Setup 1

Some overhead establishing shots - the modular clubs were let in on Wednesday to start unloading and assembling their layouts, this was Thursday morning -

Our fearless leader is waiting for our vehicle full of train show supplies to make it through the door -

We were located next to the Bachmann booth - I have to admit, it was amusing to see this on a crate -

Atlas is getting their booth set up -

Carstens Publishing setting things up -

One of the vendors getting set up - the amount of stuff (both stuff to sell and stuff to put the stuff to sell on) they have to haul to a show is staggering -

The Penninsular club is almost ready to run trains - I haven't shown the photos of this layout on Day 7 yet -

The Northeast Model Society's HO/HOn3 layout looks ready, but it's got glitch that keeps bottoming out the Galloping Goose on a switch -

I think the below is the Miami Valley club, based on the large radius curves -

The below is the Sn2 Crew, who are working on the other end of their layout in the distance -

The Golden Blackhawk & Central City - "Mr. Dave's Trains" -

Now to the Sn2 Crew at the other end of their area -

The Mohegan Pequot club - 

The Medina County 4-H Railroad Club getting set up -

Jordan Art - one of the two art purveyors at this years NTS -

Here are some members of the Lake Erie N Scalers putting together their layout -

The European Train Enthusiasts - look at all that caternary. The layout looks pretty bare compared to it's final form, doesn't it?

Setup 2

One of the O gauge groups going in, looks like the Independent Hi-Railers -

I think I'm looking across at the multi-Region NMRA modular layout here -

More of the Hi-Railers -

Free-Mo setting up - ' 

10 Free-Mo clubs from the US and Canada -

Things go better when you know where things go -

LEGOS! (in the beginning was the plate...)

The Scenic Express store takes a lot of setting up -

I still wish I'd seen the HOn3 locomotive that was supposed to go down this series of switchbacks and back up -

Woodland Scenics traditionally has a large and involved display, which includes demonstrations of their products -

Setup 3

Some really impressive construction techniques go into the parts of the modules you don't see...

Pricomm, make of the Dream Player digital sound player as well as an amazing assortment of sound and light queuing and controling devices, consists of a father and most of his 10 children. The oldest, who is 23, is the CEO, freeing up Dad to do what he does best - engineering and programming. I still don't believe some of the stuff his equipment can do. I finally bought a DreamPlayer - I'm going to try and put some bass diesel sound in a subwoofer I have hanging around. If that fails, I'll turn it into an ambient sound player, something it does very well. Dad's the one on my right in the green-patterened Aloha shirt.

This is how they shipped their display of electronics -

One of the daughters wasn't feeling well after their trip out, and if she can sleep in these conditions, she really needed the sleep -

This is their display, closer to being done - it attracted attention with flashing studio lights playing colored lights upon the ceiling. The lights in the display were different enough from those in the main room that my camera really didn't know what to do about it. All the effects were controlled off a Digitrax fast clock through the electronics you can see networked together on the end of the display -

Another one of the near full-service hobby shops that set up for 3 days -

This is the SMARTT customer layout builders display being brought in -

This is what it looked like a little while later -

It's distinctly weird to see some of these displays, that you've seen year after year, with nothing on them -

Digitrax -

I believe this ended up on the ESU/Loksound booth - many of us were glad it wasn't hooked up to an air source.

Oops - the MRH booth stuff has made it in, I'd better start helping - right after one more photo -

This stuff is a bit too high altitude for my 5'7" self, but Assistant Editor Don Hanley and Publisher Joe Fugate are up to the task - 6'4" up in Joe's case -

Bowser came in to set up next door to us -

SoundTraxx was just around the corner -

Bachmann is setting up their On30 module - it comes in the crate, they just take off the top and sides and put all the loose pieces that are stored below on it. Impressively efficient. Sodor is set up the same way -

Based on the angle, this should be the Ohio and North Carolina Sipping & Switching Societies layout -

Athearn's booth is starting to look a little closer to normal -

Hornby's booth would soon gain the attention of those looking for the test shot of the HO scale U25C, but that was hardly all it would have -

Both Horizon/Athearn and Walthers use pre-built shipping crates to send their stuff ahead to the Train Show - those crates have seen more National Train Shows than I have -

Remember those blank walls and tables that were the Digitrax booth a bit ago? They work fast -

Setup 4

Everything comes in boxes - lots and lots of boxes -

The Tangent guys start setting up the Tangent Booth. Soon those tables would be piled edge to edge several layers deep in covered hoppers, flatcars, gons, and tank cars. They'd take home a lot fewer of those cars than they brought. One went home in my luggage (thanks for the birthday present, Mom & Dad!) -

The ever organized Tim Warris had his Fast Tracks booth up very quickly - and the Bronx Terminal RR was here too -

The Miami Valley Model Railroad is ready to go -

The next morning that empty table on the bottom right would have some of the nicest available kit-built bridges in existence sitting on it, including the new double track truss bridge -

The BLMA and ExactRail booths sit ready for the morning's opening  -

The Kato display awaits showgoers -

As does the Peco track booth -

Custom Model Railroads is working on theirs -

Atlas, with another well experienced shipping crate, approaches completion -

As does American Z Line/Z Track Magazine -

NCE is setting up -

Trainfinder's booth is coming together -

Aztrax's is busy setting up his demonstration layout -

Last minute troubleshooting on this layout (NMRA modular from the looks of it) -

This is the Lego's layout that was just starting to lay track awhile ago -

The NMRA modular layout is setting up it's CTC board -

On the show floor you watch out for the self-propelled crates, as they will not watch out for you... -

And so as we depart, I look back down from where I started the day, at a scene transformed -

The fantasy is in place - let the Show begin... .

"...Thankfully no air hooked up..." LOL

Dear Jeff,

C'mon now, you know that with the cumulative din of all of the Onboard DCC sound systems in action in the hall, that single 3-chime horn stood no chance of being heard...

Happy Modelling,
Aim to Improve,
Prof Klyzlr

PS good to see the "Team Pricom" in action...

PPS the DreamPlayer will certainly allow you to play a WAV file "live and loud" thru any speaker/subwoofer array you elect to couple it to. However, it is not designed to act as a "buffer" between an existing Sound Decoder and a Sub. (Did you see the "Tech Note #11" info on the previous thread you mentioned this on?)

I won't use a Sound Decoder

I'm going to get my own sounds (beg, borrow or record) for this project.

One of my more interesting memories was being out taking photos of one of the areas I model, when I suddenly became aware of a low thrumming noise in the air. A few minutes later, a UP GP38 or 39L  (nee' GP40) idled into view on the interchange tracks a couple hundred yards away. I want to reproduce that feeling, the feeling of being around heavy machinery that moves the air.

Until a manufacturer comes out with some sort of system that will project the bass diesel rumble into a room, if that ever happens, I'll play with this.

It ought to keep me out of trouble.

Thanks Jeff

I really appreciate your taking these and sharing them with us.  Unfortunately, I could not visit the convention this year.  This gives us a taste of what the floor looked like.  I really like the 'before and after' photos.

Watching a show come together