TexLUG’s display at the Healthy Baby and Child Expo in Houston was a good success (see more info and pics here). Our modular tables (based on the MichLUG design) made their debut and worked quite well.

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It was very nice to have a flat, level surface (roughly matching LEGO dimensions) to set our stuff on.

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Finally… I have taken photos of my train work I’ve been messing around with two things. The first is an 8-wide bogie for freight cars.

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I did a lot of test runs at the HBCE show, and the fatal flaw in the design is that the outsides of the bogie fall off. Their attachment to the inner frame is a little weak, and that’s something I’ll revise.

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My other train work has been on a compact, powered bogie. This design will be useful to make a powered (using LEGO’s Power Functions parts) boxcar or perhaps a tender for a steam engine.

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It’s problem is that the whole assembly torques to one side when running. This presents a problem when running through switches. I’ll work on debugging this design.

I’m making the switch to using PF trains and getting away from the old 9V system. One of my old 9V motors died recently, and it’s just the push I needed to move to PF. Aside from that, I’m really attracted to making PF trains because I get to design and build the drive systems. That’s Technic-related stuff and that’s what I enjoy.

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And finally we have Project X.

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More about that later

We’re already in the back-half of January 2010 and I honestly don’t know where time has gone. It almost makes a whooshing sound as it flies by.

My older son has been building a lot in the past several months. He’s built many small sets and has also started to use his imagination to make his own MOCs.

It’s been a lot of fun watching him build and play. A lot of my “LEGO time” is just being with him and helping him when he needs it.

So what’s new?

The complete Memorial Hermann tower model is pictured below. Sometime later, when they get the model in its permanent display, I’ll visit it to take my own photos.

I’ve been helping out our LUG (TexLUG) to build modular train tables. Here are some photos from Tony Sava.

I continue to tinker with PF trains and making powered bogies. I don’t think I’ve mentioned it before here, but I’ve been wanting to “upgrade” my existing trains to PF, and I’m experimenting with various wheel and gear arrangements to find something that works smoothly and is durable.

My crane project sits idle. I disassembled the base and plan on building a new turntable. Rather, I need to finish the design that I came up with last year.

I’ve not yet disassembled the 10+ foot long arched truss bridge I built last year. I’ve decided to re-use it for an upcoming TexLUG event in March. But I’m going to widen the bridge by 8 studs to make passage of TexLUG’s monster-wide trains possible

I think that’s it for the to-do list. Oh wait, there’s the white tower crane project as well….

So many ideas… too little time