Page 4 - September October 2015
P. 4
President’s Car
It seemed like a great idea to plan my holiday this year around the National Convention in Portland for August, returning early September. Then I realised, a week or so before we left, that the deadline for Roundhouse would be while I was away. Martin Boyask has been very accom modating and given me some leeway so I thought I would try to get most of it done whilst on the road in Spokane and Portland.
As some of you will know, Martin has undergone heart surgery just a few weeks ago and despite all the rigours he went through he is making great strides at getting back to full health again. I, and all the readership, I am sure, wish him well in his recovery.
In the period leading up to our own Convention, celebrating 70 years of Region’s life on this planet, it is good to reflect on all those who have helped get us where we are today and where we are going into the future. Without their enthusiasm and commitment, as a volunteer organisation, we would be, well, nothing much better than some ordinary association or club. We are special and we offer many special benefits that flow from membership. Many of what benefits there are come from our own doing, making new friends and sharing experiences. To put it simply, we like playing trains together. Except we should do more of it – never sit on our laurels but keep striving to achieve more and get more done (I really must build that staging yard!!!). I hope, as this holiday continues, to find more ideas and experiences we can all share.
I have visited about a dozen layouts here in and around Portland and all have, in the main, been exceptional. How ever, one common factor hit me – the owners were all a bit older than me and were all in their seventies or eighties, with one exception who was 65. Most of the layouts were in basements or speciallyconstructed out buildings of at least 2500 square feet. I know this is about the size of my entire home including a double garage. They are truly blessed with space (and the finances) and the vision to see how to bring to life a piece of model railroad. One gentleman, Rod Loder of Salem, OR, has a purposebuilt barn that houses his rendition of SP’s Cascades crossing with a running length of 440 yards! He told us to come back in 20 years when it might be finished. See his website at http://espeeinoregon.com/rodespee/ ?cat=3
Another interesting fact was that less than half operated DCC – most were simple DC/analogue, with owners expressing a dislike for DCC and all that it brings. Sound would have been deafening had all the locos running had it!
Clinics are also a key part of National conventions. I took in Lance Mindheim’s session on creating realism – a modeller I admire and learn from. But that was it – we were out on the road all the other time, visiting layouts, chasing trains or attending the National Train Show. On reflection we should have done fewer tours and more clinics. As it was, we bailed out of one tour as we had seen one key layout the day before as part of the selfdrive LDSIG tour, and preferred to chase the local short line, the Portland & Western. Our decision was sound, as we found a pair of SD45s on one freight and an SD9 in the consist of another that we chased from Hillsboro to Beaverton. We had already seen two GP9s and an SD7, all exSP, earlier in the tour. The Pacific Northwest is certainly the place to go for sight of some oldies. And out in the Wheat Belt of Washington State there was an SD40T2 tunnelmotor in
Mike Arnold
exUP colours working
the Eastern Washington
Gateway RR.
The Train Show had all
the major manufacturers
there including a lot of
smaller suppliers like
Cannon & Co, Moloco,
Tangent etc. Many had
new products on display.
Athearn had a new addi
tion to their Genesis
range, the GP392, includ
ing those on the local
short line Portland &
Western. You may have
seen some of this already on other websites and in BRe news.
Charlie Getz, who visits us at our Convention in Derby, along with at least one other US Director, announced that National would be launching a number of programs including a member discount scheme at some hobby stores (thanks to Mike Hughes we have been there for at least five years), an optin members’ directory (thanks to John Firth for that one!) and a member layout visiting scheme. Layout Command Control (LCC) was also launched at Convention in Portland – a means by which the conventional bus in DCC can be left alone to run the trains with a separate bus for signals, turnouts etc. It is an extension of NMRANet that has been mentioned over the past few years.
The Contest Room (it was titled the Celebration Room) was a little disappointing. I expected a greater number of entries given the Convention was very well attended. I cannot even recall the winner of the steam locomotive class, and the diesel class winner was a selfpropelled crane. The Railroad Prototype Modellers (RPM) was even less supported, with very few exhibits.
So now it is all over for another year – Indianapolis is next in July 2016 – but our Milepost 70 event beckons in but a few weeks. All who have booked should have received by now their confirmation plus a request to choose your dinner options for the Saturday night. Steve Dennison also needs all balancing payments for the Friday and Saturday nights (extra nights are payable to the Convention Centre on checkout) paid to Region (cheques payable to NMRA BR Convention) before the event – on this occasion Region needs to pay for the event in toto just like it was a commercial user. For those staying the weekend (Friday and Saturday nights) a balance of £140 per person is due; for those on B&B rates only, the balance due is £38 for one night and £96 for Friday and Saturday nights.
The Convention Centre is full, so all new registrants will be booked into a nearby hotel for the same rate, with payments due, as before, to Region as we will still be paying the Conference Centre even for the overflow hotel accommodation. I know it sounds complicated, but that is the way the Conference Centre operates. You should all have received your confirmations by now, requesting payment by the end of September. Please action your payments soonest, as Region will be liable otherwise, and contact Steve Dennison if you are unsure about booking and payments.
I look forward to seeing you all at our 70th Anniversary event in Derby.
4 ROUNDHOUSE
