[Tom Bowdler]

Today I received the confirmation for the Upstate (NY) Steamers' participation in the Greenberg Show at the Monroe County Dome Center on February 2 & 3 from 10am to 4pm.  There is a core of local live steamers who will attend but we are always looking to "hook" new folks on the joys of live steam.  Please consider this my invitation to be there and run your loco or prep and fire one of mine.  I will be giving a Workshop each day at 1pm entitled "Introduction to Live Steam" that will explain in simplest terms how to enjoy this aspect of our hobby.  I hope anyone planning to be in the Rochester area those days will come by our layout.  It has two loops of track, 45/32mm gauge with 6 foot radius curves and 45mm gauge with 5 foot radius. 


Tom

 

[seadawg]

Tom I was under the impression Greenberg was scared of live steam (you know fire and steam and hotness and all kinds of evil juju). I've always thought about how good it would be to run at one of their shows. We are preparing to run live steam at  "The Worlds Greatest Hobby on Tour" that will be coming to our area next month. I think Greenberg doesn't come this far south after all the shuffling of the ownership of the shows over the last few years. I believe we get the "Great Train Expo", so I'll try to hit them up when they announce their show for this area. Were there any special requirments asked of you by Greenberg Shows?

 

[Tom Bowdler]

Hi Dave,
I purchased my first copy of Model Railroader in several years while on a Christmas trip to FL in which I saw the Greenberg ad. On returning home I e-mailed the contact and received a reply from Frank Hicks, the Rochester show on-site manager. He said "live steam is certainly something unique and I'm certain our attendees would love it!" I had sent him a picture of my setup at another show, space and table requirements and he signed me up.
The info sent to me indicates shows in Chantilly and Fredericksburg, VA. The parent company Train Shows Incorporated is based in Elmhurst, IL.
My track is fairly small at 12'x16'. We attend trains shows of all descriptions, outdoors and in and mainly do it to please ourselves and give more excuses to run our steamers. If the public likes us, asks questions and learns then we are all the happier.
Are you attending DH or CF this month? I have to go to Mississippi since I've been attending from '99 on and have many friends from all over who I only see once each year there.
Have fun,
Tom

 

[seadawg]

Going to Cabin Fever, can't afford the vacation time to drive back and forth right now. I'm in the process of deciding how I want to support an elevated track, I need to have it done by Feb 16th. I got some Aster track from Wayne C., he'll be able to run some of his fancy Japenese made German engines,I think it's 3 meter radius.

 

[Scottychaos]

Just a reminder, this Rochester steamup is only a week away!
February 2 and 3, at the Dome in Henrietta.
(Monroe County Fairgrounds, south side of Rochester)

Upstate Steamers calendar:
http://gold.mylargescale.com/Scottychaos/upstatesteamers/

Scot

 

[Scottychaos]

Hey, check it out..we made the newspaper!

(look at the four ovals at the bottom)

Democrat & Chronicle newspaper,
Rochester, NY
January 29, 2008


Scot

 

[Semper Vaporo]

If they had free trains, it might be a good deal, but I don't need any more kids, even if they are free.

 

[wchasr]

I'll be on my way to Disney. Darn!

Chas

 

[Tom Bowdler]

Wow!
We're famous! I'm glad to see we are getting recognition, better than we receive from Ridge Road despite the number of years we've set up there. Actually we have a great time steaming with our friends and if the public enjoys it as well we are pleased. Lots of questions are aimed in our direction and we field them as necessary.
I'll be giving a clinic on "Introduction to Live Steam" each day at 1pm. It will be interesting to see who shows up for that. Come One, Come All but, as usual Chas is going to be elsewhere. It would be great if others in the area who are curious or closet live steamers would show up. My portable track has 6' radius curves on the outside, big enough for almost any live steamer.
have fun,
Tom

 

[seadawg]

Well, Tom, how'd it go? We are busily attempting to complete our track this weekend. That will give us a week to tie up any loose ends. The Worlds Greatest Hobby on Tour is scheduled for the following weekend (Feb 16&17). 
Here's a sneak peak at our progress:

It is being built at 6 meter diameter with an inner loop (8 inch centered) of 32mm. This should handle just about anything.

 

[Tom Bowdler]

Well Done Dave,
Your track looks bullet proof and much larger than my little 12'x16' oval but I bet I can set up and take down mine more quickly. We had a great time at the Greenberg Show in Rochester, perhaps you saw the pictures before the resurected old forums were replaced by the resurected "new" forums. Frank, the onsite manager loved our setup and I think we will be invited back again next year.
It was my first foray into presenting a "workshop" on Introduction to Live Steam and my effort was well received resulting in laryngitis on Monday. Next time I will set up my track will be at Scranton next weekend. All who might be in the area are invited to steam there on my little track and Mike Moore's large and small tracks. It is a great time as I have learned over the last 5 or 6 years.
have fun,
Tom

 

[Shay Gear Head]

Tom,
Before giving any more presentations it might be advisable to talk a little more, so your voice is used to it - ha-ha.  I had the same problem on the Shay Days weekends and unfortunately our politians don't get the problem often enough!

Dave,
How about a photo of the underside of a section with the legs attached?  Would answer about 10,000 words of questions.

 

[Tom Bowdler]

OK Bruce,
I'll try to get my voice in shape.
By the way I wore one of my new Shay shirts each day and had three of my Shays on the display table. I don't generally run the coal fired one indoors but the Accucraft and Catatonk acquitted themselves well.
Have fun,
Tom

 

[wchasr]

Sounds like a great time! Of course I was gone, I let other folks set my dates for me! LOL! Disney was great though. lot's of fun adn great weather, especially with the Arctic crap you folks had waiting for me when I got home. Got to ride the trains in Magic Kingdom several times and the monorail twice and even rode with the "engineer" for that once. Rode one of the "steam launches" from the Polynesian to the Magic Kingdom too. Slightly disappointed that the steam launch was only steam in outline and not in propulsion. Also sort of wierd to ride behind the diesel in steam outline loco at the Animal Kingdom too.

Still sorry I missed the show Tom.

Chas

 

[seadawg]

Posted By Shay Gear Head on 02/08/2008 9:13 AM

Dave,
How about a photo of the underside of a section with the legs attached?  Would answer about 10,000 words of questions.




Bruce, Dan and I built this for use on concrete floors, so there is no height adjustment, (we will be using shims this weekend, if needed). We do have an idea up our sleeve if we plan on using it outside.

Pretty simple design - through bolts hold the legs and the sections together. Made using 5/8 ply, the 2x4s help make home depot's plywood lie flat. Jigs setup on the drill press keep all the holes nearly straight and nearly in the right spot (no micrometer needed). The most critical thing was getting the angle for the curved section correct. We made a template out of masonite (which took most of one day to get right) that we could use a circular saw for the angles and a jig saw for the inner and outer edges. Fairly quick process once we began to trust the template. Time will tell if we did good or not......../DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/blush.gif