Hi, I thought I remembered seeing a thread (with pics) about making a Working Drive-In Movie But I can’t seem to find it. Does anyone else remember it? Or was it just a dream I had ? :>) Thanks! George
I’ve seen a drive in theater in the Walthers flyers, but can’t find it now. Remember it said Drive In across the back of the screen. Was thinking I had seen one that showed movies.
I did a search to the right on this page, MOVIE. On the 3rd page was a thread titled “Nice To Be Back” by Hazma9, dated 1-11-2008. He used a 9" LCD screen with a player under the table. No photos in that one though.
Sorry, I don’t know how to send you to the thread directly. Maybe someday I’ll learn.
Good luck,
http://cs.trains.com/trccs/forums/p/122444/1392838.aspx#1392838
Is this the thread? Also, back in the May 2002 issue of Model Railroader, they reviewed a working drive in theatre made by Miller Engineering. However, it doesn’t show up on their curent website.
We have one on the modular layout, it always draws a lot of attention. And if you look closely there’s a guy up in one of the pine trees chopping out the top so the people in the mobile home park across from the drive-in can see the screen. It’s the Miller one with the LCD screen, we have a DVD player on a shelf underneath to feed it.
Somewhere in my collection of old MR’s there’s an article on using a rear projection screen flat on the tabletop and a mirror in the vertical drive-in screen to play super-8 movies (that alone should give you an idea of how old the article is).
–Randy
Hi, thanks for the info. I emailed Hazmat to see if we could chat. George
I remember Walthers carried that Miller working drive-in. IIR, it was a bit pricey. MR qand RMC have had suggestions on using small screen pocket TVs connected to VCRs and DVD players. I also seem to recall a suggestion that showed a couple carefully arranged mirrors to reflect a somewhat larger portable TV from under the layout onto a screen on the layout surface.
Drive-ins aren’t dead. In fact, there is a two-screen drive-in in North Ridgeville, Ohio that still opens in the summers.
I have seen people use a portable DVD player as a screen before. The screen is a little thick, but if you disguise it well, it will work.
I read an article that some abandoned drive-ins are starting to open up again. I remember going to one in the '90s and watching the movie Twister in a thunderstorm.
There is the Admiral Twin in Tulsa, OK that is open every weekend from April to September. It has two screens that are back to back. Of course both screens are double features. Together, they hold about 450 cars and they both are packed every Friday and Saturday night.
I just finished up one that uses a portable DVD screen with a homemade outer shell to cover it. I built the speaker stands that each light up blue and contain speakers which are mounted on the cars. I built a projection booth and rigged up a welder flash to simulate the projector flash. I also built a concession and a playground area. Lastly, I surrounded the Drive In with a tall hedge to prevent outsiders from looking in, although I have a nearby hilltop with people that watch the movie from there. I covered the ground with light ballast to simulate the gravel and glued in wooden dowels to simulate the parking humps. I wired the portable DVD player to a DVD/VCR combo in my control area so I can run movies from there. The screen is a 9 inch which is pretty close to the real thing. I mentioned in a post a week or so ago that I hopefully would post some pics soon (when I figure it out how to upload them). Meantime if you’re interested and you don’t want to build one, I might be able to build one up for you (I used to have a side biz building ho scale carnival rides) or I’d be more than happy to help you out building yours. Contact me at hazmat9@hotmail.com.
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I remember going to that drive in all the time as a teenager, with a continuous stream of Conrail trains passing by, At the time I thought they were annoying. Now I’d face the truck to the tracks.
I recall seeing a commercial (Verizon IIRC) with a phone that had a projecter on it. They showed the guy projecting some movie trailer on the wall and I thought-why would anyone need something like this?[%-)] Guess I know now, use it for an HO drive in movie projecter. The phone should easily fit into a concession stand building and the screen could be exactly that, just a screen with nothing to hide
If your drive-in is correct period wise, I’d forget the LCD screen approach and go for a hidden 8 mm projector and old 8 mm footage. That flickering light image just can’t be obtained on an LCD screen. Just think how neat that light emanating from a projector would look during night operations. Of course it would take one heck of a large snack bar and projection booth.[swg] Roy (who still has an old 8 mm projector for some reason)
Dell and a few others make micro-projectors that use an LED bulb. I’m not sure how small an image you can get with it. They run around $300.
Have you thought of visiting a “graveyard of the rusted automobiles” and finding one of those minivans with TV screens for the kids in the back? I think that screen would be about the right size, and it would probably just need 12V DC and an audio feed.
Nothing says the projector has to be in the same plane as the scenery. This would also apply to the micro LCD projectors mentioned above (which if it didn’t compromise ventilation could be vertical with a 45degree mirror).
The 3M MPro110 (which goes for about $150) can project an image as small as 6 inches from a distance of about 9.5 inches. The image has been described as “bland” but for the use intended that might not be a bad thing.
Well,I was the guy who started the post about a working drive in movie last year.
How I plan on doing it-I have the main two items,btw-is use a portable 7"DVD Player and the now discontinued Light Works USA Drive In Theater sign.
A few miles south of Dallas,there’s the Galaxy Drive In Theater in Ennis.
I have a working Drive - in on my layout. I have been rebuilding my layout and just got the drive in working last night. I am using a portable dvd player and a 7" screen . I bought , I believe , the Blair line Drive -in kit and built it around the screen. Yes it does not have the " flickering" but it looks pretty good. I will be taking pictures in the next couple of days of what I have done as of now and post the link for you. My problem is finding or designing a small concession/ projector house. I have some Ideas and will have to scratch build one I guess.
Here are some pictures of the drive in. You can view them all at my photobucket account. 
click this thumbnail and it will take you to my photobucket page. 
http://s806.photobucket.com/albums/yy347/ericsauto/The%20new%20drive%20-in%20may%202010/
Thanks for the photos! Model Power makes a small Power Station that might work as a Projection Booth/ Concession Stand. George
That is a good idea . I did buy this kit by bachman “Drive in Hamburger Stand Kit HO” . I think I can kitbash it and make it work. I also download some old Drive-In ads from here - ------ http://www.archive.org/details/Drive-inIntermission23 ----------- I then burned them to a dvd and play them when people come over. It gives you that old " Flickering" look, pretty cool. I have to give my wife the credit on this, she came up with the Drive-In idea.
You need a copy of The Great Locomotive Chase or Emperor of the North to show at the Drive-In. It would be even better to break into the movie and insert some of those tacky animated snack-bar ads.
There’s a working Drive-In in Wellfleet, MA, that we go to if we’re spending time on Cape Cod. They still have those snack-bar ads, which I regard as superb “modeling of the Transition Era,” because they are so faithful to the original. This Drive-In is really a step back in time, except for the sound systems. They do still have some spots with the old sound box units, but I really like the new technology of a short-range FM broadcast system that you listen to with your car radio.