Free-moN: At Home & On The Road

MC Fujiwara Dec 3, 2012

  1. YoHo

    YoHo TrainBoard Supporter

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    He's been blogging about it. Very interesting stuff.
     
  2. HemiAdda2d

    HemiAdda2d Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Wow, MC & the whole Free-moN crew, you guys do amazing work. The mountain modules really strike my fancy, especially the bridge o' wonder. Wow. I love the rocks.
    I must say, MC is quite the carpenter on top of all the fantastic scratchbuilt turnout skillz, he is master cabinetmaker too! Look att he perfect miters and joints on the odd-shaped corner and wye mods!
    I may have said that before, but it bears repeating. I look forward to more footage, since I have no local club to play trains with, and my HCD layout is in storage for a transatlantic move in the near future.

    All of those photosyou take with your iPhone? Holy cow, I thought you had a high-buck dSLR setup.

    Keep it coming!
     
  3. MC Fujiwara

    MC Fujiwara TrainBoard Member

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  4. MC Fujiwara

    MC Fujiwara TrainBoard Member

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    Wow: over a year since my last post on this thread!
    And from the same show, too.
    (They're starting to mush together in memory)

    Silicon Valley Free-moN rocked the wonderfully-lit Craneway Pavilion (the old Ford plant) in Richmond, CA January 9-10, 2016.
    (I also brought my daughter's & my "Alameda Belt-in-a-Box" 1'x6' switching layout, but you can check that out in my "Summer Shunting Shelf Layout" thread).

    We had about 20 modules (no Bridge O' Wonder this year [​IMG] but a new tunnel / aqueduct module by Robert Tobys) creating a big "C" of about 300 feet of mainline circuit from one loop to the other & back:

    [​IMG]

    It was raining all Saturday & grey most of Sunday, but a few rays of sunshine flooded the floor early Sunday morning, so we were able to get a few good photos:

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    And the requisite video (with new music? mayyyyybe [​IMG] ):



    It's in faux 4K if you have the equipment.
    The sun disappeared pretty quick, so sorry that most of the layout is in shadows.
    So it goes.

    But very groovy show: lots of people--especially kids--and everyone had a fab time.
    And we beat our previous record by breaking the layout down & being packed & gone in LESS than 1 hour!
    Yeay Silicon Valley Free-moN!

    Thanks for looking.
    Hope to see you at the next show (Sacramento in Feb. maybe?)
    Cheers.
     
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  5. Ryan Wilkerson

    Ryan Wilkerson TrainBoard Member

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    Great video MC! Thanks for putting it together so quickly after the show. Always love the music choices ;-)

    Hope we can all get together (maybe with more Wonder?!) on Feb 27-28 at Sacramento's Cal Expo. http://trainshow.com/sacramento/
     
  6. mtntrainman

    mtntrainman TrainBoard Supporter

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    Only problem....your videos end to soon :p:p:p
     
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  7. badlandnp

    badlandnp TrainBoard Member

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    What George said! As always, great! And steam as the star. Almost makes me want to do a module or two......but no place to use threm. :(
     
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  8. MC Fujiwara

    MC Fujiwara TrainBoard Member

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    Build it, and they will come!
    I got hooked when I first saw Steve Williams' Lockhart, TX module in Feb 2011 BEFORE this amazing scenicking:

    [​IMG]

    That's right: I saw ONE module of a few tracks on tan-painted foam.
    But then I saw a few more modules at NMRA X2011:

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    Between Steve Williams' Lockhart & Steve Beals' wye & big-ass bridge module, I got hooked!
    Still didn't commit until I saw Steve (W) again at the next LDSIG meet Jan. 2012, where he had his module (all by its lonesome).
    Steve: "Why don't you do a module?"
    Me: "Ok."
    Steve: "We have a show in 2 months."
    Me: "Ok."
    So I built Shoofly.
    By the show Shoofly had no vineyard, first-pour water, and only a few oak trees:

    [​IMG]

    The show showed that we needed a yard, so I started Effett.
    BUT!
    At that show were 4.5 quality model railroaders who, sparked by these simple-scenicked modules, jumped in and started building modules of their own.
    Soon we had over 300' of mainline running with quality scenery, and able to take up over 50'x50' floorspace at 4-6 shows a year!

    Modules are wonderful dioramas for you to work on the scenes & skillz you want to work on, &, after sharing them in your community, soon become just one quality section of a long, snaking layout!

    Build it!
     
  9. Ryan Wilkerson

    Ryan Wilkerson TrainBoard Member

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    Like MC, I really liked the FreeMo-N setup at the X2011 Nat'l Train Show in Sacramento. The guys there were great, especially letting my sons (5 and 6 at the time) run trains for hours. Even though I didn't have any other FreeMo-N people around me in Sacramento, I wanted to join in. I hadn't built a module since I was a teenager so it was difficult to get started just looking at the standards (they are actually very brief as standards go). The photos and videos posted by MC of their shows in the Bay Area (2-3 hour drive each way from my home) reinvigorated my interest. MC invited us to come to the next show and we had a great time. It took a few months before my first module joined in but almost 4 years later, I now have 4 modules that have been to 7 or 8 shows (I think). Now we have two of us FreeMo-N guys in Sacramento and we hope to grow that this year. It's tough to get started but also rewarding when you can see what has been built over time. And what's great about a standard like this, you can travel to another group and connect right up!
     
  10. MC Fujiwara

    MC Fujiwara TrainBoard Member

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    Your iconic "conifer canyon" module (4 sections) is a great scene for trains of all eras to chug down:

    [​IMG]
    Thank goodness for kids to help create the forest from the trees :)
    Always appreciate your positive energy, diplomacy, & quality contribution to our fab Free-moN tribe :)
    Hope to see you in Sac soon!
     
  11. jpwisc

    jpwisc TrainBoard Member

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    Another solid showing! Nice work. How wide are your car card sleeves? I built some clamp on card boxes I am not going to use. I'll send them your way if the cards fit.

    I tried using a two man crew for ops on my modules and it does help things flow. I can't wait to get back into a larger group setup to really get things moving. in 2017, I'll have to plan a trip to NorCal.
     
  12. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Shoo-Fly is truly an inspiring module, all by itself. It was great fun to follow as that construction moved along.
     
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  13. wpsnts

    wpsnts TrainBoard Supporter

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    At times I wish that I still lived in California. I would very much like to be a part of this group. Nothing like it out here in Hannibal, Missouri.
     
  14. MC Fujiwara

    MC Fujiwara TrainBoard Member

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    No New Year's show at Craneway Pavilion this year :(
    But almost everyone was able to make it the Great Train Show at the Santa Clara Fairgrounds in San Jose, CA Feb. 25-26.

    A few photos:

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    Nils showed off his LED magic with this groovy Arduino-run vehicle:



    And, of course, a video with your favorite music:



    Thanks for watching!
     
  15. TwinDad

    TwinDad TrainBoard Member

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    Yay! More stuff to watch on the big screen tonight!

    Nice to see you back at it, MC! your updates of these shows are always a treat!
     
    MC Fujiwara likes this.
  16. nscalestation

    nscalestation TrainBoard Supporter

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    As always you guys had a great layout at this show. I thought it was a really good show for the number of quality layouts there. Not so many vendors at this one but some deals to be had if you looked. It looked like they had a great turnout this time on both Sat and Sun.
     
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  17. mtntrainman

    mtntrainman TrainBoard Supporter

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    I alwys enjoy MC's videos. I can watch em again...and again...and again...and.......:cool:
     
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  18. Ryan Wilkerson

    Ryan Wilkerson TrainBoard Member

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    Great video as usual MC! Was a fun weekend running trains with the largest number of FreeMoNsters in my 5+ years setting up with you guys. Looking forward to the next time. Great Scott!
     
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  19. RBrodzinsky

    RBrodzinsky November 18, 2022 Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter In Memoriam

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    I'm waiting for the time lapse tear down video. That could be fun
     
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