I can think of a few fun things to add... Maybe some lumber railroading tours: How about a saw mill tour, there must be a rail dependant sawmill up there that would be cool to visit? Or a CORP railyard tour Or a paper mill tour And maybe someone local can put together a map for self guided tours of things like rail bridges, tunnels, small rail yards behind factories, favorite trainspotting locations, etc.
Robert, Good ideas. I'll personally contact CORP and see what we can see. Several years ago at our Thanksgiving train show CORP parked one of their locos across the street from the armory where the show took place. We had fun climbing up into the cab and quizzing the engineer. Of course you have personally run a loco so you wouldn't get quite as jazzed as others might. We'll see. The CORP yard is no big deal,but with permission we could see a number of locos and the few yard items they have there. Also could find a mill that might actually have some centerbeams being loaded. I've seen them.
Torsja, The site lists all the activities for Thursday, Friday and Saturday. There will be a layout of the Exhibitors and module plan shortly. .
Can I bring a module? Hi All - I will be traveling down from Calgary for the show and was wondering if I could bring a zbend module to join in with others? I will not have much space, so it would be my small 1.5 foot long switch module - outlined in red in the attached photo. It does not have legs as it is so short - I just bridge it between modules on bolts through the alignment holes as per the zbendtrack standard. Regards, Tim
Tim, Could you please show the bottom of your 1.5 ft switching module? Could you also do a down shot from the top showing the interface? Are the "expansion tracks" connected directly to the turnouts on the "short" ends? Do you have the under module wiring or do you rely on the rail joiners to provide continuity? Do you have insulated rail joiners between the two turnouts on the diverging tracks? I would like to do something similar for a crossover module for home use. The crossover would not be used at shows as it seems turnouts ALWAYS give us fits at shows. I am not completely sure how you tied it into the adjoining modules. Thank you. Lindley
Could you please show the bottom of your 1.5 ft switching module? - see attached photo - the busy bit of wiring is where I have external toggles for the switches, etc. [One of these days I will wire in my DCC box for the switches.] Could you also do a down shot from the top showing the interface? - see attached photo - you can see the plexiglass I have on all my modules so the kids can get up close without knocking over the trains - this I can remove for the show if need be. Are the "expansion tracks" connected directly to the turnouts on the "short" ends? - yes: part of how I kept module short; I considered using some short 1 inch pieces of rails to "protect" the switches from the constant on/off of the expansion tracks, but figured it was not necessary since it is the joiners that take the abuse, and those are easily replaced. Do you have the under module wiring or do you rely on the rail joiners to provide continuity? - under module, with connectors as per zbend track standard Do you have insulated rail joiners between the two turnouts on the diverging tracks? - yes [I have done DCC on one track and DC on the other during shows to run one set of locomotives, then DCC both and run trains through the switches when people request - often children] I would like to do something similar for a crossover module for home use. The crossover would not be used at shows as it seems turnouts ALWAYS give us fits at shows. - I deliberately made this very short so I could move it around depending where switches are on other modules I am not completely sure how you tied it into the adjoining modules. - The power is via the zbend track connectors. The physical support is via bolts through the two holes at the interfaces as per the zbend track standard. All my interfaces are oak, so I simply tighten bolts with washers. Works quite well.
Only a few days, will we make it from Europe? Will we make it to the convention? That's the question these days; "To be, or not to be". Because of all the ashes in the air, our trip can be cancelled or delayed. :mwacko: The last days 10.000's of flights have been cancelled and a mainpart of the Euoropean airspace have been closed for traffic. Still 10 days to go before torsja and I will leave for our 2 week trip to USA, so much can happen. :tb-biggrin: I have prepared mye videocamera ready for the Z-scale Convention and have done some videos of torsjas work here this weekend on the Narrow Gauge 2010 meeting in Oslo. It's in H0e-scale, but this second video shows the great modeling skills of torsja, with the first 2 minuttes showing his yellow scratchbuild station and modul. Enjoy, even if it is a bigger scale: Video 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lHFzMXjmIY Here another video and some images: http://www.platelayer.com/bildearkiv/smalspor2010/index.htm
Torsja is a true Master! His modeling is so realistic! I sure hope the skies clear so you can make the trip.
Tim, we can surely fit it in. However, we are running combined DC and DCC. So. . . . you must: - Make sure no wiring from the Inner or Outer tracks are connected together. - Bring push-pins to place in the middle of the crossovers (to prevent ANY possibility of shorting the Inner/Outer tracks) - just in case a wayward loco heads across them. Little kids and mischievious types like to play with turnouts Everyone: even with these precautions, due to a number of turnouts with crossover connections or reversinfg loops, we may have to run all DC for a while, then switch to all DCC for another period. Rotate say every 3 hours ? .
Yes I sure hope we make it over there in time for the show. This is Island that the on going volcano aches is making havoc for the air flights all over Europe. Se more at http://www.nettavisen.no/nyheter/article2885258.ece
The US TV News has shown a few puffy clouds of ash, but nothing what-so-ever like these photos or the ones in the photo link. SEPCTACULAR !! Sure hope you can make it. ...don
The plane is on route so far for tomorrow, and we are getting ready to travel to Medford. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kbakvje1qY
OK everyone, pulled the "Z" convention thread back to active (not MT Convention as many manufacturers will be here). BAZ BoyZ Jeff Merrrill, Robert Ray, Hien Nguyen and Matt Petach are here today to help with Karin and Loren's laser kits and such. Jeff will help Holly Snyder with ad new sound system for the riding gauge SD40 in the park (BBQ on Friday). Svein-Martin and Torsja arrived Tuesday in San Francisco. I met them and drove them around in a Godly moment of clear sky and sunshine in between two rain days. They will take a toursit trip up and arrive on Thursday. Setup start tomorrow (Thursday). Everyone should be here by then. Get together Thursday for some time zone adjustment food. Then the show begins Friday. I'll post a show layout on Thursday nite as soon as we finalize all the module no shows and last minute addition/changes. .
