tiny life.

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This morning I made the daring drive to the North Shore to attend the App Jam Educator Information Session.  I didn't even get lost!  (Sadly, the same is not true for my return trip, but alas...)  The App Jam is a part of the Mobile App Lab (MAL) an after school program that introduces students to programming apps for Android phones using Processing, an open-source programming language that uses Java.

The App Jam itself is open to all students who participated in the  Mobile App Lab during the 2012- 2013 school year.  Using the skills they have developed at MAL the students spend a day creating and designing an app that corresponds to an exhibit at the Carnegie Science Center.  To achieve this they must visit the exhibits themselves, talk to exhibit staff, and observe how visitors interact with the exhibit.  Throughout the day the students have the opportunity to talk with industry experts from companies such as Schell Games and Google Pittsburgh.  It's times like these, and only at times like these, I wish I was back in high school.  What amazing opportunities kids have!

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Let me tell you, at this point in the day, I was already pretty excited.  I mean, Science Center, technology, programming, what more could a girl ask for?   Little did I know it was about to get so much better.

Seeing double!
As I was preparing to leave the Science Center I passed the Miniature Railroad and Village.  I decided I couldn't leave without taking a photo with everyone's favorite cutout, Conductor Mike.  As I headed towards the exhibit, I began to see double! There was Conductor Mike, in the flesh, sharing the history behind the miniature village to a wee visitor.

After the little one and his mum ventured off to the robot exhibit in the adjacent room, Conductor Mike offered to give me his tour of the railroad.  Not only is the miniature railroad a creative marvel, it is also a lesson in Western Pennsylvania history.

Conductor Mike has been personally volunteering at the miniature railroad for twenty-six years, but it has been a Pittsburgh staple since 1920 when Mr. Charles Bowdish originally created it as a holiday display in his house. There is even a miniature of Mr. Bowdish's home in the village, complete with revelers lined up outside waiting to catch a glimpse of his miniature marvel.  Talk about meta! In 1954 it moved to the Buhl Planetarium as a holiday display and then in 1992 it found it's current, year-long, home on the second floor of the Carnegie Science Center.

Perhaps most fascinating is the exhibits 105 animations.  There are men bathing in tubs, women beating rugs, and a young lady happily swinging in a tree.  Towards the back of the room, by the Control Center, are two plexiglass boxes that allow visitors to see how the miniatures are animated.  They are simply cogs that when rotated either directly move the miniature or in some cases, as the cogs rotate they catch a bar connected to the miniature and make it move at intervals.  I know I did a poor job of explaining that, but that's precisely how the tiny man chopping wood below works.

I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay.
I am also plastic so it's pretty weird that I'm singing.
Not far from the Control Center is one a tiny version of one of my favorite local landmarks, Forbes Field.  As a former resident of Oakland I often found myself taking friends on guided walking tours of the neighborhood and Forbes Field was always on the must-see list.  Now it isn't much to look at.  Due to years of development just a few walls remain along with a recreation of three of it's beautiful arched-entry gates.  Oddly, the miniature field really brings a new sense of grandiose scale to the field.  

Conductor Mike pointed out a unique feature of the field, one I am certain the original never had: The crowd is composed entirely of 23,000 painted cotton-swabs!  The workers at the miniature railroad got the idea after a traveling exhibit about special effects in movies came to the Science Center.  Turns out a similar effect was used for some crowd scenes in the blockbuster film, Gladiator. 

There's all types of creative wizardry like that in the village.  Every figure is placed just so.  The trees are real plants, wild hydrangea carefully dried upside-down in the miniature workshop then wrapped with wire and painted.  As I previously mentioned there are animations, some of them are obvious such as barges floating down the river, others are incredibly subtle, such as a horse swishing his tail to keep the flies off or a woman inside a house pacing back and forth trying to get her little one to sleep.  

 Oh yes, you can look inside some of the houses and find extra treats!  One of these homes brought forth the feels in full force, Mr. Roger's house, complete with Mr. McFeely walking away after delivering the post.  If you dare to peak inside, you can see the man himself, Mr. Rogers, complete with traffic light and fish tank.  If you're lucky, you may even see the real Mr. McFeely, or at least the man who played him on TV.  Every December the Science Center holds a Breakfast Express where patrons can come eat breakfast at the Science Center and are treated to  a viewing of the Polar Express on the big screen.  There is always a special guest and it is quite often Mr. McFeely
This, my friends, is a post for another day.

There is so much more to this exhibit and I strongly encourage you to go visit it.  It's all so small and yet there is so much that you will always find something you never noticed before.  Be sure to say hello to Conductor Mike while you're there and if you ask I am sure he will impart some of his knowledge of Western Pennsylvania and the creation of the miniatures upon you.

If you do see Conductor Mike, be sure to ask him about the barge floating down the river with a house on it!  People do crazy things!

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