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AMHERST BELT LINES |
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HO Modular Railroad |
Copyright © 2001, Amherst Railway Society
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Sudro Brown BrownSudro@cs.com |
Clark Huber chuber@charter.net |
Alan Rice abel.planning@comcast.net |
Usually we try to get a newsletter out shortly after the Big Railroad Hobby Show sponsored by the Amherst Railway Society in West Springfield, Massachusetts. This is partly to thank those of you who participated in that show, and partly to inform you of coming events - which come very quickly after the Amherst Show - and partly because we have a tendency to forget things if we don't write them down quickly! Since it is now September, and our last newsletter was way back in (can this be right?) DECEMBER 2000 (!!!), we will consider this a post, post, post, post, Post, POST, POST show edition of the Modular Mumblings and get back on the right track for this season.
Aren't you glad you don't pay for this?
The 2000-2001 Show season was a very enjoyable one indeed. With shows in Pepperell (well, really Townsend), Massachusetts and Bedford, New Hampshire in October and November of 2000, the next show to tackle was our own event in West Springfield, Massachusetts on February 3 and 4, 2001. The Belt Lines produced an "L"-shaped layout occupying about 70' x 90'. The total mainline run was just over 12 scale miles.
After having powered the layout with DYNATROLTM for several years, this was the first year that we ran almost exclusively under Digital Command Control. We had been experimenting on smaller layouts since the Worcester show in February 2000 with DCC, but this was the first full test of the system on the large Amherst Railway Society layout. As expected, there were a few bugs to work out, and one or two were never fully solved, but the layout ran extremely well with very little (reported) frustration!
Our thanks go out to all who participated including the Dry Hill Model Railroad Club, members of the Cape Cod Model Railroad Club and Pepperell Siding Model Railroad Club, the Nashua Valley Model Railroad Association, the RailCam crew and all the individuals and families who provided modules, equipment and support.
A few pictures of the show are at the bottom of this page.
On February 25, the Belt Lines made what is now becoming an annual trek to Worcester, Massachusetts to participate in the Worcester Model Railroaders show. This is a one-day show that is quite literally ONE day. We arrived around 7:00 AM on Sunday to begin setup at the Elks Club building in Auburn, Massachusetts for a show that would open at 10:00 AM! This show is a real test of our ability to setup the layout and get it running in a limited amount of time. Once again, we succeeded in getting the layout up and running before the doors opened (or at least just after!) and the railroad ran great all day. This undertaking could not have been accomplished without the help of a lot of volunteers, and a number of you showed up without modules just to setup and run - we would thank you individually here, but as mentioned above, the memory fades rapidly if this information is not written shortly after it happens! To those of you who did participate in Worcester, thank you!
The Belt Lines was invited to attend a new (to us, anyway) show on March 17 and 18 - the Little Rhody show in Warwick, Rhode Island. The layout was a duplicate of the one setup in Worcester, and went together like a dream. The show was in this location for the first time and had a few shakedown issues that caused some basic changes in the layout of the hall on Saturday, but nothing that caused any inconvenience to the participating layouts or vendors. Attendance on Sunday seemed to be very good for a show of its size. We are hoping that an invitation will be extended again this year to the Belt Lines, as a good time was had by all who attended. (That's a hint, Justin - wink, winkÉnudge, nudge!)
After the Little Rhody show, we packed up the trailer and put everything away for the summer. We would like to thank all of you who provided your time, talents, modules, equipment and support to make this past season a success.
And now it is September, and with that comes the start of the new show season. We have a busy year ahead of us, with a calendar that looks much the same as last year. The first three shows have been confirmed at the time this is being written; we expect to hear more about the rest as we get closer to the anticipated show dates.
The basic layout we will be taking to the "away" shows will be a 14' x 24' oval with a 6' tail. The tail will be used to connect to other layouts should the opportunity present itself. This layout is what we consider our basic, minimum layout - with the exception of Still River, Kelly's Creek and the Lift Bridge, all of the modules are owned and transported by the Amherst Belt Lines so that we can provide a self-contained layout. If you would like your modules to be included in any of the shows, let Alan know by the dates indicated in the show description and he will work them into the layout. Remember, the track plan indicated to the left of this column is only the minimum layout, we always welcome more modules wherever and whenever space is available.
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Figure 1 - The Basic Layout 14' x 30' |
The first show of the season will be in Townsend, Massachusetts. The show is on Sunday, October 14, 2001 at the North Middlesex Regional High School from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Setup will begin on the morning of Saturday, October 13. The show hosts a mix of layouts and vendors and meanders throughout the first floor of the High School. In past years, live steam has been setup outside. The High School is very easy to locate on route 119 in Townsend, but directions are available upon request. We have space available to us at this show, so if you would like your module(s) included, or if you would like to participate without modules, please let Alan know by September 30, 2001. No module is necessary to attend.
Our second show will put us back up in Bedford, New Hampshire. The show is on Sunday, November 11, 2001 at the McKelvie Middle School from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Setup starts Friday night, November 9 after 5:30 PM and continues through Saturday, November 10. This is a display only show with layouts in nearly all scales and gauges, including some full size speeder displays, live steam and LOTS of modular layouts.
On Saturday there will be an auction of railroad memorabilia, equipment, models, etc., for the participants of the show. If you have some items that you want to try to sell, bring them along to become a part of this auction. Minimum bid will be $1.00. Saturday night the Amherst Belt Lines will hold its "annual dinner." After dinner, we will have some form of activity for the Belt Lines participants. In years past this activity has been an operating session at a member's home layout or a slide show. This year we may have an operating session on the Belt Lines layout, or visit other area layouts. This part of the weekend is still in the planning stages.
We have limited layout space available to us at this show, so if you would like your module(s) included, or if you would like to participate without modules, please let Alan know by October 15, 2001. No module is necessary to attend, but if you plan to attend you must let Alan know so that he can notify the Boomers. The organizers of this show are very security conscious and require that everyone on the property be identified with a sponsor provided exhibitor badge all days of the show. We must get a list of all our participants into the Boomers early, so please respond by October 15 to give everyone plenty of time.
This is our "home" show at the Eastern States Exposition Fairgrounds in West Springfield, Massachusetts. The show is Saturday, February 2 and Sunday, February 3, 2002 from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Setup for layouts starts Thursday, January 31 at around noon and continues through Friday, February 1. The show is billed as "the largest railroad hobby show and market in the Northeast." Occupying three buildings on the fairgrounds property, this show has for the past several years drawn crowds in excess of 20,000 people. The Amherst Belt Lines has regularly assembled a layout with approximately 12 scale miles of mainline for this show, and we would not like this year to be an exception.
This year the Show Committee has asked that anyone associated with the layout have an exhibitor badge provided by the Amherst Railway Society, and has asked that we provide a list of names to have on file at the show office. If you are planning to participate in this event and would like to ask others not directly involved with the layout to assist in operations (we have quite a few "outside" operators at this show), you will need to notify Alan so that he can put the list together. The details on when this information will be required will be provided in the November mailing.
Planning for this show will begin in November, and more details will be provided at that time. Space is not an issue at this show and we would like to see as many modules as possible make it to the Big E. In the meantime, mark your calendars and start thinking about how you can help at this massive display of both prototype and model railroading.
This fourth show of the season is currently tentative, and the date is unknown although projected to be February 24. This is the same one-day show described above and space is very limited if the show remains at the same location. We will provide an update as more details become available.
This final show of the season is also tentative. The date for this show is projected to be March 17, 2002, but no details are available at this time. We are assuming that the organizers of this show were satisfied with our performance this past year and will invite us back! As more information becomes available, we will provide an update.
That is our season in a nutshell. Please mark your calendars (in ink) with the dates of the Pepperell, Bedford and Amherst shows, and pencil in the last two shows. We look forward to seeing you with or without a module at any, or all, of these shows!
About every three years (usually) we go through the current edition of the specifications and update them from the previous version. It has been about five years since our current specifications have been revised, and a number of changes have occurred in that time. We should note that a specification revision is done primarily to keep them up-to-date with current standards, methods of construction, changes in wiring practices and similar items that have been modified through testing and experimentation. Documenting these revisions can be a tedious process, but necessary to keep our layout up-to-date.
While we have a number of modifications already proposed, we welcome your input to this task. If you have any information or ideas about changes we can/should make to the specifications, please send them to any of the module coordinators so that we can incorporate them into this edition. The closing date for revisions will be provided in the November newsletter, with the final edit available sometime after the show in West Springfield. We look forward to seeing what you would like to see modified in the specifications.
Over the past several years the mailing list for the Amherst Belt Lines has grown significantly and now requires some pruning. While we recognize your interest in modular railroading, a number of you who receive this newsletter are not in a position to be regular, active participants with the Belt Lines for a number of reasons. As a special interest group of a non-profit organization we must be conscious of our costs as we draw our budget from the parent organization.
While we are not soliciting fees, dues or donations to help cover the cost of mailing the newsletter - it comes out far too infrequently to justify that - we are planning to trim the mailing list. If you have not been an active, regular participant at the past several shows, we will be removing your name from our USPS mailing list unless you notify one of the module coordinators. This removal will occur with the next mailing, which is anticipated in November of this year. You may still view the newsletter on the web (www.amherstrail.org/abl) or may receive the newsletter via email if you have provided us with your email address.
You will not be removed from our mailing list if you: a.) own a module or are a trustee of a module or b.) have participated in several of the most recent shows either with or without a module. Removal from our mailing list does not mean that you will be removed from our database. We trust that you understand our need to reduce our mailings and ask for your cooperation in receiving the newsletter through alternate means. Thank you.
That should just about cover everything for this very late edition of the Modular Mumblings.
See you in Townsend or Bedford
Sudro, Clark and Alan
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Aerial view of Bruce Erickson's (Cape Cod Club) module |
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Stan's Harbor scene |
