter 2 items in the silent auction. Whoop-De-Do!!! So if you aren't there Wednesday night, you miss out. I have at least 25-50 items I wanted to put in a silent auction, but with a 2 item limit and only being able to bid on auction items on Wednesday night, why bother? There is notice of a Live & Silent Auction on Thursday night, but no real details are given, again another single day auction. There have been multi-day, silent auctions at N-Scale conventions for a long time now and cannot understand why not in Louisville? Even NMRA conventions are having silent auctions now. I'm sure I'm not the only registrant that will miss a multi-day, silent auction. Several times I have sold enough stuff to pay for my convention trips and then some!
Quick question -- is it necessary to provide your own throttle for Red Line running? Need to figure out if I have to purchase one or not. Thanks, Chris Puza West Columbia, SC
Thanks for the quick response. I guess I have a few days to think about it. On one hand, I hate to take the $$$ hit since I don't use radio at home. On the other hand, I'd hate to get there and wait to run while waiting on a throttle. Looking forward to Louisville. It's my first big convention.
I'm sure you'll be able to borrow a throttle. I'll be there and you can borrow one of mine. PM me for further information. Rich
