|
The HUB Modular Railroad Group is very active, frequently displaying its HO modular layout throughout the
year at shows and events held around Massachusetts. These include the Norwood Days Festival in September,
the twice-a-year Greenberg Show at Shriner's Auditorium in Wilmington, Children's Hospital in Boston,
the Amherst Railway Society's Big Railroad Hobby Show at the Big E Fairgrounds in West Springfield in January,
the National Heritage Museum in Lexington in December, and our own HUB-sponsored New England Model Train EXPO
in Marlborough, also in December, plus many others.
On occasion, we venture much further. Our layout has been to other New England states, National NMRA shows in
Detroit MI, Hartford CT, and Toronto, Canada, and even to international shows overseas in the Netherlands and
(last year) Germany. In May 2010, we will be traveling to New Brunswick, Canada for a regional show.
Membership
If you are a HUB Division member, then you are automatically a member of the Modular Railroad Group, if you
are interested. There are no separate dues, and you do not need to have your own module. All you need
to do in order to become an active member of the group is to get involved, whether that is helping with setup or
teardown, or offering your own module (if you have one) to be part of the railroad for a show or two, or
simply coming to a show with a train to run.
The Layout
The modules are 2'x4' in size and built to HUB/NMRA specifications. The layout varies from show-to-show,
depending on available space and the modules to be used. Generally, it is configured as a large rectangular
design, with a double track main line, a 16' staging yard within the rectangle, and a 16' yard along the
main lines for train assembly and switching activities
(example). The layout
configuration for smaller venues is linear with turnback modules at either end and no staging yard
(example). The
largest configuration requires a lot of space and is usually only seen at the Amherst show
in W. Springfield. In addition to the large rectangle design, we add a linear branch line and connect the
two with an interchange module, making the whole thing 52'x33'
(big one).
The layout is powered and controlled using DCC and Lenz equipment. The Modular Group owns some Lenz throttles
that are available for member use, or you can bring your own. Your locomotives do not need Lenz
decoders to work with this system, but the decoder must conform to NMRA standards (almost any commercial
decoder meets this requirement).
Contacts
Our current
Module Coordinator is Jeff Gerow,
should you want additional information or have questions not answered by this page. He is also the point of
contact if you have a module which you would like to include at our shows.
Modular Railroad Group activities are listed on the HUB
Calendar of Events page. Drop by and say hello!
Module Specifications
The
HUB Division Module Specifications are closely aligned with NMRA standards, with many pages of
construction specs and drawings. In 2009, our electrical standards were upgraded to better support newer
advances such as DCC signaling; the 4th Edition of the Specifications includes this information.
The HUB Division offers to its members a complete packaged module kit for $125. The kit has
everything you need, including all precut lumber, hardware, a complete wiring harness for the DCC and
intermodule connections, a panel jack and wire, and even roadbed and the track! A module is the perfect
solution if you do not have the space for a full-size layout or just want to experiment or learn new techniques
without commiting the time and money to a larger setup. Please contact
Mark Harlow with additional questions and to order the module kits.
|
