LEGO® is our hobby, so it's only natural we show off what we can do at all the local hobby shows! These are some of the best opportunities we get for reaching audiences who may not think to come to a LEGO®-specific event.
We've also got more than a few train heads in MariLUG, fielding layouts that fit right in next to the HO and N scale modules. Sometimes the other modellers are more impressed by LEGO® trains than they expect – and it goes without saying that the visitors love them even more!
From Star Wars to Formula 1 to Minecraft, there were lots of diverse themes on display for the 2026 Shearwater show.
With layouts from Paul and Maurits, this show offered the perfect juxtaposition of vintage and modern trains!
Maurits got his picture in the news for this one! On which note – photo credit belongs to Saltwire!
While everyone else was at Bricksplosion, Patrick was carrying the torch of his local model train exhibition.
The show must go on!
Maurits's city, Pollocksland, and a touch of Craigellachie from Carol: that's the formula for another solid display at this long-running show.
Like two 'P's in a pod – Pollocksland and Patrick's layout at the big MFMR convention.
Check out Paul's vintage blue speed regulator!
This event turned out a little bit of everything – just right for a broad-based hobby show!
We took a new approach to the modern city layout for this show, combining Maurits's and Patrick's layouts seamlessly into one big whole.
And of course, the show wouldn't have been complete without Pollocksland as well!
Our gracious hosts said there were around 300 people at this show. Lots of smiling faces! Paul and Maurits met plenty of visitors, including many familiar faces from this show last year and from the Maritime Model Railroad community. Matt joined us on Saturday afternoon. MariLUG had two display tables alongside our DUPLO® play table.
When a train show falls near Halloween, it goes without saying that the layout has to get spooky!
Brian was a big help with this – he brought lots of creepy and pumpkin-tastic details to add to his own portion of the layout as well as all through the rest.
A pound of Pollocksland, a cup of Patrick's trains, and a pinch of Craigellachie.
Baby, you got a show goin'.
Take a close look at Patrick's layout and you might start to get a sense for how it evolves over time – this show was one of the last events before those tight corners were retired in favour of sweeping wide-radius curves.
Patrick and Trevor collaborated on the train layout for this show to make it one of the best ones MariLUG had seen in years.
And that was only part of what we had on display!
Two layouts, two eras. With Pollocksland representing the 1980s-'90s and Patrick's layout (with contributions from Nico and other MariLUG members) picking up the aughts through today, this show was like a timeline of LEGO® train history.
Our first year at this show!
Unfortunately we were so busy being train geeks we neglected to take any photos. But Pollocksland was the star attraction, so the photos from other shows with Paul's layout can give you a rough idea!
Always a great show – it's not every venue where we can get lunch without stepping foot outside the doors!
As usual, the layout was appreciated by kids of all ages.
The Saint John Society of Model Railroaders served as host for this edition of the MFMR annual convention.
The venue floor was so off-level the N-scale modellers struggled to get traction for their locomotives. Our trains had no such trouble!
We appear to have developed a pattern of forgetting to take pictures at the first year of a new train show.
Chalk it up to the excitement that comes with experiencing a new event and a new venue for the first time. It was a fun show, though!
In the wake of a global pandemic, we were eager to get back to this train show again – especially Patrick, who had been displaying at this show uninterrupted since 2009.
Paul, Trevor, and Sam also brought contributions to this display, allowing us to return with a bang!
Look at those rails right on the table... Patrick's layout has certainly come a long way since then! If the pandemic years were good for one thing, it was collecting the parts to make big improvements for 2022.
We could call this the 'green tablecloth era'. Those tablecloths are still around – where they disappeared to in 2019 will forever remain a mystery.
Patrick's big train platform would only appear in two more shows after this one. It was a cool MOC, but it was missing a train station to attach to! Perhaps a new urban train station will take its place one day...