{"id":1860,"date":"2017-06-27T12:00:22","date_gmt":"2017-06-27T16:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/brickmodelrailroader.com\/?p=1860"},"modified":"2017-06-27T09:57:39","modified_gmt":"2017-06-27T13:57:39","slug":"brickworld-2017-event-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brickmodelrailroader.com\/index.php\/2017\/06\/27\/brickworld-2017-event-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Brickworld 2017 Event Report"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brickworld<\/a> 2017 has come and gone, and I’m almost caught up on all my sleep from the event. If you’ve never been to it, Brickworld is one of the largest, and one of the premier LEGO\u00ae fan events in North America. It draws some of the best builders in the country, and even a few from over seas. It is also the largest gathering of LEGO train fans, and train clubs in the US. If you love LEGO trains, you’ll be in good company at Brickworld.<\/p>\n

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Michael Gale’s excellent model of the A1 “Tornado”.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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The Train Layouts<\/h4>\n

Every year at Brickworld, some truly awesome LEGO train layouts can be seen. Some of the top train clubs in the US clubs come as far as Pennsylvania and Texas to show their trains on huge layouts packed with details. Here are some of the notable layouts from this year.<\/p>\n

PennLUG and Texas Brick Railroad<\/h6>\n
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The Bonahoom Factor is strong with this layout.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

PennLUG<\/a> is my home LUG, and for the fourth year we joined forces with Texas Brick RR<\/a> for a joint train layout at Brickworld. And this year we had an added guest, Jason Steinhurst from MichLUG. PennLUG brought our roundhouse and massive rail yard, while Texas brought the farm, bridges and town. Jason brought his excellent locomotives and rolling stock. \u00a0While our clubs each have our own unique layout style, we still mesh really well thanks to following the same track and ballast standard, relative scale, and desire for massive amounts of detail.<\/p>\n

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Old MOC Filler had a farm.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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You can be sure that wherever PennLUG or TBRR go, we have the trains.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Northern Illinois LEGO Train Club<\/h6>\n
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Trains!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Brickworld is NILTC<\/a>‘s home LEGO convention, so naturally they show up with a big presence, and usually the biggest layout at the show. But they have more than size in there arsenal, they also have a some great builders from a diverse range styles. You want tall sky scrapers? You can find them here. You want modern cities? NILTC has them. An awesome recreation of the town from the movie Blazing Saddles? Yeah, it’s here. Visions of future urban transport and architecture? Sure. A military tank larger than your average home? Yes, NILTC had that too. And all really well done.<\/p>\n

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That’s not a tank! Now this is a TANK!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Ohio Kentucky Indiana LUG<\/h6>\n
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Colorful houses from OKILUG.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

OKILUG<\/a> is one of the newer clubs to Brickworld, but they’re not short on great building talent.<\/p>\n

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OKILUG brought a big layout, and a bigger banner.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

OKILUG had some excellent trains and rail yard, a nice airport section, and a large city area with their layout this year.<\/p>\n

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OKILUG was representing the modern diesel RR with some really great models.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Michael Gale’s MILS Train Layout<\/h6>\n
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Michael Gales adaptation of the MILS standard to LEGO trains showcases the beauty that can be had in designing a standardized LEGO train layout.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Michael Gale<\/a> is one of the best LEGO train modelers today. And he is also a one man layout force to be contended with. His eye for detail, keen sense of scale, and clever use of lighting and electronics are all brilliant. This year Michael came with his\u00a0MILS<\/a> based LEGO train modules, and they looked fantastic. Taking advantage of the system, Michael was able to model subtle variation in terrain, brick built roads and crossings, that bring a very lifelike feel to a otherwise simple train layout.<\/p>\n

Some fancy landscaped curves were not all Michael had though. He has also been building on the MILS standard to create a Japanese themed city layout. His use of MILS<\/a> and module style building was really inspiring to see in person.<\/p>\n

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Michael’s work in progress, Japanese themed train layout.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mr. Gale is also one half of the team behind the forthcoming PFx Brick<\/a>. And he had one spectacular demo model at the show. His amazing model of a Japanese Shinkansen 700 train. Lights, sound, and scale perfect speed made this beautiful model of of the highlights at the event when running.<\/p>\n

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