# HAGRS pics--56k, click and go take a nap....



## Robbie Hanson (Jan 4, 2008)

So I took 650 pics...and weeded out the fuzzy ones, duplicates, and all the boring stuff.

So behold, 141 pics that I uploaded to Photobucket. Stuff I thought was special is below.

http://s48.photobucket.com/albums/f...2009]Album

Alrighty. Was a decent show. Accucraft did not show up and I never did find out why. Met Steve Stockham(Sorry Steve, didn't realize your son was there--wouldn't have bothered you if I knew!), Chuck(Chucks_Trains), and Jerry McColgan. Had a good time--ran the Big Boy with Ray's from 9 AM til about 5 PM(Show ended at 4). Then had to pack up the 1,000 feet of track and shuttle it over to Raymond's house...IN THE RAIN. Thankfully, Steve(missed your last name?)'s pickup bed, full of track, didn't get too wet. Finally finished and got back to the hotel by 10 PM ish.

1,000 feet: Aristo curves and AML code 332 straight
MTH Big Boys: 5

MTH Triplexes: 5
MTH GS-4: 1

USAT Hudson: 1
USAT Big Boy: 1

Bachmann hoppers: 120 


And without further adieu, way too many photographs...




1. Chuck's USA Big Boy blew a capacitor in the tender--it actually made a POW. Engine wouldn't run afterwards, though, strangely.












2. The MTHs ran flawlessly all afternoon. I don't think they stopped all day.











3. The live steam guys(Doug Bronson was there with a VERY nice C-21) kept something running all day--everything from a little side rod vertical boiler to a K-28 and Aster Mike.










4. The Oklahoma(?) group had a fantastic layout with handlaid track.




























5. The M&M Railway Express(?) had an LGB Mikado running that didn't miss a beat.











6. The Kansas City group had their layout.











7. The "Mesa Grande" railroad was there. I'd never heard of it before, but it was pretty neat.

















They even had a train of ribbon rail, which excited Raymond immensely. We should see some videos of this at some point.


























8. Chuck's NYC Hudson(USA Trains) with the DCS system and a modified smoke unit was fantabulous. The smoke is just utterly brilliant.


















9. Somebody from Train-Li-USA had a very cool Lego train built on Aristo chassis entered in the model contest(car pictures are in the Photobucket album)










10. At the end of the day, once everybody was gone, we hooked up all 120 of Raymond's hoppers to a SINGLE BIG BOY and let it loose. It pulled it with not even a hint of wheelslip, and the DCS compensated enough with the power to make it keep up with Big Boys solo in between the engine and the first car. Amazing.


The train worked out to 5,760 scale feet, over a mile long--is this a record for one stock loco in 1:32?!?!

Note that the train includes ALL the black hoppers in the photograph, and that the engine is on the far right side of the oval.











That'll do it for now! 


The intrepid engineers(Raymond/John):


----------



## Rayman4449 (Jan 2, 2008)

Great photos Robbie (and assume some are John's too  )

Was really glad you and John could make it to the show to enjoy the sights and sounds. 

No doubt to me, Martin Link's rail ribbon car was one of the neatest creations I've seen in some time. Very very creative and a great job in actually getting it to work with his soon to be released plastic rail. 

On the engine front, Chuck's USA Trains Big Boy blew me away! I've never heard a largescale engine sound like that before. It wasn't just loud, but had powerful sound and was exceptionally clear... exactly what I would want every one of my engines to sound like. He's clearly raised the bar to a whole new level. Maybe as his new young apprentice, I too can learn the ways of the dark side of the force.














It was disappointing at the end when it had the problem with the prototype circuits in the tender. We chatted it over today and checked a couple of things and think we know what happened, so this shouldn't happen again. 

Thanks to both of you and your dad for the after show help on getting everything picked up and torn down. 

I have pictures and videos I'm working on myself. Going to take a while to get them all edited and posted.

The Mesa Grande is a great setup, excellent attention to detail... neat, attractive, funtional and well designed.


Raymond


----------



## Robbie Hanson (Jan 4, 2008)

Sorry Raymond, all mine so far--John's pics are on my belt camera and I haven't gone through those yet. 

Chuck's Big Boy did indeed sound good while it lasted. Sorry though; I'm not tearing apart my engines like that! 

No problem in getting the stuff torn down--only issue was finding food at 11 PM in KC. Eventually grabbed Taco Bell and took it back to the hotel room....


----------



## Nicholas Savatgy (Dec 17, 2008)

Ray,
Looks like you and Chuck had a great time, trains look great and it looks like it was a fun show







Did that guy Marty atleast come over and say Hi







HE HE HE
I look forward to being there with you guys next year, should be a fun trip....


----------



## rgolding (Jan 2, 2008)

Robbie, 
Nice pictures and report. I heard it was a good time. It's just the wrong time of year for my business. ;-)


----------



## Gary Armitstead (Jan 2, 2008)

Robbie,

I'm getting a "Page can't be found" message. Oops!


----------



## Jerry Barnes (Jan 2, 2008)

Maybe this will work:
http://s48.photobucket.com/albums/f...AGRS_2009/


----------



## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks for the nice pics. I sure would have liked to have been there but was in MI that weekend to visit the kids. Maybe next year. Later RJD


----------



## dltrains (Jan 2, 2008)

That ribbon rail car is just too much. I'll be looking to see that in person. 
Thanks for the pics and report Robbie 

Dave


----------



## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Was the ribbon rail actual scale rail? I'm guessing it was not stainless? Was it code 250 aluminum? 

Regards, Greg


----------



## Robbie Hanson (Jan 4, 2008)

Greg, it was PLASTIC. I don't know whose layout it was exactly, but I heard somewhere that the plastic rail will actually be sold. The entire Mesa Grande modular layout's yard was built using it. 

Definitely an option for those of us with battery power--not me!


----------



## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Ahh... now that makes sense! I was looking at that rail, and wondering how they got things flexible enough. 

Thanks, Greg


----------



## Rayman4449 (Jan 2, 2008)

Well finally after a long delay I've got the videos processed (17) from the show. 

Great show, looking forward to 2010.









John and Robbie I hope you guys can make it back out again. 

Nick you have a standing invitation to join us.







(I know you've got a long trip to make.) Even if you had to fly out with USA Big Boy in your arms as carry on I think it would be worth the trip. Would be good to get to meet you in person.









http://www.rayman4449.dynip.com/HAGRS-2009.htm 

and Chuck, looking forward to rocking the house one more time in 2010.










Raymond


----------



## Nicholas Savatgy (Dec 17, 2008)

Posted By Rayman4449 on 13 Dec 2009 07:04 PM 
Well finally after a long delay I've got the videos processed (17) from the show. 

Great show, looking forward to 2010.









John and Robbie I hope you guys can make it back out again. 

Nick you have a standing invitation to join us.







(I know you've got a long trip to make.) Even if you had to fly out with USA Big Boy in your arms as carry on I think it would be worth the trip. Would be good to get to meet you in person.









http://www.rayman4449.dynip.com/HAGRS-2009.htm 

and Chuck, looking forward to rocking the house one more time in 2010.










Raymond



RAY LOOKS LIKE YOU AND CHUCK HAD A GREAT TIME, im going to try to make it this year maybe i can bring some animation to add to the Display, great job you and chuck did Cudos to you my freind..........


----------



## Rayman4449 (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks Nick. Boy if you showed up with your structures, etc... wow what a setup it would be!







No pressure or obligation tho...
















It was lot of work for sure and we didn't have any structures, so I can imagine the time and work you put in for yours. I really think the efforts that you put in to promote the hobby like this are very important and do make a difference. So kudos back atcha buddy.


Raymond


----------



## Chucks_Trains (Jan 2, 2008)

Wow Raymond!! Excellent videos









That was quite the show and a lot of work but I'm more than ready to do it again!!









Yep NYN (New York Nick) really knows how to put on a show and if he can make it to HAGRS in June...Well that'll be great!!









Now if I can just figure out a way to remotely dump some coal/ore cars..hmmm...


----------



## Rayman4449 (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Chucks_Trains on 13 Dec 2009 08:34 PM 
Wow Raymond!! Excellent videos









That was quite the show and a lot of work but I'm more than ready to do it again!!









Yep NYN (New York Nick) really knows how to put on a show and if he can make it to HAGRS in June...Well that'll be great!!









Now if I can just figure out a way to remotely dump some coal/ore cars..hmmm...








"That was quite the show and a lot of work but I'm more than ready to do it again!!







"

Yes sir he does!










"Now if I can just figure out a way to remotely dump some coal/ore cars..hmmm...







"


----------



## smcgill (Jan 2, 2008)

I heard a rumor the Axel / train -li has plastic rail! 
http://www.train-li-usa.com/store/prorail-display-p-1081.html 
You didn't hear it from me. 
Sean


----------



## Rayman4449 (Jan 2, 2008)

Yep, that's Martin's Plastic Rail. 

I actually have some and it's really good stuff.


Raymond


----------



## jimtyp (Jan 2, 2008)

Who can I contact about that smoke unit? That is some awesome smoke!


----------



## Del Tapparo (Jan 4, 2008)

Wow - That looks like it was a great show. Thanks for the photos Robbie. And Raymond, I watched all 17 videos .... I may be ready to go standard gauge now! Those long trains are really impressive.

Some comments ....

Capacitors blow up when they are electrolytic (polarized) and installed backwards. Reverse polarity blows them up. Very spectacular indeed, and you usually want this to happen (if at all) at final test. Of course, if there is no test, then the final user gets to witness this event! (Shame on you USA).


I was impressed with the live steam layout. It had a skirt around the layout ... What a difference this makes (to me at least). I like it.

Raymond's videos: While they were somewhat repetitive, like I said, I found myself watching and enjoying all 17. Video No. 7 shows a little guy in a blue shirt. You just KNOW this kid is hooked on trains for life, or at least something will kick in later in life, that will bring him back to trains. He will remember this!


And the 'on-the-floor layout' featured in the videos: While I usually don't care for this at a train show, the long trains made it work. But I noticed there were no barriers to keep folks/kids off of the trains. In the videos see folks stepping and jumping across the trains. Apparently not a problem? I think that is great that they visitors were allowed so close and given the freedom. Maybe the large/long trains just keep the kids at bay? I know with narrow gauge and/or critters running around a loop, some kids just feel the need to take a swipe at them and cause a derailment.

Nice show. Thanks for sharing it with us.


----------



## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

Great series of images and videos. The youngsters sure enjoyed the show.. 

Thanks for posting all the images and videos.


----------



## Rayman4449 (Jan 2, 2008)

Hey Del, thanks a bunch for the comments.

With as much footage as I had I figured it might get a little repetitive but I figured I'd post what I had so it was all out there. 

On the capacitors.. you are exactly right, we did see a brief reverse of polarity at that cap... it was the actual frame of the engine that got momentarily energized that did it. A prototype add-on electronics board which was actually separate and not related to the USA or DCS electronics was what let go. So an unexpected grounding to an electronic component that wasn't caught as grounded to the frame and... kaboom. It won't happen again ;-)

The kids that really really enjoy the trains are the ones that make all the work worth it.







And if we can get them hooked on model trains for life, that an even greater bonus. 

So far this is my favorite pic that I've snapped at a show... the expression is timeless.











Believe it or not we haven't had many problems with kids causing derailments or accidents even without the barriers. (done 6 train shows or so) We had a few issues when running on the 1ft elevated layout of the KCGRR but once we went to the track on the ground, out of 4 shows we had only one kid derail one truck on a caboose at this last HAGRS show and that's it. I did just buy some yellow barrier tape that I'm going to tape to the floor for the next show for the stand off line. I'm trying all I can to avoid the roped barriers so as not to impede videos and picture taking. We also made sure we had the slow moving trains on the outer two loops and have them both go the same direction to minimize the severity of accidents. Believe me, I expected far more problems than we've had. I think you're right that the long slower trains do kinda keep them at bay.

Glad you enjoyed them too and thanks.


Raymond


----------



## Rayman4449 (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By jimtyp on 14 Dec 2009 04:38 PM 
Who can I contact about that smoke unit? That is some awesome smoke! Hey Jim, your best bet at this point would be find out your nearest MTH Dealer and ask them to order a One Gauge smoke unit for either a Hudson or GS-4.($55) They might be out of stock, I'm not sure. You can try calling MTH direct but you may have better luck through a dealer. MTH's number is *(410)381-2580.* 

Raymond


----------



## Rayman4449 (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Stan Cedarleaf on 14 Dec 2009 08:31 PM 
Great series of images and videos. The youngsters sure enjoyed the show.. 

Thanks for posting all the images and videos. 


Thanks Stan, glad you enjoyed too. : )


----------



## gscaleisfun (Jan 14, 2008)

Ray 

Can I put these videos on HAGRS.com ? 

David


----------



## Rayman4449 (Jan 2, 2008)

Yes, absolutely. Feel free to use any and all pics or videos you want from my site to help promote the show. 


Raymond


----------



## Robby D (Oct 15, 2009)

Hey Greg, 
You can get the plastic rail from Train-li. 

Robby


----------



## Nicholas Savatgy (Dec 17, 2008)

I ordered 500 ft of it today from axle.....75.00 cant go wrong with that..........This why i asked you about the consumor sale yesterday, i need flat cars.....


----------

