Southerland Station Open House, December 4 - 5, 2010
Post date: Dec 06, 2010 1:36:5 PM
TVLTC returned to Southerland Station's annual holiday open house for the third consecutive year on December 4-5, 2010. The open house - this year celebrating Southerland Station's 52nd year of business - has become something of a holiday phenomenon in Huntsville, attracting not only numerous visitors but also new exhibitors each year. TVLTC built a large town / train LEGO display, and there were also displays of vintage Erector sets, classic Lionel and American Flyer trains, and other LEGO models from themes such as Castle and Star Wars.
This year, TVLTC partnered on their display with the Magic City LEGO Users Group of Birmingham.
MCLUG members brought an impressive LEGO reproduction of the well-known Alabama Power Building from the Birmingham skyline. Complete to the last detail and several feet in height, the massive structure wowed visitors and TVLTC members alike.The famous Alabama theatre was also recreated in stunning detail, featuring ornate masonry details and a beautiful marquee advertising an annual holiday screening of White Christmas with Bing Crosby - just like the real thing.
Equally impressive were the superb modular buildings and vehicles brought by MCLUG. Visitors loved seeing the VW bus realized in brick form and marveled at the intricate arched windows on the buildings. On the TVLTC side, Charles, Master of the Monorail, returned with an impressively complicated multi-tiered monorail running some four trains at the same time. But even more impressive, perhaps, were his extensive LED lights illuminating every inch of monorail track and lots of Christmas trees. There was a great cityscape provided by Jennifer. The outdoor theater seen in July 2010 made a return, showing this time a seasonally appropriate play. Many visitors to the show correctly identified it as Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" from the scene of Scrooge with Marley's ghost.Ghosts were also to be found in a haunted castle in an amusement park by Franklin. In his firs t foray into the world of LEGO displays, Franklin also created a detailed seafood restaurant complete with lobster tank - no doubt supplied by the lobster boat that has surfaced at nearly all TVLTC shows of the years.Pete created one of the most impressive and realistic LEGO airports ever. Instead of using the stock airport runway plates, Pete created his own brick-built ones, building runways suited to the sca le of the cu rrent, large LEGO airplanes. During the show, the perimeter fence of the airport was breached by several Holstein cows; they were promptly rounded up by a squadron of Coast Guard officers dispatched to the airport in their helicopter. Anything can happen in the world of LEGO toys!The North Pole, a staple of this show since 2007, made a return this year as its own mini-layout. Jordan hopes to add the new winter-themed LEGO buildings to the layout, making it even bigger and better for next year. The current layout is a 30"x30" pizza layout - contained in a perfect circle of track.
For the final module by Kristina, there was an equestrian competition taking place, complete with dressage arena and cross-country course. The whole event was attended by many, many horses and some five horse trailers of different styles - most notably the Monster Truck with Monster Trailer. The new LED lights from LEGO were used to illuminate the headlights and the floodlights on the eventing course.In addition, Trey provided lots of trains and ensured their smooth operation, and Adam and Scott provided trains and a variety of show infrastructure items like tables and speed controllers. Thanks also to Le for his great photographs of the entire event. Lastly, thanks to everyone who chaperoned the display over the course of the weekend. Great job, everyone!Full pictures from the show are available here: