The Ophir, Tintic, and Western Train Show (OT&W) took place at the Utah County Fairgrounds in Spanish Fork, UT to the delight of train enthusiasts from across the region.
The ULUG train loop is always a guest favorite, and featured environments from from sixteen builders. including:
In one of the last games of their final season in Utah, the minor league Grizzlies held a themed Star Wars night in their game against the Wichita Thunder. The evening featured characters and droids in cosplay, a stadium filled with special graphics and music from the films, and a LEGO display of Star Wars sets and MOCs by ULUG.
The game itself was great for fans as well – with the Grizzlies scoring in the first few minutes of play, falling behind at the end of the first period, tying up the score in the third period, and winning in overtime 3-2.
In collaboration with the local Boys and Girls Club, Bricks in Brigham City is a free chance for kids and families to come and get their hands on LEGO bricks and discover creativity. In addition to seeing the builds from our members, attendees could build with the loose bricks and contribute to the mosaic wall.
The ULUG brought builds and a train loop from from seven builders. including:
At the historic Union Station in Ogden, UT, the Hostlers Model Railroad Festival celebrates the city’s place in American railroading history.
The ULUG train loop is always a guest favorite, and featured environments from from sixteen builders. including:
On the Utah/Arizona border, the Kanab Train Show is set in the perfect blend of small town charm and stunning red rock desert.
The ULUG train loop is always a guest favorite, and featured environments from from seven builders. including:
There were 46 people in attendance, including 2 guests and 16 remote viewers.
At this meeting, previous shows were discussed and upcoming shows were planned. Officers introduced themselves for anyone new, and there was discussion about how the officers would like to improve future meetings. The feedback link provided at the meeting was also posted to Discord.
Club president Joe M shared how to use non-standard connections to make sturdy and flexible trees from the Plant Leaves 6×4 part. Rather than using stud connections, the parts are woven together into locking rings, which allows them to be both flexible and strongly connected.
Mike O shared his favorite online tool for creating mosaics, Lego Art Remix.
He talked about:
8 Sets with 9 Participants
Each year the Valley Fair Mall in West Valley City hosts an art and craft market, cutely named JanuARTy. This festival had local artists and vendors, an art contest, cosplay, and more!
The Utah LEGO Users Group brought several tables of MOCs to display from nine builders.
There were 58 people in attendance, including 9 guests and 14 remote viewers.
At this meeting, we discussed:
Additionally, attendees were able to assemble official LEGO sets that are going to be used in a video filmed at a nearby ski resort!
Attendees played a version of brick-built Plinko game!
4 Sets with 15 Participants
There were 40 people in attendance, including 3 guests and 7 remote viewers.
At this meeting, we discussed:
This meeting was also at the same venue as the JanuARTy event, which meant that we were able to see and appreciate larger and more impressive builds than at our typical meetings. Really great builds from our ULUG members!
The presentation focused on some of the problems with standard LEGO train hubs and Bluetooth controls, like losing connection at a large event, or needing the train to run while also needing your phone. One possible solution was demonstrated – hacking the LEGO hub with Pybricks to allow for automatic and intelligent running of the train.
The trolley in the demonstration was programmed to automatically run on its own, and use a color sensor to read colored tiles on the track to automatically stop and change direction.
5 Sets with 11 Participants
A MOC stands for My Own Creation. A MOC is any custom build made without following official LEGO instructions. A MOC can be anything, in any size – a spaceship, a car, a castle, a sculpture, a building, or anything else you can imagine and bring to life with bricks.
Building custom creations out of LEGO bricks is a fun and artistic expression of creativity and engineering. All it takes is a few bricks, some patience, and some creativity to create something new.
Each meeting has time set aside for ULUG members and guests to share MOCs with the group. Just bring your MOC up to the table when you arrive! Meetings are a great time to show off cool builds, ask for feedback from other members, and inspire fellow builders.
Each MOC gets time for the creator to introduce themselves, share their build, and highlight one or two things about it.