2025 Hiller Trains and Planes exhibit

Last week the AsiaNrail layout was set up and running for the annual Trains and Planes exhibit at the Hiller Aviation Museum.  Peninsula Ntrak also had a layout and we had the connection to my Hot Springs Junction set up connecting the AsiaNrail layout.  In this scene is my Yufu 185 Series is on the left and Shinano 169 Series on the right.  This photo was taken on Paul's Shifin module set.

We had a few problems this time.  This was a triangular layout which has been done at least 2 times before but this time maybe some different modules were used in different places and the geometry did not quite work out.  We ended up having the staging yard with only 3 through tracks and 6 stub end tracks.  Also, we were not able to get the 4 way junction module to work correctly so the two branch lines connected to it had to be run independently and not interchange with the main loop. 

Paul's 3-way wye module was working correctly and that is what made the connection to the short branch that ran to my Hot Springs Junction Ntrak module.  Here is Paul's Ibusuki no Tamatebako train passing through the wye.  

With all the recent work I've done on the Musashi-Koyama modules in the past few months, they have a much more finished appearance.  We often don't have enough space to put up rope barriers around the layout but we did at this show.  I elected to remove the rope barriers in front of these module and instead relied my the plexiglass barriers and that worked out well.  Many a small finger print and nose print left on these barriers at the end of the exhibit.

Besides keeping busy with the AsiaNrail layout I was also able to run my E5/E6 combination for the first time on the Ntrak layout, shown here in the staging yard.  I also ran a full 11 car Yamanote line 205 series train.

This was the first show in a year that I have been able to attend with modules.  In spite of any problems we had with the layout, it was an enjoyable time.  More of the Ntrak members attended this event than had in the past and we had plenty of help with setup and tear down.  And it was great visiting with all the guys again.