It started off simply enough. Eric Kingsley saw a video of a LEGO moon base display by the Ontario Brick Builders which featured over 250 feet of monorail track. As far as we could discover, that was the longest monorail track that had been publicly displayed. Eric thought that as a club we could best that and start a friendly little monorail competition among the Lego User Groups.

The next step was to see how much monorail track we could gather together. Quite a bit as it turns out. So then we needed to figure out where and when we could create a display. One of our favorite shows every year is the Wenham Museum in Wenham Massachusetts and they were willing to let us try something a little different this year. We now had a venue, but one that presented a challenge. How many linear feet of track can fit into about 280 square feet of display space? Well the answer is that if you are willing to go vertical, very vertical, you can fit in over 700 feet of monorail.

Come by the museum on February 11th or 12th to see if all our planning and building will pay off with a new LEGO monorail record. In addition to some rather impressive towers which support up to eleven levels of looping track, the display will feature a city, moon base, castle, and carnival. It should be pretty special.

Captain, Captain, the Imperials are heading to the archipelego to take our treasure.

Relax.

Shouldn't we do something?

Sure, but we've got time. Their row boats only go two inches per turn. I can swim three times faster than that. Besides, the monkeys hate soliders and the gators are armor plated. Let see if they survive.

You know if we go there now, maybe we can steal someone else's treasure.

I have a better idea. Let's leave now and steal some treasure from the other pirates.

Sigh, such a better idea. I wish I had thought of it.

*SMASH* “What? Again!?”
When we planned a “Monsters Attack” theme for our layout at the most recent Greenberg Toy and Train Show at the Shriners Auditorium in Wilmington, MA, we thought we were well prepared. After all, we had plenty of monsters. Three-headed Ghidorah crashing through a building? Check. Motorized T-rex terrorizing trains? Check. Small rock monsters? Check. Large rock monsters? Check. Small Dragons? Check. Large dragons? Check. Dinosaurs in the carnival? Check. Giant mutant ants in the city? Check. Sta-puft Marshmallow Man? Check. Giant Mecha? Check. Gremlins? Gremlins?! Okay, who packed the gremlins? Well, that is my theory anyway. What else could explain all those mishaps? Not only did we have a record number of derailments, but so many trains fell to the floor that we were starting to run low on engines that could run on our outside loop. It didn’t matter if they were a LEGO design or a custom model, battery or 9volt, steam or diesel. Everything was fair game to the gremlins. Even the Carnival was infested. Brand new rides wouldn’t work the way they did at home. Older rides broke down in brand new ways.

Despite all this, we still managed to put on a pretty good show with towering skyscrapers, an expansive railyard, elaborate castle, and the always popular Carnival. The crashes themselves were entertaining in their way. They certainly helped answer the frequently asked question of “Do you glue your models?” Many visitors enjoyed watching the train engines being rebuilt after all the loose bricks had been scooped up off the floor. And speaking of our visitors, they were fantastic. Many were very helpful when we did have a crash, either picking up pieces themselves or keeping the loose brick from being trampled under foot while a Nelug member made their way over to the area. And there were lots of questions. New questions. Interesting questions. Enthusiastic questions. We all love to build, but sharing our hobby with others is why we do events like this. So thank you to everyone who stopped by to talk or just to look.

NELUG will be hosting a monsterously cool display at Greenberg's Train & Toy show on March 26th & 27th. Located at the Shriner's Auditorium in Wilmington, MA, the show goes from 10:00am to 4:00pm on both days. We'll have a brand new layout for this show featuring some beastly creations rampaging through the city!

For more information on Greenberg, including admission information, please visit http://www.greenbergshows.com/.

For directions to the Shriner's Auditorium, please visit http://www.alepposhriners.com/directions.html

We look forward to seeing you there!

For the third year Nelug was invited to display at the Wenham Museum and we were happy to accept. So this past weekend we presented a train layout that included the ever popular carnival and a few things new to our Wenham layout. Visitors were treated to a city of towering skyscrapers, a fantasy castle, and a futuristic miniland city. And of course, there were trains. This year we had an interesting mix of steam and diesel engines, LEGO and custom designs, and 9volt and battery powered trains.

But what is this?...