Maine Central, Lamoille Valley

Maine Central, Lamoille Valley
Click image to link to my web site, nekrailroad.com

Thursday, October 18, 2007

NER Albany Convention Update Day #1

Well, a good italian dinner was had at Tony and Diane's. I arrived early enough to see all of their recent landscaping first hand while there was still daylight. I also saw where a 50' tree recently fell onto their deck. Nothing like having a major distraction whilst trying to keep the convention planning on track! Looks like both the deck and the convention are on firm footing at this point. Joining me for dinner was Dominic Bourgeois. A few other invited guests got held up at the hotel getting things ready for tomorrow's clinics. Dominic is from Montreal and I only knew of him through published photos and articles in the magazines, so it was nice to meet him in person. Dominic has sections from his D&H layout to set up at the convention hotel. Some interesting discussions took place about getting model railroad sections through customs across the border from Canada into the US.

After dinner we headed down to the basement to view the layout progress. Tony and Diane have quite an ambitious plan underway. Utilizing sections from the past USS D&H and Diane's Rutland layout, they are piecing together a multi deck (like 7 levels!) layout featuring the D&H and the line into Vermont to interchange in Rutland, VT. Right now they are getting key scenes in place and working out how everything will fit together. Very interesting to see the genesis of a new layout like this.


Some scenery is in place and it looks pretty good as the photos show. Tony is explaining the Howe's Cave section of the layout to Dominic above. And below Diane is discussing the scenery on the highest level (both are standing on step stools).



Getting back to the hotel, it is really much more crowded now. I headed to the bar to see if any other model railroaders were about, especially with some arriving back from operating sessions. Unfortunately the bar closed up early and I was getting the last beer for the night. Strange because while I was there many people came in looking for drinks, including a group who just got back from Massachusetts from a session. They were directed to a place down the street. Oh well. But the wireless internet throughout the hotel is real nice. I was able to check e-mail and get news (Flyers beat Devils 4-0!) while at the bar. I'll leave you tonight with a few more layout pictures.





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