World's Greatest Hobby Show, January 11 - 12, 2014
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(photo courtesy of Peter Vanvliet)The World's Greatest Hobby Show only comes south to Houston every five to seven years, so this was a rare opportunity for us indeed. Friday we spent a significant amount of time preparing for and setting up the layout. We met at 3pm at the George R. Brown convention center in downtown Houston. Many of us spent several hours before that loading up our cars and trucks. Moving the equipment into the hall was made more challenging due to the rain. This photo was taken several hours later when we had the layout up on its legs. Everybody is working hard getting the track ready.
(photo courtesy of Peter Vanvliet)This side profile view of the layout gives you an impression of how big our layout was. We had 26' by 70' allocated to us, but we "only" used 60 of the 70 feet. Some of us commented about how this layout was bigger than our houses!
(photo courtesy of Peter Vanvliet)Things are moving along nicely. We were at the very back of the hall, which was great for loading and unloading, because the big overhead doors were right behind us.
(photo courtesy of Peter Vanvliet)Bob had been working hard at building a couple of structures for this show. Here Jerry is admiring Bob's new building.
(photo courtesy of Peter Vanvliet)After a short night's rest, we are at it on Saturday morning. The doors were open from 10am to 6pm. A long day. This front corner shows our crawl-under layout entrance ("door").
(photo courtesy of Peter Vanvliet)We always put up our NASG-sponsored sign. We have four such signs, but we literally ran out of clamps on this large layout, so we were only able to put up two of them, one on each skinny end.
(photo courtesy of Peter Vanvliet)This is a nice inside-the-layout view of the wye, looking out.
(photo courtesy of Peter Vanvliet)Another behind-the-scenes view.
(photo courtesy of Peter Vanvliet)The farm is growing all sorts of crops. The truck has been loaded with today's harvest.
(photo courtesy of Peter Vanvliet)Howard (left) is watching his short New York Central train pulled by an American Models RS-3. Jerry is behind the backdrop.
(photo courtesy of Peter Vanvliet)This is Bob's other new addition to the layout; a HUGE grain elevator. It is an imposing structure.
(photo courtesy of Peter Vanvliet)People stopped to watch Steve's passenger train pass by.
(photo courtesy of Peter Vanvliet)Occasionally, Steve's Doodlebug gets to come out and stretch its legs. However, for now it is in the siding.
(photo courtesy of Peter Vanvliet)Peter's addition to the layout for this show has been a collection of scratch-built trees, shown here in the club's wye modules.
(photo courtesy of Peter Vanvliet)Most of the trees come complete with a root system.
(photo courtesy of Peter Vanvliet)This low-angle shot shows the country post office (built by Ria), with Jerry's tire dump and a small building (made from printed paper sheet). The photo's angle really shows off the complex track work of the double-track wye, built by Jack some 15 years ago.
(photo courtesy of Peter Vanvliet)This Pine Canyon Models storefront was donated to the club by member Don W. Ria took the structure and has been adding more exterior details to it, including drapery.
(photo courtesy of Bill Green)Here's another head-on view of Bob's grain elevator.
(photo courtesy of Bill Green)Jerry (left) and Howard pose for the camera.
(photo courtesy of Bill Green)Steve's steam engine always runs with steam bellowing out. It is always a favorite!
(photo courtesy of Bill Green)One last view of the grain elevator, with its creator in the foreground.