AMHERST BELT LINES
	HO Modular Railroad

Holiday Greetings

Well, that's three down and one to go -- shows, that is. The ABEL layout made successful appearances at the Pepperell Siding club's annual show in October, the Bedford (NH) Boomer's 15th annual show in November and for turf protection duty at the Greenberg Great Train, Dollhouse and Toy show in the Young Building (West Springfield) over Thanksgiving weekend. There are too many involved at these three shows to list; so, we will just express our thanks to all. We will, however, take the space to applaud the star operator at the Saturday session of the Greenberg show. Will Rice was running trains before the show started and, except for a short break for lunch and a trip or two to the short hood, we had to pry the cab from his hands when the show closed. And all those miles without a single collision! (He even made it to TV22 News!) Not bad! -- for a 4 year old! If he can do it, why can't we?!

At Greenberg, we ran the layout without DYNATROL signal line. Instead we used 4 infra-red cabs with Leap Frogs attached. (Thanks to John Bock for mounting the Leap Frogs and adding neck straps to those cabs.) We would like to buy some more Leap Frogs, but the company's out of business. If anyone sees them in an electronics store, let us know. We will probably ask you to pick them up and we will reimburse you. We need at least two transmitter/receiver pairs. Some spare transmitters would be good, too.

The layout really looks great with the new skirting. Not only does it look expensive -- which it was -- it goes on and comes down so fast! No more staples, and no more bolts of dirty, stringy, white fiberglass cloth!

Let's talk about our big show in February, er..., January. That's right, the show opens on Saturday, January 31, with setup on the preceding Thursday and Friday. Also, the show opens an hour earlier this year. The new hours are 9-5 on both days.

We need to know if you plan to have a module, or modules, in the layout. We have a new space this year (wider, but shorter) that will allow more design flexibility and creativity; but, Alan needs to know what he will have to work with. If your module has been in an ABEL layout in the past, contact Alan by December 31 or your module will not be used in the layout. If you have a NEW module (one that's never been in an ABEL layout), or a module that has had significant electrical or mainline trackwork since its last show, and want Alan to include it in the layout, you must contact him by December 17. We need this time to allow us to inspect the module before the show to avoid having to fix or repair problems at the show. We will not be fixing or repairing modules at the show this year as repair is not efficient use of our resources. New or reworked modules must have a track plan sent as part of your response. Alan puts in a lot of hours designing our layout and we do not want all those hours to occur on January 28; so, please respond early. Remember, we will not assume your module is coming to the show -- if you want Alan to include it in the layout, you MUST contact him by the dates above!!

There is a new module delivery cutoff. All modules must be in the Better Living Center on Thursday, January 29. New or reconstructed modules must by there no later than 8pm; legacy modules must be there by 10pm. If you have specific reasons why you cannot meet these deadlines, let Alan know immediately. If you have not cleared your module for late arrival, the space will not be available when you arrive on Friday morning! We cannot delay the layout setup. We must be operating by 5pm Friday. If you need help with transportation to meet this deadline, let Alan know when you contact him so that arrangements can be made.

What can you do to help us setup? We are glad you asked! When you arrive at the show, assemble your module(s) and place them in their approximate position. Next? Hang around. There is plenty of work to do, and a lot of it is gopher or grunt work, but it must be done. You can help others unload and assemble their modules. We will need at least two crews to level modules and two more to put in the rail connections. We need people to run DYNATROL cables, put up skirting, setup the barrier, etc. -- the list goes on. Do not forget to stick around after the show, too. Everything that is done on Thursday and Friday has to be undone on Sunday. Rolling stock must be sorted and stored; the skirting must be removed, folded and stowed; cables must be pulled and coiled, etc. Remember, our goal is to have the layout setup and operating smoothly as soon as possible and torn down and shipped out as fast as possible on Sunday. If we can have some fun operating trains in between, so much the better!

See you in West Springfield! -- Sudro, Clark, Tom and Alan