BayLUG News

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

BayLUG’s own Russell Clark has been made the curator for our two LUGNET^TM newsgroups:

• lugnet.org.us.baylug
• lugnet.loc.us.ca.sf

Please let him know what you would like to see on the pages: rclark at telis.org

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

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