Friday, September 28, 2018

Akron Mini Maker Faire Report

Last Saturday's Model Railroad setup at the Akron Mini Maker Faire was a lot of fun and seemed to be well received by the Library and the attending crowd.

I wanted to bring model railroading to the Maker Faire because model railroading is such a multifaceted hobby that encompasses electronics, art/painting, woodworking and engineering. I also felt the Maker Fair was a place to show the hobby to an audience that was not expecting to see our display unlike going to a train and toy show.

Our display was unusual in that it was the first Ohio marriage of Free-Mo and Sipping & Switching Society module standards.  Matt Robins from the S&SS bought his branch line modules which made up about 65% of the display and the Free-Mo modules from Tim Moran and Wayne Buran made up the remainder. Our setup was about 60 feet long with a point to point track plan.

Being this was my first "show" where I was a part of a display I quickly found out its kinda like hosting a party. Nine hours later I can say it all was a blur and was over before I knew it.

In all Brendan and I had a great time and thanks again to Tim, Wayne and Matt for bringing their modules and to the Akron-Summit County Public Library's TechCenter staff for hosting the Mini Maker Faire.

Below are a few of the photos that I remembered to take.

Setup

Show opens

A NKP GP9 on a local

Full length view

Brendan running his modern stuff

Tear down time

3 comments:

  1. Hi Chris,

    This wasn't the first time S&SS and Free-mo joined forces for a layout; that was in Detroit at the 2007 National Train Show. This event was the first time in Ohio for the 2 groups to get together.
    I was glad that you and Brendan were able to "join the team" for this event!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Tim, I could only remember it was some kind of "first", glad to be a part of it!

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