Building the 2012 Redford Theatre Train Display

Very nice. Looks very well done.

Well worth the effort.

I am sure it will be enjoyed by all who visit.

Very nice.

Thanks guys.  It was a ton of work, but I think we all had fun.  I know I did.

For anybody who noticed, the one shot of the cinder blocks sitting up on the platforms was a test for Sunday.  The theater is being rented out for a fashion show, and we have to build two platforms on top of the layout.  Two 4x8 platforms will span the layout and will rest on the 6 cinder blocks that will be put in place.  We were doing a test to hopefully avoid having to move tracks to fit the platforms.

VEry cool video with the time lapse.  This layout will bring joy to many people.  Congrats.

Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the video Jake. This is a wonderful way for you to start the Christmas season by sharing your talents with others.

Thanks again guys.  I had plenty of help with the project, and the results are great.  That wasn't a very good angle for the camera, but it was the only place I could set up a tripod that wouldn't be in the way of our work.

So describe a typical movie night there.  Is your layout on and running before the show and afterwards?  Is there an intermission?  Just wondering how many people have a chance to walk down to see it.  Are you there every night to flip the switch and supervise?

Sounds like a great theater to see a classic movie as it was originally shown.  And the trains are icing on the cake.

Movies are shown most Friday evenings starting at 8 pm, and Saturdays with a matinee at 2, and an evening show at 8.  Doors open an hour before the movie and the trains run until then.  The organ plays a half hour before the movie as well.  There is a half hour intermission about halfway through where the organ plays and the trains run again.  Our crowds vary depending on the movie, as low as 250 some nights, to upwards of 1000 others.  The theatre holds around 1500 people and on an average show night, it's tough to find an open spot along the railing in front of the trains when they're running.  I've been told by some visitors, that they only come when the trains are there.  Our crowds are usually larger around the holidays.  There's a massive christmas tree near where the camera was located, and the theater without the decorations is beautiful by itself.

The power to the layout is all tied into the lighting control board at the rear of the auditorium.  One dimmer controls the building lights, a second controls the trains.  The transformers are hidden under one end of the platform.  When I'm there I usually hook my TMCC base up and run command stuff while answering questions.  Other than that, it pretty much operates on it's own.  If there's a problem on one track whoever is running the sound/light booth can shut down power to that loop using one of the on/off switches i mounted to my control panel, and I can attempt to fix it the next time I'm available.  I live 30 miles away from there, so it's not really possible to be there both days of every weekend.

This is my second year doing the display.  I try to keep stuff out of reach, and anything that is up front is secured to the table with a dab of hot glue.  Didn't really have any issues with people grabbing last year which was great.  An occasional derailment is expected with all the kids that like to touch things.  I kept it simple this year, and the track plan is simply three ovals.  No switches to derail on.

Probably more information than you were wanting, but I hope I answered your questions

When I was building the layout, one of the MCTOS members came up and was talking about the trains he had in the 1940's.  I had brought my 1946 2020 turbine to test my tracks for power distribution (figured if it runs, shouldn't have problems with my can motor engines ), so I pulled it out.  Brought a big smile to his face.  So it is popular at all age levels

Looks like a mighty fine display Jake. Ya' done good my friend!

Very nice layout and well done video Jake.  Looking forward to seeing the next video.

Thanks for sharing your hard work.  Job well done!

Thumbs up Jake!

I enjoyed the layout and the video.  Volunteering your time for the purpose of enriching others' holidays is great.

Great looking layout!  My wife and I plan on seeing "White Christmas" and my favorite "The Christmas Story" at the Redford Theater this Holiday season and I'm looking forward to seeing the layout in person.  An old fashioned movie in an old fashioned movie theater, an organ concert, popcorn and winter train layout...what a wonderful Holiday tradition.

Very nicely done, Jake. That layout in the old theater will add a lot of holiday cheer to people's lives this season, and the grand old organ is just icing on the cake!

What a great job you did!  Thanks for sharing.

--Greg

I commented on your Youtube post, but if you're going to one of the Saturday Christmas Story shows, we will probably run into each other.  I know I'll be there for the Matinee, and probably for the evening show as well (have to help partially dismantle the layout to prepare for a fashion show this week)

Thanks everybody for the comments too.

Here's a short, but new running video from this weekend.  I arrived at the matinee an hour after the doors open, only to hear that the trains were broken down.  Expecting something bad, I went down to find the rear truck of the diesel derailed and shorting.  Easy fix.  My mikado on the other hand, was refusing to run on slightly dirty track.  I quickly threw my RMT beep into action and worked on the mikado's rollers.  Tried it again and it still didn't work.  I wanted some steam action, so I pulled out my '46 Lionel 2020 turbine and it fired right up.  In between shows, I thoroughly cleaned the track and the locomotive rollers and fixed a problem with the front truck.  Now it's working fine.

Here's the video

Figured I'd tell you about the experience I had with the layout last night. We are showing "White Christmas" this weekend and last night was a busy night. At the beginning of the show, the crowd around the layout was pretty big. I was running my postwar steamers (mainly my 736 and 2020 again, but I also let the 2055's stretch their legs a bit as well) on the outer loop again last night which was very popular among the folks who had them as a kid. I had numerous comments about the unique smell of the locomotives running that they remembered as a kid.

Intermission was very cool for me though. As soon as the lights came on I walked down to the front to start the train on the outer loop running. By the time I got there, there was no way for me to even get near the layout. There was a crowd trying to see it spanning the entire orchestra pit. Anyway, my 736 smoked up a storm which the kids liked (yes, there were plenty of kids there last night)

At the end of the intermission, there was also a marriage proposal on stage which was also pretty neat. It's the second one I've witnessed in my 4 years volunteering there.