Wednesday, February 3, 2016

NELUG at Amherst Railway Show 2016 at the Big E

So it happened!

Thursday night my daughter and I went down to the Big E and introduced ourselves to the people who were there with the Legos. Unfortunately the layout wasn't quite right. The electrical access and the assigned space didn't match up so it was an early night.

Friday while I was at work NELUG members returned to the site bright and early and moved everything that had been put out the day before. They toiled away for hours setting up tracks and baseplates and trains and wires. My daughter and I finally joined them at 4:30pm and helped out for the last hour or two. My daughter got her iPad out and recorded a video which I posted to YouTube.

This is it-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjswurVtEF0

Really the rest of the crew did most of the work.

On Saturday I returned with my husband for the first time, and Abby again. The crowds were amazing! Amazing isn't really the word though. OVERWHELMING!!! We all kind of gasped. My husband couldn't get out of there fast enough. He talked to one or two people but really it was a mob scene. We bailed out without seeing the rest of the show.

On Sunday I returned to the show for the final time. This time I came solo. I arrived around lunchtime and stayed through the end helping to clean up when it was over. This was really the best day for me. I was able to talk to people, help out, meet some of the public, and tour the rest of the show.

The photos I took of the NELUG stuff I put on Flickr. Here's a link to that-

https://www.flickr.com/photos/40164014@N07/albums/72157663610786940

I took other pictures of the rest of the show and put them on Facebook but I'm not going to post them to the blog. I just don't have time right now.

We are already planning for next year, both in NELUG and in my house! I guess you could say it was a success. Yay!

Next up... NELUG is at the Wenham museum on February 13th and 14th. I promised my family NOT to be part of the show, and they have promised me that we will go as guests. We will pay our way in to see the exhibit and meet everyone but we won't be tied to setting up/tearing down/and manning the exhibit. Maybe next year.

I did just join NELUG in mid-December so this is all VERY new to me. 2016 is sort of a trial run of things and these two shows being close together is a little tough on the family schedule. We're still reeling from all the newness of it all. I am hoping that 2017 will be easier.