LEGO® FAN EVENTS ARE COMING BACK AND LGMS NOW HAS A WEBSITE

Hello everyone. The world has spent the last year in lockdowns and isolation while we’ve been fighting a global pandemic. All our favorite LEGO® Fan Events have either been postponed or moved online. And while we have made the best of the situation and persevered, we are happy to say that in the United State at least, public evens are starting to return. Today we’re going to highlight a few of those coming in the next few weeks.

L Gauge Modular System

New official LGMS logo.

Before we get into the events, we wanted to make a quick note of what is going on with the L-Gauge Modular System, LGMS for short, since the standard will be featured in several of the events coming up.

LGMS now has a dedicated website!

https://lgms.org

On the LGMS website you will find the latest updates to the standard, information on upcoming events where an LGMS layout is being organized, links to various LGMS resources, and articles on LGMS. Of course we will still cover important LGMS info here on Brick Model Railroader as well, but the LGMS website will be a great tool as the standard continues to grow.

Nebraska Brick Days-Omaha 2021

Brick Days – Omaha is a family friendly event featuring 15,000 square feet of amazing custom creations, games, and interactive activities, all built from LEGO bricks by LEGO enthusiasts from across the Midwest. With this being our flagship event, Brick Days holds nothing back. You will see the newest creations from many different builders, the best prizes, and the newest up-to-date swag from the most popular vendors within LEGO® community.

https://brickdays.com

This year Brick Days-Omaha will be held on July 24th & 25th, at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, IA.

BMR attended this even in 2019 and had a really great time. I will be raveling back there again this year, though I will not have the PennLUG layout coming with me. I still very much look forward to seeing the event, catching up with old friends, and meeting new train fans. Look for me to be hanging around the Northern Illinois LEGO Train Club layout with a few models to show off.

BrickFair Virginia 2021

BrickFair Viginia is one of the premier LEGO® fan events in North America, bringing together hundred of LEGO builders and their creations. Held every year in Chantilly, Virginia, the event returns this year on July 28th to August 1st.

https://www.brickfair.com/VA/

Monty’s Trains layout from Brickfair 2019

This year will be the first time an L-Gauge Modular Standard (LGMS) collaborative layout make an appearance at the event.

Final LGMS Layout Plan for BrickFair 2021.

Several clubs and individuals will be participating in this layout, including myself with my Red Lion Station layout. A big shout out goes to Monty Smith for organizing this for the 2021 event. I’m really looking forward to running some trains on this.

Brick Slopes 2021

BrickSlopes is proud to return to the Mountain America Expo Center for their 2021 EVENT. After being forced to cancel the 2020 event, they hope you are too. The event will be held on August 26th- 28th 2021.

http://blog.brickslopes.com

Brick Slopes is excited to announce that it is putting on its first LGMS train display this year. Don’t have a train? No worries, buildings, scenery, and just about anything city can be displayed next to some train tracks! Just as long as its made to the LGMS standard.

HOW DO YOU JOIN IN THE FUN!

When you register your MOCs on the BrickSlopes website, select city and train as the theme. Then feel free to reach out to Brad Rowley so they can find the best place to put your layout on the loop! If you have any ideas, suggestions, or just want to share, send Brad a PM! The time is closing fast, so get those MOCs ready!

BMR Store Shipping

One final note. As the BMR Store shipping department (that would be me) is going to be on the road the next two weeks attending Nebraska Brick Days and Brickfair Virginia, I will not be shipping orders until I return. The store will remain open so you can place orders, and download our Knuckle Coupler Cad Models and Knuckle Coupler Conversion Instructions, but any orders requiring shipping will not be shipped until I return on August 2nd.

Thank You, and I hope to see you at Nebraska Brick Days or BrickFair.

Cale Leiphart

BMR

Call for Participants

Cale Leiphart will be layout chief for this event. He is responsible for the layout plan, securing space at the event, set up coordination, and operating schedule. Anyone interested in participating should contact him directly:

Cale Leiphart – cale@brickmodelrailroader.com

Participants must be finalized by the end of May 15th in order to coordinate a layout plan and submit it to Brickfair for space approval.

The LGMS layout must conform to LGMS v1.3, which has been uploaded to our LGMS page and to the LGMS Facebook group.

BrickFair Virginia 2017 was the last of the big AFOL convention I was planing to attend this year. Taking place last weekend, August 2nd to 6th, it was an awesome event filled with trains and fun. Though BrickFair may sometimes seem a little less prestigious compared to Brickworld when it comes to LEGO trains, BrickFair can no doubt draw a wonderful and diverse train presence with no less than seven clubs displaying train and monorail layouts, as well as numerous models from individual builders. BrickFair was also host to a Train Olympics competition, run by Adny Mollmann and Nick O’Donell from OKILUG. And there were a few fan voted trains awards given out too. So let’s recap the fun.