Here is my report on the combined NMRA/NASG convention held in
Sacramento, CA last week. The usual caveats apply. This report is not
intended to be all inclusive for the entire convention.
S Scale Layout Tour. We started off early on Wednesday (7/6) with a
brief bus ride from the convention center to the Amtrak station. From
there, we enjoyed our train ride from Sacramento to Richmond (north end
of SF Bay). I am interested in modeling a petroleum refinery facility;
this portion of the trip took us through areas with good views of
prototype operations. From Richmond, we boarded a BART (Bay Area Rapid
Transit) train bound for Fremont. John Gibson did a masterful job of
keeping the tour group from getting separated during various
transportation transitions (entropy never quits!). From there, we
boarded another tour bus to take us to Los Altos and the New York
Central layout of Ed Loizeaux. I had seen pictures of his layout in
various publications over the years. I had the distinct impression that
his layout was physically larger than it really is. He has done a nice
job of integrating various scenes into his layout. I could have easily
spent a couple of more hours there absorbing all of the detailed
modeling. However, I do not envy operators who have to negotiate those
"duck-unders" (crawl-unders?) on a regular basis. Next, we visited Don
Harper's Sn3 layout. This layout demonstrated how to get some nice
modeling into a fairly small space. Finally, we were off to Lodi to see
Arden Goehring's Union Pacific layout. There are not many S scale
layouts large enough to run 30-car reefer blocks. This one can. All in
all, it was a very pleasurable tour day, despite an inefficient AC
system in the afternoon tour bus. Hey, we could have been in 95F (80
degree dew point) air, right?
S Welcoming Social. This was a pleasant soiree allowing S folk to catch
up with old friends and meet some new ones, all while enjoying a
strawberry shortcake dessert and coffee. In addition, Stephen Priest,
editor of the NMRA magazine, provided us with an overview of his company
which provides different levels of assistance in bringing commercial
modeling projects to fruition.
S Vendor Room. There was "pretty slim pickins" for the S attendees at
this convention. This situation was probably due mostly to production
snafus caused by the "Chinese situation". Doug Peck of Port Lines
Hobbies had a large display of items. Andy Malette of MLW Services was
there promoting his new CNR reefer kit. Pine Canyon Scale Models had a
display; they have been busy increasing the inventory levels of some
structure kits that have been out of production for a while. In
addition, they are looking to bring some new kits to the S market. Lee
Johnson was promoting the S X2011 convention car (SP gondola prototype).
A test shot of the car body was available for viewing...details looked
good. They are still taking orders, if interested. Several S folk were
selling off excess inventory from their personal collections. In
addition, Ron Sebastian of DesPlaines Hobbies had a booth in the
National Train Show with plenty of his S rolling stock to show off, as
well as a test shot of the SD-45 project (production schedule not yet
released).
S Model Contest. Only two models were entered in the contest...both
were bridges. There was some beautiful work in those models, especially
the operational bascule bridge. I understand why S attendees who travel
by plane or train do not bring models (severe space constraints) for the
contest. But, surely some of those who travel by car could have shared
their modeling efforts with the rest of us. There was a "display only"
option for those reticent to enter the contest.
Clinics. One major advantage to attending a joint NMRA/NASG convention
is the abundance of modeling expertise available on a wide variety of
subjects. Jamie Bothwell highlighted possibilities on adding Pullman
Service to our modeling operations. I attended a clinic focused on
repair of brass steam locos. Andy Malette gave us an overview of his
soldering techniques when building brass models. And Roger Nulton took
us through his weathering procedures for freight cars.
National Train Show. From my experience, this was a BIG train show. I
was informed that, by NMRA standards, it was not as big as usual.
Never-the-less, there was lots to see. My main goal in attending the
NTS was to replace my lost Bragdon weathering materials. I was
successful. And, there were many layouts set up for public viewing,
including 6 of the S persuasion. One of the first I viewed was the
beautiful Sn3 display layout of PBL. Both the San Diego S Gaugers and
Rocky Mountain HiRailers (Lookout Junction) set up their layouts to wow
show attendees, especially the kids. They are to be commended for their
efforts to show off S model railroading fun. For the
historically-oriented, the renovated Sibley store layout featuring all
AF products was on display. And, not to forget the scale fans, the BASS
(Bay Area S Scalers) layout featured some gorgeous SP models; the NASG
switching layout was close by. In addition, I was very impressed with
the modeling efforts displayed on an On30 "freemo" style layout.
NASG Business Meeting/auction/banquet. There was not a quorum of
officers present, so the meeting was not "official". There was some
discussion of financial/ election issues. The annual meeting for 2012
will be held in Chattanooga, TN. More information regarding this
convention will be forthcoming during the next 9 months. As usual,
Jaime Bothwell kept us entertained during the live auction. The banquet
was held in the California State RR Museum that was reserved for
exclusive browsing by attendees. My discussion with the docent in the
RPO car was most enlightening. Also, the toy train displays upstairs
have been greatly expanded and improved since I last saw them (11 years
ago).
We S attendees all owe a round of thanks and appreciation to Ed
Loizeaux, Lee Johnson, and all others who helped plan and implement this
coordinated NASG/NMRA convention of 2011.
Jay Mellon
New Orleans, LA
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