Introductions

Thanks, I'll try and make it.

This is Phillip Thorne, located west of Philadelphia and south of King of Prussia. I've been building with System since 1979 and Duplo slightly before that, including during my high school and college years (no Dark Ages for me). My main interests were originally Technic and Space, but I now focus mainly on microscale spacecraft (fictional replicas, and originals that include Bionicle parts whenever possible) and figures in several scales.

I attended BrickFest 2002 and 2004 in DC, then joined DelVaLUG (lime green!) in 2004 (first display: NBC10 Tech/Lifestyles Expo, Halloween 2004). DelVaLUG, co-founded by Jim Foulds (now working for TLG from Colorado), predates PennLUG, but had a center of gravity closer to Philadelphia; it thereafter exhibited at NBC10 expo 2005, several Greenberg train shows, with ILTCO at the 2006 NTS, and at Wizard World Philadelphia 2007 and 2008. DelVaLUG has been moribund since then, since it topped out at under 10 members and several of them have moved away.

I've run the children's program at the venerable Philcon science fiction convention since 2003, adding a strong LEGO component to it -- a MOC exhibit, free-build, and QuikWars gaming.

I joined PennLUG in January 2009 when it initially met in the King of Prussia Mall after the opening of the LEGO Store there, but have not yet contributed to any PennLUG collaborative layouts (i.e., BrickWorld, BrickFair, KidsFest) aside from the "Cavebase" that inaugurated the store's Window on the Community.

Hi, I'm Rob Bender. LEGO was one of my favorite toys when I was a kid, but my collection got packed away as I got into my teens. I started collecting some Star Wars and other misc sets after college but even they wound up going into storage. Two years ago I got a house in Philadelphia, got everything out of storage and finally had room to start building again. Besides collecting sets, I enjoy building city architecture and humorous vignettes. I'd also like to get into NXT robotics sometime.

My LEGO related photography is up on Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rgb/collections/72157619692379991/

I attended one PennLUG meeting last year and attended this month's meeting as well.

Realized I hadn't introduced myself.

John Rudy here... I came to September's meeting at Cale's house. I'm still over in Gettysburg, so most meetings are a bit of a haul for me. I was glad to hear that meeting dates might be changing, as that might make it easier for me to attend occasionally.

I am planning on contributing to the layout for Brickfair at the very least, both helping Matt in placing a historic building or two adjacent to his "Battle of the Randomness" as well as my 1930s-esque architecture in the town segment. I'm really jazzed about the direction Cale is headed with his gas station and trolley lines. I might be game for a few other display opportunities as the spring and summer progress as well, but my schedule's always in flux as I work with the National Park Service in Harpers Ferry, WV and am working on my Masters in Public/Applied History at Shippensburg. I may go radio silence when research gets particularly heavy... that's SOP for me.

Almost forgot: My Flickr ID is TJJohn12 as well.

So, on to building then?

-John

Hello my name is Tony
I live in levittown pa
I currently have one of the biggest 9-Volt collection in my opinion
I would like to attend the next meeting and was introduced to pennlug
from Nate who I met at the KOP lego store
I have some pictures on flickr id is pugsx3
I am a very dedicated collector of sante fe I just recently finished my 4 car el-capitan set from
the james mathis cd and I am buildin another 4 cars all high level
I have many many trains still in boxes ( no room to display )
I currently sell on ebay and have a 600lb lego loose brick collection
that I believe will benifit the pennlug group
I would like to become an active member of the club layouts and would like
to contribute with my fellow AFOL'S
please check out my ebay store under vader22135 or my flickr page I will be updating my collection on the site tonight

Greetings and welcome!

You said you're really into 9v trains. You will find good company in PennLUG.

I really like that picture you have of all the trains on the shelves. Do you have a lot of track too? You say you have one of the biggest collections. That's a big statement, which for the sake of the club I hope you can back up. There are several others who have big collections too.

Although I don't have much in the way of rolling stock (yet) I have probably the most track in the club (perhaps until now) with well over 300 straight sections, about 250 curves, at least a dozen switching pairs and almost 20 crossover tacks. I have over 30 train motors, mostly still boxed but only about a dozen or so controllers.

But what good is a lot of track without really great trains to run on them? That's where the other train builders in the club really shine.

I think Cale has the next largest track inventory but its Cale's really amazing (award winning) locomotives which he is best known for. I seem to recall he has a goodly amount of very nice rolling stock, too.

You said you already met Nate who also has some really amazing locomotives (which have also won awards) and I don't know how much rolling stock and track he has.

Both Cale and Nate are terrific builders (not just of trains) with attention to detail and accuracy in their reproductions. I don’t remember who else builds trains but there are others too.

Although you state you really love 9v trains, I think its only fair to inform you we, as a club, are also open minded about the Power Functions line for train building. Cale has demonstrated (with more awards to prove it) that PF trains can be much more powerful than 9v motors and still be able to create accurate reproductions. Furthermore the duration of the battery packs is quite impressive being able to run effectively for close to 4 hours. Furthermore, I think the potential for semi-automated to perhaps fully automated track controls is something which is just waiting to be explored. Somewhere in between is running multiple trains on the same track. Try that with normal 9v track…

Having said all that, I am certain there will always be a place for 9v trains in PennLUG. This is based on several discussions and ongoing plans. We have 9v stuff because we want to continue to use it. However, due to the virtually non-existent supply of new 9v track our layouts will at some point have both 9v and PF loops. The good news in that is, especially if you have any significant amount of 9v track to add for layouts, the 9v loop(s) will be able to be bigger. As we get more PF track that will leave the combined 9v track for a longer dedicated 9v loop with associated sidings.

So again, welcome to the club. I look forward to seeing your trains in person. I hope you bring some to the meeting. See you in Scranton.


Mike Tighe


“There is no such thing as too much LEGO.”

Glad to see you posting in here! Between Cale, the Sanders' and I, we have a pretty good contingient of train builders in PennLUG. We would love to have another person interested in Trains actively participating. I know that Cale and I have gone back and forth a bit about where 9v will fit into the club's future layouts, but I think we all agree that the more 9v track, the better. Afterall, Power Functions trains can run on any track, and we all have 9v trains we would like to continue to run. Particularly this year, we are looking at expanding our layout as much as possible. Our biggest show, Brickfair in DC, is being held at the Dulles Expo Center for the first time, giving us a lot more room to work with. For example, we're working on a collaborative modern container port to help fill this space. Any creations/ideas you could contribute would be welcome. Given my schedule right now, I'm not sure if I will be at the next meeting, but I hope you'll make it anyway. Again, welcome to the board and I hope to see you around here and at meetings more in the future!

Uniblab wrote:Greetings and welcome!

You said you're really into 9v trains. You will find good company in PennLUG.

I really like that picture you have of all the trains on the shelves. Do you have a lot of track too? You say you have one of the biggest collections. That's a big statement, which for the sake of the club I hope you can back up. There are several others who have big collections too.

Although I don't have much in the way of rolling stock (yet) I have probably the most track in the club (perhaps until now) with well over 300 straight sections, about 250 curves, at least a dozen switching pairs and almost 20 crossover tacks. I have over 30 train motors, mostly still boxed but only about a dozen or so controllers.

But what good is a lot of track without really great trains to run on them? That's where the other train builders in the club really shine.

I think Cale has the next largest track inventory but its Cale's really amazing (award winning) locomotives which he is best known for. I seem to recall he has a goodly amount of very nice rolling stock, too.

You said you already met Nate who also has some really amazing locomotives (which have also won awards) and I don't know how much rolling stock and track he has.

Both Cale and Nate are terrific builders (not just of trains) with attention to detail and accuracy in their reproductions. I don’t remember who else builds trains but there are others too.

Although you state you really love 9v trains, I think its only fair to inform you we, as a club, are also open minded about the Power Functions line for train building. Cale has demonstrated (with more awards to prove it) that PF trains can be much more powerful than 9v motors and still be able to create accurate reproductions. Furthermore the duration of the battery packs is quite impressive being able to run effectively for close to 4 hours. Furthermore, I think the potential for semi-automated to perhaps fully automated track controls is something which is just waiting to be explored. Somewhere in between is running multiple trains on the same track. Try that with normal 9v track…

Having said all that, I am certain there will always be a place for 9v trains in PennLUG. This is based on several discussions and ongoing plans. We have 9v stuff because we want to continue to use it. However, due to the virtually non-existent supply of new 9v track our layouts will at some point have both 9v and PF loops. The good news in that is, especially if you have any significant amount of 9v track to add for layouts, the 9v loop(s) will be able to be bigger. As we get more PF track that will leave the combined 9v track for a longer dedicated 9v loop with associated sidings.

So again, welcome to the club. I look forward to seeing your trains in person. I hope you bring some to the meeting. See you in Scranton.


Mike Tighe


“There is no such thing as too much LEGO.”

I have alot of track I have alot still in boxes I am very interested in the power functions side
I have given the high speed train to my nephew and I was very impressed with it
I think I can give some counts on my collection
14-10020 (3) are limited
6 10025 still sealed
2 10020 still sealed
I have all the monorail sets
I have all of the 9 volt sets I just need some minor little sets
really too much to list
I really need more wall space to display
but the wifey wants pictures on the wall I was thinking mosaics LOL

Shuppiluliumas wrote:Glad to see you posting in here! Between Cale, the Sanders' and I, we have a pretty good contingient of train builders in PennLUG. We would love to have another person interested in Trains actively participating. I know that Cale and I have gone back and forth a bit about where 9v will fit into the club's future layouts, but I think we all agree that the more 9v track, the better. Afterall, Power Functions trains can run on any track, and we all have 9v trains we would like to continue to run. Particularly this year, we are looking at expanding our layout as much as possible. Our biggest show, Brickfair in DC, is being held at the Dulles Expo Center for the first time, giving us a lot more room to work with. For example, we're working on a collaborative modern container port to help fill this space. Any creations/ideas you could contribute would be welcome. Given my schedule right now, I'm not sure if I will be at the next meeting, but I hope you'll make it anyway. Again, welcome to the board and I hope to see you around here and at meetings more in the future!

Hello nate
as I said at the KOP I have alot of extra bricks if you have a general design for containers
I may be able to grab some pieces
I filled 62 of those pick a brick boxes for future box cars but can make containers
let me know when you are going to KOP and I will try and meet you ..Tony
BTW I love the steams your building

Vader22135 wrote:

Shuppiluliumas wrote:Glad to see you posting in here! Between Cale, the Sanders' and I, we have a pretty good contingient of train builders in PennLUG. We would love to have another person interested in Trains actively participating. I know that Cale and I have gone back and forth a bit about where 9v will fit into the club's future layouts, but I think we all agree that the more 9v track, the better. Afterall, Power Functions trains can run on any track, and we all have 9v trains we would like to continue to run. Particularly this year, we are looking at expanding our layout as much as possible. Our biggest show, Brickfair in DC, is being held at the Dulles Expo Center for the first time, giving us a lot more room to work with. For example, we're working on a collaborative modern container port to help fill this space. Any creations/ideas you could contribute would be welcome. Given my schedule right now, I'm not sure if I will be at the next meeting, but I hope you'll make it anyway. Again, welcome to the board and I hope to see you around here and at meetings more in the future!

Hello nate
as I said at the KOP I have alot of extra bricks if you have a general design for containers
I may be able to grab some pieces
I filled 62 of those pick a brick boxes for future box cars but can make containers
let me know when you are going to KOP and I will try and meet you ..Tony
BTW I love the steams your building

Hi and welcome to the group. Instructions have been posted to the club website: http://pennlug.com/?page_id=86
I tried searching for "pugsx3" on Flickr, but nothing turned up. Anywho, welcome to the club. There are a few members in the club who are interested in Lego trains, myself included, although the only really original rail creation to my name is a trolley. Still, I enjoy them. We will look forward to having you in the club, and I hope to see you at the next meeting.

Matt

Hi Tony and Welcome to the group.

We can always (well I can at least ) use a few more Train fans around here. Sounds like you have an impressive collection. Those SantaFe set are almost worth their weight in gold now.

The next meeting will be hosted by Mike and Michelle Dudley in Scranton on April 10th. Dudley will provide directions as it gets closer. It would be great to see you come out.

We can always find room for more in our club layouts. We run both 9v and Power Functions. If you have a train to run we'll run it and if you have a building to display we'll find a spot for it.

Cale

Vader22135 wrote:Hello my name is Tony
I live in levittown pa
I currently have one of the biggest 9-Volt collection in my opinion
I would like to attend the next meeting and was introduced to pennlug
from Nate who I met at the KOP lego store
I have some pictures on flickr id is pugsx3
I am a very dedicated collector of sante fe I just recently finished my 4 car el-capitan set from
the james mathis cd and I am buildin another 4 cars all high level
I have many many trains still in boxes ( no room to display )
I currently sell on ebay and have a 600lb lego loose brick collection
that I believe will benifit the pennlug group
I would like to become an active member of the club layouts and would like
to contribute with my fellow AFOL'S
please check out my ebay store under vader22135 or my flickr page I will be updating my collection on the site tonight

Hi everyone!

This is Morgan19 (Jamie); I suppose I'm best known for stuff I post on Flickr, mainly a lot of custom figures and a few MOCs here and there.

My wife and I will be moving to southeastern PA / north DE at the end of July, from Northern Virginia, and I was excited to sign up here. I've always meant to get to a WAMALUG meeting for the many years I've lived here and somehow never got around to it, or Brickfair for that matter. I'm looking forward to being able to hit up some LUG meetings once we're settled.

On that note... Does anyone have good suggestions for a rental townhouse or apartment in the SE area? Ideally I'd like to be somewhere around Boothwyn, PA down to Wilmington, DE (we don't want to be right in or too near Philadelphia) and am trying to locate good rental communities with short-term leases (6-8 months) as a temporary place until we buy a house. I've been trawling the usual "apartment ratings" sites but am having trouble distinguishing reviews about honestly horrible places vs. places that are generally good with a few unhappy vocal renters. I'm going to keep doing the usual research, but am hoping for some honest first-hand help, too.

Thanks!
m19

Morgan19 wrote:Hi everyone!

My wife and I will be moving to southeastern PA / north DE at the end of July, from Northern Virginia, and I was excited to sign up here. I've always meant to get to a WAMALUG meeting for the many years I've lived here and somehow never got around to it, or Brickfair for that matter. I'm looking forward to being able to hit up some LUG meetings once we're settled.
m19

Greetings and welcome. We would be happy to see you at any meeting, which are currently the first Saturday of the month. If you don't get a notice to your regular email regarding who's place and where please post a note on the forrum and someone will make sure you get the email.

You really should try to make it to BrickFair. It is well worth it. You will be awed by everything there and will wish you had come to an event sooner. If you can't make it for the whole weekend then just come down for Saturday or Sunday.

I hope to see you soon.

Mike Tighe


"There is no such thing as too much LEGO."

Morgan19 wrote:Hi everyone!

This is Morgan19 (Jamie); I suppose I'm best known for stuff I post on Flickr, mainly a lot of custom figures and a few MOCs here and there.

My wife and I will be moving to southeastern PA / north DE at the end of July, from Northern Virginia, and I was excited to sign up here. I've always meant to get to a WAMALUG meeting for the many years I've lived here and somehow never got around to it, or Brickfair for that matter. I'm looking forward to being able to hit up some LUG meetings once we're settled.

Welcome aboard. Hope to see you soon.

q

Morgan19 wrote:Hi everyone!

This is Morgan19 (Jamie); I suppose I'm best known for stuff I post on Flickr, mainly a lot of custom figures and a few MOCs here and there.

My wife and I will be moving to southeastern PA / north DE at the end of July, from Northern Virginia, and I was excited to sign up here. I've always meant to get to a WAMALUG meeting for the many years I've lived here and somehow never got around to it, or Brickfair for that matter. I'm looking forward to being able to hit up some LUG meetings once we're settled.
m19

I know your stuff well, and I can't wait to see some of in person. It will be great to have you in the club!

cjedwards wrote:

Morgan19 wrote:Hi everyone!

This is Morgan19 (Jamie); I suppose I'm best known for stuff I post on Flickr, mainly a lot of custom figures and a few MOCs here and there.

My wife and I will be moving to southeastern PA / north DE at the end of July, from Northern Virginia, and I was excited to sign up here. I've always meant to get to a WAMALUG meeting for the many years I've lived here and somehow never got around to it, or Brickfair for that matter. I'm looking forward to being able to hit up some LUG meetings once we're settled.
m19

I know your stuff well, and I can't wait to see some of in person. It will be great to have you in the club!

Yes Welcome. It will be great to pick your brain on Mini Fig design.

Cale

Morgan19 wrote:Hi everyone!

This is Morgan19 (Jamie); I suppose I'm best known for stuff I post on Flickr, mainly a lot of custom figures and a few MOCs here and there.

My wife and I will be moving to southeastern PA / north DE at the end of July, from Northern Virginia, and I was excited to sign up here. I've always meant to get to a WAMALUG meeting for the many years I've lived here and somehow never got around to it, or Brickfair for that matter. I'm looking forward to being able to hit up some LUG meetings once we're settled.

On that note... Does anyone have good suggestions for a rental townhouse or apartment in the SE area? Ideally I'd like to be somewhere around Boothwyn, PA down to Wilmington, DE (we don't want to be right in or too near Philadelphia) and am trying to locate good rental communities with short-term leases (6-8 months) as a temporary place until we buy a house. I've been trawling the usual "apartment ratings" sites but am having trouble distinguishing reviews about honestly horrible places vs. places that are generally good with a few unhappy vocal renters. I'm going to keep doing the usual research, but am hoping for some honest first-hand help, too.

Thanks!
m19

Welcome. I do know your work. I especially like your Quest for Glory figs. We rotate meeting locations at different members homes, as we are spread out all over the place. Having a LUG in such a big state almost makes that a necessity. There will likely be another one toward your area in the future, so make sure to come if you have the chance.

New guy from Norristown, PA. Been thinking about joining a LUG for a while. Finally stopped by to check out the group. Been a LEGO fan forever. Got back into things about 2 years ago. Really big into the City collection and dabble in everything else. Not too many MOCs except the LEGO cake topper I just made for my wedding reception. Enjoying seeing other peoples MOCs and hopefully be able to make a meeting or two...

GitMoe wrote:New guy from Norristown, PA. Been thinking about joining a LUG for a while. Finally stopped by to check out the group. Been a LEGO fan forever. Got back into things about 2 years ago. Really big into the City collection and dabble in everything else. Not too many MOCs except the LEGO cake topper I just made for my wedding reception. Enjoying seeing other peoples MOCs and hopefully be able to make a meeting or two...

Welcome to the group. We just had our July meeting today so hopefully there will be some pictures posted of it soon. We normally meet at various members houses usually located in the eastern half of the state. Keep an eye out, the next one is scheduled for July 31 because we are going to BrickFair during the first weekend of August. No place carved in stone yet, but it's probably going to be in the York area. There are folks that live in your/our area to ride with. Hope to see you there.

Sounds great. Saturdays can be tough for me. I work weekends mostly but should be able to get off one a month. Trying to make BrickFair. I just took a long vacation so I have to see what I can manage. Thanks for the welcome. I'll post pics if my wedding cake topper when its finished.

Hello all,

I'm James and I live in Lititz, just north of Lancaster. I grew up with LEGO and have never stopped building, much to my wife's dismay. She still doesn't understand my excitement when I win a classic set on eBay, nor does she appreciate my spending the grocery money on it. My favorite themes are castle, pirate, and wild west, although I love most others as well. It's great to see that others share my obsession, and I'd love to stop by a meeting when I get the chance.

Hey man whats up? I am with you there on the wife situation. My wife realizes its my hobbie, but still doesn't get it. Welcome to the club hehe.

Welcome aboard. We''l be having our next meeting July 31st in York just across the Susquehanna from you. More details soon. Hope you can make it.

Cale

jamesbauer27 wrote:Hello all,

I'm James and I live in Lititz, just north of Lancaster. I grew up with LEGO and have never stopped building, much to my wife's dismay. She still doesn't understand my excitement when I win a classic set on eBay, nor does she appreciate my spending the grocery money on it. My favorite themes are castle, pirate, and wild west, although I love most others as well. It's great to see that others share my obsession, and I'd love to stop by a meeting when I get the chance.

Hey I'm Chris,
Radio, Death Metal, and LEGO. That's how I roll.
I'm a student at Millersville University and hope to someday be a DJ on commercial radio. I'll never get to play my music, but that's not going to stop me from being a DJ. For the last few years I have been assembling sets from my childhood and selling some on BrickLink to raise money to buy others. I collect every town set from 1986 through 2000. Anything afterward I do not like, and these franchise series like Toy Story, Star Wars, Spongebob, etc. disgust me. I want to have a giant town set up, but I am realizing that this dream cannot become reality for me alone. I want to join PennLug so that I can be part of a town layout without doing it all myself. Unlike all of you, I haven't built anything from my imagination since I was 12, so perhaps the time to shift from selling sets, to building MOCs is upon me.

I do happen to like "Small Car" from 2009 though and I want to make it in every color and then build a car dealership that only sells Smart Cars in different colors. Maybe even convertible ones. My BrickLink store is called "Bricks on the Dollar." Please let me know if anyone wants to purchase anything, because we can surely work out a deal for less.