+1 although I counted five S layouts--totally out of proportion to our numbers.
I thought S put on a hell of a good show. The guys from Boise were really a
great bunch to talk to and were having a lot of fun showing off their layout.
The NASG clinics were merged with the NMRA's. Again, we were represented far
beyond our numbers, so kudos to all the guys who conducted them.
The layout tour was great. Ed L.'s layout is in a high stage of completion and
features some spectacular scenary and scratch-built structures. The Harper
Valley, while small, has a large loco roster, all of which ran well and had
been expertly painted. It too features many scratch-built structures. Arden's
UP layout is, like the UP itself, ginormous. The trip down via Amtrak and BART
was flawless. Unfortunately, the AC on the bus began dying by the time we got
to Arden's layout. Fortunately, Dan and Claude offered to drive me and my
father the rest of the way back to Sacramento in AC luxury.
The only real disappointment with the convention was the S Scale "Vendor Hall/
Swap Meet," which was more like a small bedroom:) Only five vendors or so. For
the first time, I left the NASG convention without spending a dime on trains!
Needless to say, my family was stunned.
Des Plaines was also showing their Mather '40 box. Ron sez he'll offer it in
kit form with decals for four roads. It looked really good, and I'd just as
soon have it in kit form rather than factory P &L.
Ed L. passed around test shots of the new convention gondola, which will be a
one-piece casting. It looked good although the test shot exhibited some
warping, which Ed sez will be taken care of by production time. The dreadnaught
ends (inside and out) looked particularly fine.
The tour of Espee's old backshops was one of the best shop tours I've ever been
on. That may have been due to the fact that the shops are extremely historic
(right up there with Juniata). One of the buildings dates from 1868, the only
sturucture left from when the Transcontinental railroad was being built. All of
the beams are made out of redwood.
All in all, a memorable convention.
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