Great Edmonton Train Show - September 2003

Highlights  Bridge  City  Country  Industrial  Mine/Dumper  Whyte Avenue  Transfer Table  Miscellaneous  Party

Summary

NALUG organized a 40'x13' LEGO train display at the Great Edmonton Train Show on Sept 20-21, 2003. Over 8000 people attended the show at the Mayfield Inn Trade Center in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The unique features of this show included:

Some highlights we've chosen Working Bascule bridge
City downtown on top of transfer table Scenic countryside
Industrial area Mine and Hopper Dumper
Historic Whyte Avenue Working transfer table
Miscellaneous Shots The After-Show Party

Show Movie

(5 Meg)

About NALUG's Layout

Kevin Maynes coordinated the show this year. He introduced everyone to Digital Command and Control (DCC), and showed us how it can run different LEGO trains on the same track. Kevin also built the first transfer table to appear in a LEGO train layout. This allowed us to transfer rolling stock to and from hidden storage without decoupling.

The layout included many Edmonton and Alberta landmarks. A number of creations were replicas of real-life buildings, including the Peace Hills Trust tower in the city, the Old Strathcona fire hall, the Princess Theatre, and other popular Whyte Avenue buildings.

Kevin's vision for this display was for it to be a "working layout". Without human intervention, coal ore could be transported by LEGO trains from one end of the the layout to a factory at the other end. This required automation with a LEGO RCX. Mindstorms was also used to run the trolley, a glass passenger elevator, and a Bascule bridge. Other mechanical creations included moving pumpjacks and a working marquee on the Princess Theatre.


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