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February 22, 2008
January 28, 2008
BayLUG’s Preferred Parts Vendor, Uncle Dan, now has a web page setup to keep people up-to-date with his schedule. He will also now be able to notify us of LEGO treasures he finds in his shipments. Please point your web browser to:
http://www.uncledanstoys.com
December 20, 2007
January 6, 2008: MoAH Holiday display ends
January 13, 2008: member’s only BayLUG meeting
January 26, 2008: BayLTC NMRA meeting
February 24, 2008: BayLUG meeting @ MoAH
March 8, 2008: BayLTC NMRA meeting
March 14-16, 2008: TCA Cal-Stewart Spring Meet
April 20, 2008: BayLUG meeting @ MoAH
May 3-4, 2008: Maker Faire
May 31, 2008: BayLTC NMRA meeting
June 22, 2008: BayLUG meeting @ MoAH
July 13, 2008: BayLTC NMRA meeting
July 18-20, 2008: NMRA NTS in Anaheim
July 26, 2008: BayLTC NMRA meeting
August 3, 2008: VVFF/BayLUG meeting
September 27-28, 2008: Great Train Expo in San Jose (tentative)
October 12, 2008: BayLUG 10th Anniversary meeting @ MoAH
November 2008: Great Train Expo in Pleasanton (tentative)
December 2008: MoAH Holiday display starts
October 1, 2007
LEGO 9V Train CommunicationBillund, Oct. 1st ’07
Dear all,Many of you are aware of the on-going discussions on the 9V train system. We
would like to thank you all for the input you provided to us directly and
through different channels. Based on critical business decisions and the
consultations and discussions with various AFOLs we have decided to focus on one
single solution in order to avoid the complexity of maintaining two systems in
parallel and in order to solve the issues we have with the actual 9V system and
the remote control City train system. We envision one upgradeable train system
for all ages in the future.
The LEGO Group has considered the future of the 9v at length, and has come to
the conclusion that there is not sufficient demand for the product line to be
profitable and competitive. The existing machines need to be replaced and
minimum order quantities at external suppliers for motors and speed regulators
are so high that the investment The LEGO Group would have to put in, would not
be rational or reasonable compared to sales figures of the existing 9V system.
The implication of this is that the 9v elements sold now are the last of the
remaining stock and subsequent production of elements for the 9V platform has
ceased.
The LEGO Group will launch elements for a new train system based on the new
electric LEGO Power Functions system in 2009. Using the LEGO Power Functions
system the new train system will benefit from a set of electric elements that
are cross theme, widely available and not completely train specific which allows
us to amortize the development and on going cost across multiple themes. We are
at an early development stage of the new train system and several AFOLs are
already involved in the development process, to ensure that the new system will
accommodate the types of features and functions requested by the AFOL community.
This collaboration with AFOLs is very important to The LEGO Group and we strive
to involve the Adult Fan Community as much as possible.
Holger Matthes, Germany, currently member of the AFOL team which is involved in
the process of developing the new system explains the situation in this way:
“The LEGO train system has to fulfill different needs for different target
groups in a very special way. On the one hand it’s a toy for kids because it is
easy to set up and because of the playability in the kid’s room, and on the
other hand it is also for AFOLs who build huge LEGO train layouts with realistic
looking train models and functionality. The LEGO Group is aware of this and the
company tries to support both needs within the given restrictions (e.g. costs
for a niche product like the LEGO trains).”
Using the universal LEGO Power Functions system for trains will give The LEGO
Group the ability to match the demands and wishes of the AFOL Train community in
the future.
Steve Barile, USA – President of ILTCO (International LEGO Train Club
Organization) and one of the involved AFOLs says about the new train system:
“I am excited that the new universal Power Functions system can make track side
accessories viable and potentially automated and interactive.”
He continues:
“With the track being exclusively plastic the LEGO Power Functions Train system
has the potential for new and innovative track geometries and continued
innovation by both The LEGO Group and the AFOLs.”
These AFOL quotes give you an impression of what will be possible with the
future system and we will keep you up to date on the development of the new LEGO
Power Functions train system. We expect to have more information and details to
share with you before the end of the year.
Richard Stollery, Head of LEGO Community Development
January 30, 2007
More details are becoming available about the club’s schedule for 2007. Keep checking back for updates!
- January 14, 2007 - MoAH Christmas display ends
- January 21, 2007 - members-only BayLUG meeting @ Dave Porter’s house, Woodside
- February 17, 2007 - BayLUG meeting #1 @ Fremont Main Library
- February 25, 2007 - BayLUG meeting #2 @ MoAH
- March 16-18, 2007 - TCA Cal-Stewart Spring Meet @ Santa Clara Conv. Center
- March 24, 2007 - NMRA Preplanning (members only) @ Mtn View Round Table
- April 15, 2007 - BayLUG meeting @ MoAH
- May 19-20, 2007 - Maker Faire @ San Mateo Expo Center
- June 17, 2007 - BayLUG meeting @ MoAH
- June 23, 2007 - NMRA Planning (members only) @ Mtn View Round Table
- August 2007 (date pending) - BayLUG Space meeting/display @ Chabot Science Senter, Berkeley
- August 5, 2007 - Vintage Vehicles and Family Fun, Palo Alto
- September 29-30, 2007 (unconfirmed) - BayLTC train show, Fairgrounds, San Jose
- October 14, 2007 - BayLUG meeting @ MoAH
- November 24-25, 2007 (unconfirmed) - BayLTC train show, Fairgrounds, Pleasanton
- December 8, 2007 through January 6, 2008 - MoAH Christmas display
MoAH - Museum of American Heritage, Palo Alto.
January 18, 2007
For the third consecutive year, BayLUG and BayLTC members exhibited imaginative LEGO trains and other creations for the holidays at the Musuem of American Heritage in Palo Alto. The exhibition of “Living LEGO-cy” was open for a month, closing Sunday, January 14th. Propelled by wonderful Bay-Area-wide media coverage, including multiple newspaper articles, web and radio event coverage, the last weekend brought more than 1300 visitors of all ages through the exhibit and musuem. The incredibly popular show again demolished the Museum’s attendance records, set the previous year by the last BayLUG/LTC holiday exhibit!
Once again, a common comment was “I didn’t know LEGO made trains!” The multi-track operating LEGO train layout featured both realistic and fanciful locales. Some of the more prominant LEGO entities shown were: the Calgary Tower, shown below, a large arch bridge, representations of the Island of Sodor, and several parts of San Francisco decorated for the holidays.
Surrounding the train layout were adjacent complemetary displays including a HUGE LEGO castle featuring a Harry Potter theme. Many technic construction equipment, cranes, cars, Mecha, an automatic trolley, and other interesting creations filled the display cases lining the walls.
Club members and Museum leaders were all very pleased, and also relieved as the popular exhibit drew to a close. As a result of its success, there may be a large display opportunity at MoAH for BayLUG/LTC coming this summer.
Calgary Tower, City and Layout Overview Thomas, Tunnels and Trains
 
November 20, 2006
The Scale Rails Online site has two LEGO Trains forums, one for general LEGO Train discussion, and one specifically for BayLTC discussion, which is sponsored by our club. I am a moderator of both forums, and I have been asked to help promote the LEGO forums. I would like everyone to take a look at the forums and let me know if you have any suggestions for either promoting them or enhancing the content, like more categories, etc. I have already placed links to them on both of our club LUGNET pages, and I would like links to them added to our links section.
July 18, 2006
 On Saturday, July 15, members of BayLUG converged on the LEGO store in Valley Fair Mall to update the exhibit our club maintains in the “window on the community” display there. The old display, using “Micro-scale Space” as a theme, was removed and a new Castle-themed scene was installed. It will remain there for about six weeks. Stop by the store and see it!
More pictures of the display can be seen in Russell’s Brickshelf gallery.
June 19, 2006
A new LEGO trains forum has been created on the Scale Rails Online website. This is a good thing for LEGO trains because this site is for all model railroad scales, and it shows that traditional model railroaders are accepting LEGO trains into the hobby. I have been participating in the discussions for a couple of days now, and these forums are full of very friendly people. I invite all of you to check it out.
Updated: BayLTC has become a site sponsor and they have created a public forum for our club. I will post club news and events here, and everyone is encouraged to participate in the forums.
May 5, 2006
BayLUG is pleased to announce a special event: Exploring Mindstorms NXT with Mark Edelman, NXT Developer and Founder of Playing at Learning, a Northern California FLL affiliate.
Find out all about the new version of LEGO Mindstorms, with its all new motors and sensors, 32-bit processor, and built-in Bluetooth among other great new features.
The event will take place on May 13th, from noon-3:00pm in Byrd Hall at Wesley United Methodist Church, 463 College Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94306 [map]
The church sanctuary faces Cambridge Ave, and the social hall entrance faces College Ave. There is some limited parking on College, and a large parking garage at Cambridge Ave & Mimosa Lane. If you park there, you will have to walk through the church courtyard or go down Sedro Lane to get to the social hall.
April 30, 2006
We have chosen the theme of “micro-scale space” for the May 14 27 meeting at MoAH. (Note: The meeting was rescheduled to avoid a conflict with Mother’s Day.)
Build a model in a futuristic or science fiction setting, in micro-scale. Micro-scale means that a human is about the height of a LEGO brick, or smaller. There are two categories (micro-moonbase modules, and micro-scale spacecraft) and three age groups.
The contest is for members only. If you’re not a member, sign up prior to the meeting and you can participate in the contest.
For more details, see the event announcement.
March 31, 2006
The Bay Area LEGO Users’ Group will be participating in Maker Faire, along with the creators of MAKE magazine, the MythBusters, and thousands of tech DIY enthusiasts, crafters, educators, tinkerers, hobbyists, science clubs, students, and authors. This unique event will be held April 22-23 at the San Mateo fairgrounds.
BayLTC will present a 20′ x 30′ train layout and BayLUG members will have various models on display, such as David Wegmuller’s giant Technic crane and demonstrations of controlling LEGO trains using Mindstorms robotics kits.
For more information, or if you have anything to contribute to the exhibit please contact Bill Ward.
February 21, 2006
We are pleased to announce the 2006 schedule for meetings of the Bay Area LEGO Users’ Group in the Frank Livermore Learning Center at the Museum of American Heritage in Palo Alto, California. We met there several times in 2005, and had a display there over the holidays which was very popular. We will be meeting on the following days:
- Sunday, April 9, 2006
Sunday, May 14 Saturday, May 27, 2006 (date changed to avoid conflict with Mother’s Day)Sunday, August 13, 2006 (BayLUG will be taking part in the Museum of American Heritage’s Vintage Vehicles & Family Festival at El Camino Park instead of our regular meeting)- Sunday, October 8, 2006 (BayLUG anniversary meeting)
Each meeting will be open from 11am to 4pm (members-only setup at 10:30am, and tear-down starts at 3:30pm) and will feature members’ models on display, bricks and sets for sale or trade, and a contest (details to be announced). Members who wish to display or sell need to reserve their space in advance, and many members will need to bring their own tables.
Special note: The contests are for members only. If you are not yet a member and wish to participate, please fill out an application form before the meeting.
November 11, 2005
SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CA - Below are the details for the upcoming appearances of the Bay Area LEGO Train Club (BayLTC).
Sunday, December 18, 2005 to Sunday, January 15, 2006
Museum of American Heritage
351 Homer Street
Palo Alto, CA 94301
http://www.moah.org
The Bay Area LEGO Users Group (BayLUG) and Bay Area LEGO Train Club (BayLTC) are pleased to announce that we will once again be displaying at the Museum of American Heritage in Palo Alto. Set-up is on December 18 and the show officially opens on December 23.
- Show Hours:
- Friday-Sunday 11am-4pm
Closed Monday-Thursday
Closed December 25, 2005
Closed January 1, 2006
Admission: Donation
BayLTC will be presenting a self-running 12′x25′ layout with several loops of trains running through town, farming, and suburban scenes. The theme of this layout is “Holidays in the Bay Area,” and will feature locally-based scenes with a holiday theme. In addition, BayLUG members will have a variety of other models on display.
Saturday-Sunday, November 26-27, 2005
Great Western & Atlantic Train Show
Alameda County Fairgrounds
4501 Pleasanton Avenue
Pleasanton, CA 94566
http://www.greatamericantrainshow.com
- Show Hours:
- 11am-5pm both days
Admission: $8 for adults; Kids 12 & under free
Admission is good for both days.
The details of this layout are not finalized yet, so please check our Web site periodically for updates.
January 27, 2005
 Members of the Bay Area LEGO Users Group (BayLUG) contributed a donation of LEGO bricks and other toys to the San Francisco Police Department’s community program at the Bayview Hunters Point Gym. BayLUG member Bill Ward saw a report by Tom Vacar on the evening television news on KTVU channel 2, and organized the LEGO donation.
Members brought their contributions to the BayLUG meeting held at member Dave Porter’s house, and officer Raphael Rockwell picked up the toys from Bill today.
The program uses the previously-vacant gym to provide a place where neighborhood kids can go to play, work on their homework, and develop a positive relationship with the police in a neighborhood where crime, drugs, poverty, and gang membership are all big problems.
March 1, 2004
 Getting Started with LEGO Trains
by Jacob H. McKee
Jake McKee is the LEGO company’s liaison with the community of LEGO fans, and an adult fan of LEGO (AFOL) himself. He is also the webmaster of Bricks on the Brain, a great online resource for LEGO fans, including the Building Instructions Portal.
This book will offer a broad range of information about how to build and run LEGO trains, including instructions for building several different train projects. I can’t wait to get a copy!
For more information on the book, or to view sample text from the book, visit the publisher’s site. You can also visit Jake’s book web site.
February 2004, 120 pp., 4-color
$14.95 (reduced from $24.95)
ISBN 1-59327-006-2
October 16, 2003
 BayLUG’s own Russell Clark has been made the curator for our two LUGNETTM newsgroups:
Please let him know what you would like to see on the pages: rclark at telis.org
October 1, 2003
 Virtual LEGO: The Official LDraw.org Guide to LDraw Tools for Windows
by Tim Courtney, Steve Bliss, and Ahui Herrera
No Starch Press has announced that its book on LDraw tools, made with the official blessing of LDraw.org, is now available.
Virtual LEGO is an introduction to the LDraw suite of software, which allows users to create and document computer-generated LEGO models. Written by maintainers of LDraw.org, the official hub of LDraw-based LEGO model-building software, the book includes coverage of popular tools such as LDraw, POV-Ray, MLCAD, L3P, 3PAO, and LPub. You’ll learn how to use these software packages to build you own creations, make 3D scenes, and create building instructions. The CD-ROM contains all the software readers need to get started, all available LEGO parts models, templates for building instruction layouts, a collection of custom models by LEGO builders worldwide, and a gallery of beautifully rendered scenes created using the advanced techniques in the book’s POV-Ray chapters.
October 2003, 480 pp.
List price US$39.95
ISBN 1-886411-94-8
For more information, or to order, visit http://www.nostarch.com/vlego.htm
May 1, 2003
Virtual LEGO: The Official LDraw.org Guide to LDraw Tools for Windows
by Tim Courtney, Steve Bliss, and Ahui Herrera
No Starch Press has announced that it will release its book on LDraw tools with the official blessing of LDraw.org in May, 2003.
Virtual LEGO is an introduction to the LDraw suite of software, which allows users to create and document computer-generated LEGO models. Written by maintainers of LDraw.org, the official hub of LDraw-based LEGO model-building software, the book includes coverage of popular tools such as LDraw, POV-Ray, MLCAD, L3P, 3PAO, and LPub. You’ll learn how to use these software packages to build you own creations, make 3D scenes, and create building instructions. The CD-ROM contains all the software readers need to get started, all available LEGO parts models, templates for building instruction layouts, a collection of custom models by LEGO builders worldwide, and a gallery of beautifully rendered scenes created using the advanced techniques in the book’s POV-Ray chapters.
http://www.nostarch.com/vlego.htm
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