NMRA show in Cleveland 2014-07-18 to 20

[martinvk]

Will you be there? Here are our latest plans for the NMRA show visit.

We'll be there Friday in the afternoon til closing. If you spot a couple of guys wondering around in black Trainz t-shirts, say hi. With the show closing a 6 pm, we thought supper at a local eatery would be in order. Anyone have any suggestions of places with either a train theme or someplace in Cleveland not to miss?

Saturday morning a second look at the show. Around noon we thought leaving to visit the Midwest Railway Preservation Society. From their website description, it sounds like an interesting place to see. Anyone that wants to join, we could have lunch before or supper after that visit. Again, suggestions welcome.

 

[JackieG]

Very cool mate! I should be there all day saturday, so i hope to run into ya! If you are looking for a RR place to eat try here http://www.bereadepot.com/ Great food!

 

[ryanstrains]

I should be there on Saturday and/or Sunday.

 

[StarFoxFan11]

I'll be there saturday.

 

[conrailfan1999]

I will be there Friday, as for places to eat, I would recomend the Berea Depot. You can get decent food and be trackside to the CSX and NS both seeing 50-60 trains a day.

 

[martinvk]

Looking forward to meeting as many of you as possible. Will be wearing black Trainz T's or polos both days, Friday afternoon and Saturday morning.

 

[StarFoxFan11]

I'll be wearing a Big Boy shirt and a Union Pacific wing logo hat.

 

[mre12ax7]

I will be going on friday with a w&le hat

 

[StarFoxFan11]

So, am I the only one that was disappointed with the convention?

 

[martinvk]

Was anyone else there the Friday afternoon and Saturday morning? We missed ya. Russ and I both saw the show during those to days and it was interesting. Even though they were all physical models, there were plenty of ideas presented that could be applied to Trainz. Except for the European Train Enthusiast, just about everything was North American. Being the NMRA that's understandable but it would have been nice to see some other areas of the world represented.

We also did some other train related things during those two days. More details and pictures after I get home.

 

[StarFoxFan11]

I was there from 10 to noon today. Sorry I missed you guys.

 

[ryanstrains]

I was there from 10 to noon today. Sorry I missed you guys.

I was there from 10 to 3 today and found some great deals. It was very nice to talk to the folks at atlas about the future B40-8 truck assemblies and ESU for providing me a corrected wiring diagram for the TLT MP36.

I'm sure I saw many of you and didn't even notice.

 

[StarFoxFan11]

That's probably what happened. Ah well.

 

[martinvk]

I promised you some images from the show and here they are.

Those modular layouts remind me a lot of some of route maps that are one or two baseboards wide and many baseboards long.

This is how I imagined Trainz would have been displayed

Amazing what they can shoehorn a layout into.

And you thought that Trainz was expensive. And that is only for one, you still need to pull something.

Scales.

Pipes and more pipes.

Some trainspotting fun Friday evening and good food too.

Too bad we missed you if you were there too. Perhaps we need some distinguishing but tasteful hat to make it easier to recognize each other at large public events. We had our Trainz t-shirts on but not easy to notice unless you're standing right in front of it. And besides, we were looking more at the trains than at the people.

 

[martinvk]

Show Report

Since the show didn't start til noon on Friday, we spend a few hours in the morning at the nearby Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Th highlight from a train point-of-view was the Mystery Train theater showing a short film telling the story of Rock & Roll with plenty trains and other railway images.

Once the show opened, we spend the afternoon and the following morning admiring the many layouts and accessory stands. As I mentioned in the previous post, many of the modular layouts reminded me of some Trainz maps, long and thin. Even though we are using V-scale, there were plenty of scenic ideas on display to inspire every route builder. Even the famous Lego trains were there to show what they can achieve.

Friday after the show we headed out to Berea for some first class trainspotting. Every five or ten minutes another heavy freight would come barreling by just feet from our tables. What was interesting was every time a train would pass, many of the diners would jump up from their meals and run over for a better view to take pictures and film. Ours truly included.

Saturday afternoon we went over to the Midwest Railway Preservation Society where we saw many pieces of railway history in various states of repair. Well worth a visit if you're in the area. Note that they are not a museum so check before to see when they are open to the public.

On leaving Cleveland we stopped in North East, PA to visit the Lake Shore Railway Historical Society. They have an interesting collection of cars and engines as well as a preserved station filled with railway memorabilia. Volunteers on site were happy to explain and describe the many wonders to be seen. Being right beside a mainline, it was also a good trainspotting location.

The final visit of the trip was at the Halton County Radial Railway, a streetcar museum in southern Ontario. With a large collection of streetcars and an operating electric railway providing rides on a long loop track, it was a great nostalgic look back at a bygone era of public transportation and a great end to a long weekend of trains.

 

[SharkNose]

Thanks for posting the pics, martinvk. And nice pics they are! :wave:

Andrew