. . . because we rock at advertising for them. Our crowd today was the second largest we’ve ever had–second only to last year’s Scout Jamborall in Ogden, where the crowd was four people deep! We took questions and informed our spectators about our hobby, sold “Lego” candy, and during the few minutes Reed had me man the sales table, I sold two shirts and a magnet with our club’s logo on them (which means Reed must have sold a lot himself!). And nearly everyone who talked to us wanted to know the same thing: where we got our Lego. LEGO, we directed them to you. Give us something!

Nah, just kidding, LEGO. Our reward is you staying in business and continuing to produce such excellent sets as the upcoming 10185 Green Grocer. (Ha! I knew I’d be able to sneak that in somewhere!)

Anyway, my report on the show will come on Monday, complete with pictures. But for now, I’ve got some cleaning up to do. Have a lovely Saturday night!

Quote of the day:

“If I were running one of them other displays, I’d be pissed that the Lego group has all the people.” — A spectator, aside to his friend

We had an awesome turnout last night! For the entire five hours of the show, we had a constant crowd of awed spectators. “The Lego display” was the most popular there, and had even been used as a selling point.

As for the nerds who ran the display, we had our own share of fun. Several of us had been at the barn since seven in the morning, so by the end of the day you can imagine things would have gotten pretty zany.

Case in point, Brian built a robot gun train . . . thing. Three spring-loaded missiles, computer programmed to fire at an unsuspecting Reed (thank you, Mindstorms!), all while being pulled by our signature Utah Railway locomotive. Oh, yeah.

Well, Reed found out about it before we could get him. So we hooked it up anyway just for the heck of it. The first few runs were a failure; in fact, on the first remotely successful try, the train took a curve and the weapon fell off its car. But it was still dangling from the train somehow, which agitated the trigger on the next turn. Thus the weapon destroyed itself, and little bits of plastic were seen flying in all directions to the various regions of our layout.

Our next try would be a success, however, at least compared to what we’d had so far. In this video you’ll see our train with all its black cars. At the very end is this big gray machine-looking thing. Just watch that, and the three guys at the corner of the table where the train turns. The first guy to move is Steve, then Reed tries to catch the missiles, then (hopefully depending on the video quality) you see them all fly out at Dave heading for the spot that should have really hurt if slightly more force had been applied.

A priceless moment in ULUG and GBLT&C history, for sure. The weapon destroyed itself again just before entering the tunnel after that turn. It was like a bee, dying after using its one sting. Unfortunately I didn’t get it on video.With things like this going on, I can’t wait to see what we come up with today! We’ll be open to the public from 10:00 to 6:00 at Thanksgiving Point’s Show Barn. Five bucks admission, but it’s totally worth it. ;-)Picture of the day:

Quote of the day:

“I love how my calluses are shaped like studs.” — Nathan C^1

It’s about time for the train show at Thanksgiving Point! The show is being put on by the Ophir-Tinic & Western Model Railroad Club from January 25th to the 26th. The plan is to set up on the stage. We will have a great representation of LEGO Castle this time in addition to our already well established city and Space areas. Oh, and plenty of trains, too ;). See  you there!

When
January 25, 4 – 9 pm
January 26, 10 am – 6 pm

Where
Show Barn at Thanksgiving Point (Map)

Admission
Adults $5
Children 11 and under free

More info at Thanksgiving Point’s website.