I returned last Thursday from attending the 23rd National Narrow Gauge Convention in Denver, Colorado with two friends. We had a great trip, saw lots of real and model trains, and even bought some new toys!
There were 1660 or so registered for the event, so there were modelers all over the convention hotel(s). Great operating layouts in hallways and rooms at the hotel, all scales from Nn3 to Gn3, and mostly all awesome. And the dealers! We wandered around checking everything out in the main room and then discovered there was another larger room with dealers! Wow - what was going to run out first, our money or time? I picked up a Bachmann On30 Shay (wow!) and one of their 0-4-2T switchers for a fraction of what I would have paid here in Canada, US$150. and $40. Looks like I'll have to start something in On30!
With so many things happening at the same time, it was a juggling act to be able to participate in what you wanted. I was able to attend some of the clinics I wanted, and they were mostly very informative. Resin casting, digital photography, display layouts, D&RGW snow fighting, etc. But there were many more that I could not get to.
There was a free shuttle bus to Caboose Hobbies, absolutely astounding! Way too many things to take in at once.
We made it to the Georgetown Loop Railroad one morning, and to the Colorado Railroad Museum on another day. Nice stuff there, but it was soo hot. Visited some home layouts on the way back to the hotel, as they were more or less on the way. The descriptions could have been better, as the two were only partially completed, making the effort less enjoyable.
A long drive to the north of Denver to visit a renown layout was somewhat of a disappointment too. It was very hot, and visitors had to wait in the stuffy upstairs for half and hour or more until others passed through. The first two smaller layouts with no waiting had cool drinks and cookies, but not the larger one. The layout, while great, wasn't the best for visiting, with very narrow access, lots of people, up and over platforms, etc. It looks great in the magazines, but our experience wasn't the greatest.
We stayed after the convention and did a tour of Colorado's narrow gauge steam railroads - the Cumbres & Toltec, Durango & Silverton, and a few other railroad sites. Got lots of photos!
The only wrinkle on our trip was the few inches of snow while traveling over the highway past Vail. The actual snow wasn't a problem to us, but it did stop traffic for 45 minutes or so below the 10,660' summit. After that it was sunshine and clear driving all the way back to Denver.
I brought along a few of my old pinhole photos to enter in the photo contest at the convention, and was pleased to win first and second place in black & white models, and third place in color models. I've posted copies of the images on my website in case anyone would like to see them:
Bob Boudreau Canada