We once again had a fantastic time showing at the Greenberg.  Once again we were in the Fez room which makes for an interesting environment.  We are away from the hussle and bussle but it is a much more comfortable space.  We seemed to have a ring of chair around the layout throughout the show and at times crowds were 3 or more deep around the entire layout.

There was an engine with a camera in it which was a big hit and the Duplo Shark attack was also quite popular.  The ammusement area had a couple of new rides and the Medevil Fair is getting bigger and more popular.  There were a couple new Skyscrapers as well which always makes for interesting changes/challenges with the skyline.  The residential area was also packed with interesting things.

To view an entire gallery of images please click on the image to the left.

NELUG Has Another Go at Facing Down the Face Eating Aliens in Face... I mean, Space!

---

BrikWarriors from space engage in a battle of wits and rockets with horrible aliens, incompetent locksmiths and a diabolical ship design that would make MC Escher green with envy. 

[Note: The following account is somewhat in dispute. Event may have been altered for dramatic effect, sensationalism, and to fill in the blanks during a particularly bad night of drinking. This is what happens when you hire people trained at FOX.]

---

 

On Saturday NELUG played it’s 4th Brikwars game of 2007. Six small squads of medieval troops fought amongst crumbling ruins and landowner homes for dominance of the region. Lizardmen battled Ninjas, Knights skirmished against Highwaymen, and Barbarians took up arms against the Strange Men who embrace scorpions as their sea-wives. Advantage on the field of battle shifted with the winds, but in the end the day was carried by our newly-anointed evil Reptilian Overlords.

NELUG Participated in the Boston Children's Museum grand reopening gala, entitiled "LEGO of Your Inhibitions," that was used as a fund raising event to show off their recent $47 million rennovation. The black tie event was well attend, providing patrons with a variety of displays, music and food spread across three of its six floors.

NELUG was nestled on the third floor, not far away from numerous 2x3 brick-inspired cakes. Our display was a big hit, the largest affirmation of which came in the form of disappointed patrons when they realized our display was not a permanent exhibit. It was a great night and we had a blast!

We'd like to thank the BCM of the opportunity and to member Jonathan Dallas for putting us all in touch. For more pictures, visit our gallery.

Members of NELUG participated in a local gaming Con out at UMass-Amherst this past weekend, representing the wonderful world of BrikWars in a cluster of games entitled Injected Molded Kombat!

NELUG's began coordination with the UMass Amherst Gaming Club a few months ago in an effort to bring plastic mayhem out west. These efforts led to smooth participation on our part and the event went off without a hitch!

---

NELUG had a few firsts over the weekend at the Great Train Expo in Hartford, CT. This was our first show of the year, as well as being our first time showing in Connecticut. This was also the first train show for a couple of our members, as well as first showings for some of our new buildings and trains. Member turn out was great, averaging somewhere between seven to ten members at any given time. The crowd was enthusiastic, including some of the more "serious" model railroaders, who found our attention to detail to be almost more than they could imagine.

Some of the more notable scenes of the weekend included a rooftop concert by Spinal Tap, some credit-card loving vikings, and a somewhat embarrassed Batman. Not to be outdone by their modern film counterparts, the crew of the silent movie "Barney Oldfield's Race for a Life" were on hand to re-enact the famous woman-tied-to-the-tracks scene. Thomas the Tank Engine, who was a big hit with the kids, could be seen circling the track with some other famous locomotives, including a CSX, a Vermont Railways, and a Santa Fe. We also had an appearance of one of LEGO's new battery powered trains, which was a lot of fun for members to play with.

Photos of the show can be found in our Media Gallery.

After nearly two and a half years of effort, NELUG is very pleased to announce the completion of the Millyard Project! On Wednesday, November 29, 2006 approximately 100 people attended the official dedication of the LEGO Millyard Project at the SEE Science Center in Manchester, NH.  VIPs in attendance included the two main benefactors of the project, Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway and founder of the SEE Science Center, and Kjeld Kristiansen, owner of The LEGO Company, who flew all the way from Denmark just for the ceremony.  The ceremony, hosted by SEE’s Douglas Heuser, started with short speeches from our two good friends, LEGO Master Designers, Steve Gerling and Erik Varszegi along with our own Joe Comeau.  In addition to speeches from Dean and Kjeld, both the Governor of New Hampshire and the Mayor of Manchester also said a few words. There were about 20 NELUG members present who Kjeld readily greeted upon his arrival.

Everyone in attendance, including many long time TLC employees and Kjeld himself, were truly excited and amazed at the size, complexity and sophistication of the models in the display.

There was an incredible amount of effort put in over the last two and a half years, but nothing as intense as the five days preceding the ceremony. Erik and Steve worked virtually non-stop along with 10 NELUGers who burned more than the midnight oil to help out.  Working 16 hour days, the team completed an amazing amount of building to bring the LEGO Millyard to life.  The Kennard and Old Courthouse were finally brought to the deck and Pine Island Park was assembled which included a Ferris Wheel, roller coaster, carousel, swan boats, roller skating rink, bathhouse and so much more. The magnificent Notre Dame Bridge was also erected and extends right off the main deck right near the amazing cut-a-way of the Jefferson Mill, complete with a vast array of textile equipment. In addition to all of this, hundreds of carts and thousands of mini figs were placed throughout the nearly 2200 square foot display to give it the vibrancy of a bustling city.

Please visit our media gallery to see pictures of this amazing display by clicking on the photo accompanying this story and feel free to visit the SEE Science Center to see the real thing - even after seeing the pictures you will be amazed!

Millyard Project Progresses as Completion Nears

Members of NELUG gathered at the SEE Science Center in Manchester, NH to participate in the latest building event, Phase VIII, held on Nov. 11-12, 2006.  Building concentrated on the completion of several buildings that were partially done either during the last Phase or in the interim at The LEGO Company in Enfield, CT.  Building focused on completion of the old Courthouse, the Cigar Factory, more canal buildings, an entrance to the Millyard where workers would enter and leave from, various rides and amusements for the Pine Island Park, machinery for the Jefferson Building (done as a cut-out to see the inside of one of the mills), and lots of carriages and horse drawn wagons.

The Millyard exhibit, a scale replica of the mill buildings along the Merrimack River and adjacent parts of Manchester, NH around 1900, is a 22’x95’ permanent display built entirely out of LEGO bricks.  “The Deck”, as the exhibit where the LEGO buildings are placed is called, has come a long way since we first began working on this project over 2 years ago.  Most of the space on the deck now has something on it, and with the trains running and it fully painted we are ready for a final surge of activity to complete the project.  Two new additions to the exhibit are a platform where visitors can get up higher to get a better view of the display, and a wide screen TV to see the camera display from the train as it travels through the Millyard.  All of this is in preparation for the official dedication on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2006.  We’re almost done, but we have so much left to do!

For the seventh year in a row NELUG has displayed a layout at the Great Train Expo (formerly Greenberg train and toy show) in Wilmington MA. As has been the case for the past couple of years we once again had our largest layout ever at 13'x26'.

This layout had 4 operating loops on the tables, another loop operating as a subway line, and our longest run of Monorail track seen to date. The amusement park has continued to grow and remains a strong focal point of the layout. The inner city while smaller included a river and one of our best town/residential sections.

The show itself appeared to be quite the success with more attendees than we could remember seeing for several years. There was even a vender selling significant amounts of LEGO for the first time including 9v train accessories.

From a club perspective setup was pretty intensive and brought us to our limits. We probably won't expand the layout significantly again until we become comfortable with this layout and have more help during setup. We also kept pace in being one of the quickest to clear out at the end of the show in less than 2 hours.

Our outside loop was bumped and derailed several times and one boxcar fell to the floor (twice) and needs a bit of repair. Thankfully it is LEGO so repairs should be relatively easy.

Please visit our gallery for the layout by clicking on the image in this article.