Plant City 2012 Display

As is the usual, GFLUG will have a laid back multi-loop train display at Plant City, as has been for about 10 years now. Where has the time gone?

The HBPRRHS has had train shows for a long time now, 21 years now and counting. I have been to three shows, the 2007, 2008, and 2010 ones. 2007 was more of a bad try at a day outing; the weather sucked, I was tired out, and everyone wasn't in the best of moods. 2008 was a much happier event and I got to enjoy it to its fullest, also getting my second CSX video. In 2010, things were a carbon copy of 2008 except I got a rarer-than-ever S604 in Lakeland on tape; as usual I got to run the trains and have camaraderie with many railfans and people my age (more so people my age), except the train pickings were awfully low and Paul Mathis of the SFRM said so. 2012 is here, around the corner, and I expect a blast out of it.

Why you ask? I am going for it. I have just sent a proposal asking to make the GFLUG the first ever operating layout to display a model of the historic Plant City Depot! N-scale diorama? Nope. HO-scale diorama? Wrong area. LEGO? Can do... and I will hopefully make it happen.

In my end the trip is in the planning stages, but it was promised. My folk said either this or Railwatch, and for this I will be honored to do this.

This thing can do it... it can make the papers again! The big icon of Plant City is indeed the station downtown and I am sure the staff will go bananas seeing it in the brick. It'll even be a cooler touch installing this section right up on a curve, just like the real deal.

Hopefully I get a yes, and for this continuous publicity, I believe there is no reason for them to say no. If I can do whatever is needed to get this done, I should be all set.

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Should this get approved, the trip will be carried out in two days;
Friday we rent the car in the early A.M. (7 am), depart 9 am, arrive at the setup 2:20 pm. (2007 I left 8:30 am and arrived 1:30 pm). I believe setup is until 6(?) so I can deviate for one train or two.
I'd probably railfan Lakeland-Plant City from 4-7 and move up to Orlando and sleep well for the night.
Saturday, be up 7:30 am and leave for the show 9:00 am, as always, hopefully unlike 2011 no big jam that holds me up well. Perhaps this time we'll scout a Mickey D's in Haines City to save time.
We'd arrive around 11 am and hang around until 3, catching any necessary and proper train (ie. T081 or the like) in this frame, leave the show at 4 after tearing down, and head to the LEGO store after some railfanning.

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The section being proposed is the depot as seen in Flickr. 3x1.5 BP.
Should I have to fill a half a baseplate, it will be for parking. Should it be 4 and a half, to fit a 6x3 area, it will be parking on the south/north and Reynolds St. on the north. Perhaps I'll begin adding the old cars for the big old car convention every 3rd Saturday (mentioned on the article).

Funny how Biz said that I am recreating a Firestone Pizza, I only mean that I am building the very not-so-flattering Firestone Complete Car Care!