Any word about the recent 29th Annual Narrow Gauge Convention?

Cordially,

Dennis

I, too, would be interested in hearing reports from those who may have been fortunate enough to attend.

Let's save our schekles plan to meet in St. Louis next year. What a great central location.

Al

quote:

Originally posted by AL CLAIR:
Let's save our schekles plan to meet in St. Louis next year. What a great central location.

Al

Al,

You got me!

I couldn't find the definition of "schekles" in the onlene Webster's Dictionary....

Cordially,

Dennis

Well, I must admit I mispelled SHEKEL, a Hebrew coin of about 1/2 ounce of silver. Sorry.
Al

I'll even bring along some Shekels I still have from my visit to Jerusalem about 35 years ago! Besides, it's a great opportunity to visit my daughter and her husband.

Jim

quote:

Originally posted by AL CLAIR:
Well, I must admit I mispelled SHEKEL, a Hebrew coin of about 1/2 ounce of silver. Sorry.
Al

Al:

....I shoulda figured that out!! I was thinking it was a railroad term, and was not even in the correct linguistic area.

Cordially,

Dennis

My wife and I attended the 29th NG convention, our first. I'm fairly new to NG and have not been an active modeler for many years so my impressions have to be taken from that standpoint. I (we?) was quite impressed by what I saw and felt like a kid in a candy store. I had no burning questions to ask manufacturers or shopping list to fill...it was let's see what this is like and enjoy ourselves.

The convention was well organized and ran on time. Vendors set up in two rooms and along a long hallway on the south side of the hotel. There were many tables of wonderful models, structures, parts, details, scenery items, etc. I think most of the major suppliers were represented. I was particularly interested in seeing O scale structures that I could use. Looking at a photograph on a web page or in a catalog is a poor substitute for seeing the real item. I made a mental note (and photographed) the ones I thought would fit my era and locale; they were all wonderful and some were simply stunning in their detailing, weathering and realism.

Locomotives and rolling stock represented scales from HOn3 to 1:20.3. I really love these big trains (even more than On3) but alas, our winters are too long and severe for a garden railroad. Bachmann and AMS had large displays showcasing their pieces of equipment. Other companies were there too but I was attracted to these the most.

Several demonstration railroads, HOn3 and On3, were set up and running in the lobby, hallway and one of the vendor rooms. They were beautifully detailed and gave me some ideas for my own railroad. I failed to write down the names of these...sorry, so you'll have to wait for coverage by the hobby magazines.

There were many clinics given each day, three hours in the morning and three hours in the evening. Most were repeated to give one a second opportunity to attend in case of a schedule conflict. The four clinic rooms were fairly small (perhaps typical) so seating was somewhat limited but allowed a good view of the presentation. There was a wide variety of subjects related to NG, history and modeling techniques...something for everyone.

I failed to attend the contest room (my fault) because I did not look at the conventions schedule closely. When I realized my mistake, it was already closed and the models had been removed by their owners. I'll have to see the winners in the magazines.

Layout tours ran from 1 to 5 PM each afternoon. These were grouped into three locations, south of, north of Colorado Springs and local. The convention handouts gave a brief description of each and map to find them. These varied from small to club-size layouts in HO, HOn3, On30, On3 and garden railroads. My favorite was a beautiful On3 layout west of Pueblo. I took my Tom Tom GPS navigation system to find my way around town and to the layouts...it was invaluable. The tours were well attended and most layouts were open for two days.

On Friday, my wife and I took a day off from the convention to visit the Air Force Academy where the son of a family friend is a cadet. We visited its distinctive chapel (it's even prettier inside) and watched 4300 cadets in their Friday noon formation and march off to lunch as an Air Force band played...really impressive! Then we visited the Colorado Mining Museum to see how gold mining was conducted. The museum had lots of period equipment to demonstrate the tools and techniques used back then...very dangerous conditions and extremely hard work.

On Saturday morning, we returned to the convention for one last look and I purchased a Crystal River NG water tower (beautiful model). With the exception of brief rain on Wednesday afternoon, the weather was perfect, Colorado Springs looked lovely (and prosperous) and everyone was very friendly and helpful. I was impressed by the number of foreign visitors as indicated by their name tags and accents. These are real die-hard NG fans since it takes some serous money and time to travel internationally. I'd say the convention was a big success and I'm looking forward to next year's in St. Louis (practically in my backyard...only five hours away).

I took many photos and may post some later when I get time. Who else attended and what are your impressions?

Paul S

Paul,

Thanks for the excellent report. Sounds like you had a wonderful time!

Cordially,

Dennis

My thanks to you, Paul, for a fine report. I really wish I could have been there this time, but I'll make it a point to be at a future convention--and definitely at the one in North Carolina since I have relatives in Charlotte and can make it a dual-purpose journey.

Paul, thanks for the report. What was the theme of the On3 layout you liked?

Michael

Paul,

Thanks for the interesting report. Four of my friends from Sarasota attended and they have already reported back (just to make me extra jealous and to rag me for having withdrawn my clinic). The Colorado NGC's are always winners but I thought the Portland, Maine, meeting was exceptional, as well. I look forward to the St Lous meeting ... I am becoming more and more convinced that I have to get there by hook or crook.

There is quite an extensive string from many of the people attending the Colorado Springs NGC at

www.kitforums.com/viewtopic.ph...8dec507c33554a1acb5b

with all kinds of pictures, etc.


Jim

Thanks for the link, Jim. I'm REALLY sorry I missed seeing the contest models now!

Paul S

Jim,
Have you considered going by kayak?
How is the performance of your 10 wheeler, and which model did you get?
Al

Al,

Yeah, well ... the best laid plans of mice and men ...

The ten-wheeler is still performing in the box. My daughter and her husband showed up for a visit ... so the ten-wheeler will have to wait for another weekend. That's the nice thing about all of this ... it's just a hobby ... next week, the ten-wheeler will still be there ready to go. I want to do some lettering and light weathering and see if I can add my custom-created builder's plate to the boiler before the grand unveiling.

I have a bit of a teaser coming tomorrow or Thursday on that other project I have been working over.

Jim

Jim,
you know the routine,
God,
Country
Family
Trains
You made a wise decision.
Al

I'm posting photos I took of the beautiful "Monero, Gato & Northern RR" built by Mr. Lance Hill in Pueblo West, Colorado. Mr. Hill's layout was on the convention layout tour and is my personal favorite. It uses hand laid, code 83 and 70 track and has very impressive scenery and 50 structures. I thought Mr. Hill captured the essence of a small town in southern Colorado or New Mexico in the 1940s very well. The layout is 15' x 23' using way freights with lots of switching. It seems larger than this when you see it and would be great fun to operate.

Paul S

Great pics Paul. Is this layout ON3 or ON30? It looks like one to be proud of and one I could be very happy to have.
Thanks for the good work Paul.
Al

Thanks, Al. It's On3. Mr. Hill's wide spacing of yard tracks and structures looks very realistic to me like you'd see in small western towns that had few people and lots of real estate. His use of stub yard tracks and a peninsula allows lots of track for industry and storage. The three-stall engine house, turntable, locomotives and junk makes a powerful first impression when you walk into the room. As you proceed around the layout, there are groups of structures and scenery that form small scenes, yet it all relates together very nicely...a fine, professional effect. I didn't get a chance to talk with Mr. Hill but I'll bet this is not his first layout. It looks like lots of good ideas and experience were used here. I believe he was running the layout with NCE DCC. The engines had sound.

Paul S

Bedtime has come around so sleep well.
Al

Paul,

Thanks for the layout tour ... always great to see a layout that reminds me of home.

JIm

Thanks for the tour.

Al, I'll bet that it was the On30->On3 conversions that tricked you, eh?

I approve of his proper trestle bent construction. The tie/rail relationship is a little rough in spots...something I only notice because of my own deficiencies in that area! Generally a fine layout. I can pick out his new Rolling stock since he hasn't yet weathered it...must be the big push for the convention!

It looks to me like his 0-6-0t is a conversion in progress. Pretty cool imo. I like how he's placed is works-in-progress around his engine house...rather than on his workbench.

Michael

Here are more photos of some of the demo railroads at the convention. This first one is an On3, dog-bone shaped layout in the hotel lobby. It caught my attention after walking through the doors. I'm embarrassed to say I did not write down the names of these layouts or their owners. Considerable time and resources were invested in them and I'm sorry I can't give them their credit here.

Paul S











Here is a Nn3 railroad:





I felt this HOn3 logging themed layout was the best one at the show. The owners are from California...wonderfully done with lots of details.

Excellent photos, Paul! Thanks for posting them. I wouldn't mind featuring that On30 pike in the magazine at some point

Paul:

Thanks for the excellent photos! They remind me of the exquisite photos from the pages of a beautiful hobby craftsman magazine that largely stopped circulation several years ago. [unfortunately, I can't remember the name, but, I largely purchased the magazine for the photos!]

Cordially,

Dennis

Thanks, guys. There were many people at the convention and on the tours taking photos. These are much better "record keepers" than our old and sometimes faulty memories. I'm sure many attendees got good ideas for their own railroads...I certainly did. My wife enjoyed seeing the layouts and vendors' products, especially the structures, and she has a very critical eye (more than me).

As a gesture to her, we spent Friday at the AF Academy, mining museum and a drive to Cripple Creek. The aspens were turning above 9000 feet, a beautiful sight for us Midwesterners.

Paul S

Thanks Paul for steering me toward this forum, and showing these pics. The convention was a lot of fun! Here are some pics I took.

Tim,

Welcome to The Forum!

Thanks also for the beautiful photo!

Cordially,

Dennis

Thank you, and I now have several pics up.

Tim, good to have you aboard. You really posted some great pics, many of them are really inspirational.
Glad you are not to far away, I think you are the first from Oklahoma.
Al