Thanks for the ideas & feedback.
This video I kept the titles to a minimum and let the modules speak for themselves (except for identifying the two new modules and others' photography).
This past weekend (Jan. 3 & 4, 2015) Silicon Valley Free-moN ran a layout at beautiful Craneway Pavilion in Richmond, California.
We had a space of about 30'x35' in which we set up a loop-to-loop layout consisting of about 30 modules providing about 250 feet of mainline circuit.
We had the fortune to have two new modules join the layout:
Nils "threw together" this 90-ish degree mountain module a few days before the show.
It's just pink foam on two endplate boxes with styrene fascia.
The mountains are just carved foam and paint / drybrush.
Very light!
Connected to Nils' new module is our other recent addition. Ryan W. and his two sons have been working on a 13'-ish module featuring the passing siding at Azalea / Mott (north of Dunsmuir, CA
https://goo.gl/maps/4KRSe ):
[That bow in the passing siding is intentional, as the track swings out around a signal on the prototype]
Scenery is in progress, and eventually will have a fourth section in the center to create a lap siding, which will be great considering that people seem to be running longer and longer trains!
Effett Yard, which used to have the longest sidings, now has some of the shortest!
Looks like someone will have to build another insert to expand capacity!
Earlier in the year we attempted to have an "Ops Development session" in which Paul Ingram shared his card system he designed back in the early 80's for his modular N-scale group.
A very interesting afternoon, in which we found out who really liked Ops and who liked to just run trains.
Eventually a group of us will reach critical mass and have a real Ops session, and Scott F. is leading the way by creating his own car-cards, which he brought to this show:
He took photos of each of his cars, which helps N-scale identification immensely.
As you can see, we need some clamp-on card boxes:
Ops will also require actual coordinated running and jobs like Dispatcher, which might take awhile for all members to buy into.
Personally I think two-man crews (Engineer & Conductor) would help, especially as we've found it's very difficult at shows to talk and drive trains at the same time.
We're still more Anarcho- than Collective, though we still seem to be able to put on a pretty good show.
So last weekend was a great show at a great venue with great light (which, of course, disappeared the morning I wanted to shoot video!).
Very much enjoyed running trains with my fellow Free-moNers/Free-moNsters and spreading the Gospel of N Scale and Free-moN.
Probably my last show for a long time: this year are many conventions, both local (PCR in Newark
http://www.pcrnmra.org/conv2015/, National N Scale
http://www.nationalnscaleconvention.com/ ) and National (NMRA in Portland, OR
http://www.nmra2015portland.org/ ) but family and work issues will prevent me from taking part.
(After many years of freelancing, I really want to find a job with a creative group of people that gets me
out of the house, which will cut down on my modeling time).
I've sold some locos and gifted all of the Free-moN modules I've built to people in SVFMN who will be participating in some of the conventions, so at least my work will be reppin' me and allow for better layouts at the shows.
(We're trying to get FOUR different Free-moN groups to create an uber epic Free-MONSTER layout up at the National Train Show in Portland... wish I could be there!)
I did keep Shoofly and a few 45's as photo dioramas and in case I'm able to make a show in the next year or two.
But my garage is SOOOOOOO empty it's amazing!
The only modeling I'll be doing is finishing the HO layout I started for my friend who passed away earlier this year--his widow and son would like it for the grandkids to run and remember grandpa.
I also have a shelf micro-layout idea swimming around in my head, but we'll see...
Thanks for following along on my Free-moN adventures.
Definitely a worthwhile modeling endeavor, and I've had the honor and pleasure to meet up and become friends with a great group of gents.
It's also been fun watching "Free-moN Fever" spread and see Free-moN and other modular groups pop up across the country.
The Free-moN Force flows strong!
So I'm proud to present our most recent show video (which looks much better in 1080p!):
Thanks for taking the time to follow (and comment on) this thread: your constructive feedback is always appreciated.
Happy New Year!
