Hello from the great pacific Northwest, Portland, The city of roses is a great place to visit and railfan. Situated at the end of the Columbia gorge, the oppurtunity to railfan here is worth the price of a visit alone. The beautiful Oregon coast is but a short hour drive away and a must see. As far as the N scale layouts in the tour, all but one (UP through the Blue mountains) are fairly new and have never been seen in the publications. Next month in N Railroading will preview The Rio Grande over Tennessee pass, an outstanding layout that photos can not do justice to. I myself have been building a basement size accurate version of the SP&S route through the Columbia gorge. Others include The NW Milwaukie and industrail Sante Fe. We like operations and have built these layouts to run like the prototypes. A couple are outfitted with Computer linked dispatching/routing that need to be seen to be appreciated. These are not small layouts and our group of guys have been putting in a lot of hours getting them ready to show. I highly recommend renting a vehicle to see all there is to see here. Also the three local Ntrak groups will be displaying their talents at the show and set up at the area N scale shop in town. For any of you that have never been to a N collector/Ntrak convention, I would advise you to check it out. It is quite the event. I have only been to the San Diego and Denver shows, and wish I could afford to go every year. Looking forward to your visit and a great convention, Rick
Rick: Thanks for telling us about the layouts. It is day's drive away so a friend and I are thinking hard about coming down. Tim
The members of my club are a planning on showing up individually when they can. I plan on attending some part of it. I haven't decided, yet.
I won't be making it, but am looking forward to Houston in 2010. I've never been to one of these and am looking forward to it.
I might be going, but given that my main interest would be the NTrak, I don't see much reason. There's simply a huge yawning void of information about the NTrak presence. Rick's brief mention is literally the most information I've seen yet. To say this is a marked contrast with last year is an understatement.
Boy, to be close to anything like last year's would be amazing. I'll try to give you an update on the N-Trak situation as it stands now. Several N-Trak groups from the Seattle area are trying to put together a combined layout with a few groups from Oregon. Since the beginning there has been space issues and as of right now we are waiting to hear a confirmation on the space that is available to the combined layout. Once we have a definitive answer, we can start to design a layout. It certainly won't be anything huge. There are lots of groups willing to participate, they just don't have the space. The United Northwest now has an N-Trak division and both of their layouts will be there as stand alone layouts. Our club, Mt Rainier N-Scale is committed to bringing pretty much what we had at Louisville and have been in touch with 4 D N-Trak and possibly the A&P N-Trak. It will be a lot closer for us this year !! When this convention was planned, I have it from a good source, that not much consideration was given to an N-Trak layout. It has been showing up in the planning. The local clubs have been more than willing to participate, so given the fact that we only have about 13 weeks, I hope we can pull off something that we can all enjoy. I certainly don't want anyone thinking that us guys in the Great Northwest don't want to show off to our guests :tb-cool: I'll pass along any more information as I get it.
I was under the impression that the layout folks had already planned it all. I thought that there were three N-Trak clubs already on board to do something at the convention site. I don't know. The more questions I ask, the more confused I get.
One of the best things about the N Scale Convention is meeting the people. While I know socializing isn't everyone's #1 priority and doesn't have to be, I'd add that choosing convention activities based on which ones will allow you to meet and greet the greatest number of fellow conventioneers, is a great way to go. My experience at these conventions is that I learn more in 4 days and have more fun, than I would learn in 4 months of constant Internet train forum reading. From that perspective, attending the convention is a better deal time-wise and fun-wise. I'd encourage anyone on the fence, to consider going. If you're at all a friendly good citizen, you'll find wonderful people to meet and share a common joyful experience with. Just my 2 cents worth.
True. However, for those who cannot attend, it's a treat to see all those pictures John takes while there! :thumbs_up: Boxcab E50
Bump - more changes to the Convention Website. Model Contest categories and Clinic information updated.
A real dumb question: if I am not a member of any organisation, and coming from abroad, is there a chance to participate? (I like John's post about meeting people, that would be the main reason to come).
Participate, as in what? Host a clinic, compete in the model contest, or simply attend? if it makes you feel better, I am not an NMRA member, nor an N Scale Collector member, nor a member of any Portland-area club, but I'm still coming!
Christoph. Registration is required to participate in convention activities. If you have specific questions you can direct them to the point of contact on the website http://www.nationalnscaleconvention.com/index.htm . You do not need be a member of anything except maybe an interest in NScale. Come and enjoy.
Well, I am now officially registered, have airline tickets and hotel lined up. Even convinced my wife to come along for this one. See you folks there.
Wanted to go... but A series of expensive problems recently cancelled any chance of me taking extended vacations this year. Maybe by next year the finances will be in better order. My wife has some relatives in TX which we could visit as an aside to the convention next year... that would make my wife more amenable to taking the trip.
For those that are coming, there WILL be a combined N-Trak layout, athough modest. We are working on the details now and participation looks good! Make sure you all stop and visit. Looking forward to seeing everyone again!
Finally got some finances in order after going back to work, and was able to book my flight, room, and registration tonight! Will be bringing Kimberly and Amber with me this year. Going on the Roundhouse tour and the Mt Hood excursion. And of course, the banquet!
Since I'm only a couple of hours away, I think I'll go to the public train show portion. I don't think I'll be able to get much more in than that though. Eric
Hi Jerry, I am glad to hear that you will be able to make it to the convention! I am looking forward to seeing you again! Carter
