acksonville is our long-haul show (though someone is trying to get us to Savanna now). For “build day”, it’s out the door by 8am, on site by 11am, and build our line. And this time, build and take-down, we were a bit short staffed (by “a bit”, I mean the wives got pressed into service). But build it we did.

Down on the docks (Jane R)

After that, a couple of us took off for our tour of Jaxport (arranged by our own Mr. Terry – thanks for that). Great ride through the facility, and if you think it was only shipping containers, you are mistaken. Cars, scrap, exports, raw materials, and the direct travel line to Puerto Rico all come through here. They are even involved in warehousing and distribution. And it was interesting to hear our guide speak about all the competition between ports for business. Any time you tour a facility, from airports to rail yards to cement plants to botanical gardens, you learn so much.

As for the hotel, lesson learned – we need to get dinner by 5pm (not 6pm) since that gets us out well before karaoke starts.

As for the show, well, this is going to be tough. I had my back to it virtually the entire day, working the switching puzzle. I was gratified to see the Zach and some of the others came out for the day (and knowing how early the launch window was (and how Zach isn’t a morning person)) I must admit impression. Really, I only got a glance and saw that we had a good balance of traffic through the show until close-out. And when I’d get small kids who were really too young for the puzzle, I’d take them over to the layout where there was always someone who’d conduct for them.

One of my very enthusiastic switchmen. As with most of the players, hints were provided.

Highballing through Jim’s cornfields.

The T-Trak boys were up as well, with Rev Jim’s module (to me) one of the finest modeled sectionals in the mix. I really didn’t get a chance to watch the trains pace around the layout (hey, ours is still more interestingly sceniced – that’s just the truth. Our gentle bends and scenery tricks, and our vast forests and high builds, always delight the crowd (it’s why the show organizers pay us)). But they did attract people and, more importantly, provide people with the idea that they can build their own small little piece and bring it to shows and find themselves gatewayed into this great hobby of ours.

Take-down was a bit of a chore – a lot of people drifted off, leaving us dependent on wife-labor again. This caused a couple of ripple effects – Trucker Jeff was busy dropping the connections and couldn’t get out to hook his truck until the loading dock was jammed. And this meant we lost about a half-hour until we could get him close enough for the load. Even then, four of us had to “flag” him backwards about two hundred yards so he could get a straight run at the gate. And that was it for the show.

Following that, I walked all the way back to the center, found my wife, walked with her all the way to the front of the building, got in the car, was told she needed to pee, waited some more, and finally got on the road. And even with that, we passed EastPort somewhere around St. Augustine (known locally as “JimLand”). And now I see why Jim isn’t at the club every night. Long haul, especially after a long show.

But we had a good turnout and the layout (other than one dislodged throwbar which we fixed onsite) ran well. We did accidentally gap the layout – we need to be more watchful in future (of course, short-handed as we were, its just enough to get everything up and running). But great show and a great effort.

Still laughing – one of the First Coast guys requested that we “break down slower” since they feel bad when we zip-zip into racks and roll right out. They were still trying to get their transport to the door while we broke out for I-95.

Great effort to all who worked it.

>>>BOOKS, PERFECT FOR THE HOTEL ROOM<<<

All photos unless otherwise noted credited to Jim M

Another train rolling out of North Jacksonville, bound for Folkston and beyond.

The southbound Floridian makes a stop at JAX. A number of people commented on this scene.