Pictures from the Seattle Layout Tour, PSX '04

Kennedy=A0(=A0no=A0longer=A0not=A0on=A0The=A0Haggis!)) wrote: Here are the pictures I took during the Seattle Layout tour.

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Nice pix, Kennedy! Thanks for sharing.

Bill Bill's Railroad Empire N Scale Model Railroad:

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Thanks for the photos - nice to see the layouts that I couldn't see myself! I was on two different layout tours while at the convention. This was only my second NMRA National convention, the last one being

18 years ago in Boston. I had been to several NER events and on layout tours then too.

I've wondered about the selection of layouts for these tours - does everyone who offers their layouts get picked? I ask because some of the layouts visited on all of my conventions, this one included, seemed to be hardly worth the effort. Very small layouts that could only accommodate a few visitors at a time, partially completed layouts, etc. One G scale layout was in a garden shed and we could only peek in the door to see it. To haul a busload of 55 people all over the countryside, down narrow streets and in tight situations just to see a small shelf layout no larger than a pair of modules seems to be a waste of time. I would have preferred longer visits at larger layouts. The highlight of my tours was the Everett & Monte Cristo layout that was in RMC just recently, and the club layout in the Tacoma Museum (I forget its name, but it was huge!).

The second tour we were on was a long way from Seattle, and the tour guide didn't seem to know where we were going. The bus made several wrong turns onto narrow streets and had to back up a long way to get out. As a result of the delays, we had to miss one layout that I would have liked to seen, and we also arrived quite late from the tour. The lateness didn't bother me as I didn't have anything I had to do, but others on the bus had reservations on a dinner train or were to present clinics in the evenings. It seems that a test run of the route had not been done before the convention.

We had to stay at the overflow hotel, the Marriott, which was inconvenient at times as we had to rely on the shuttle buses to get to the main hotel. Overall we (my wife and I) had a good time and only wish I would have had more stamina to spend more time at the National Train Show!

Bob Boudreau Canada

Well, sorry to have missed you whereever you happened to be at the convention/trade show. I met a number of folks, but I know I missed a lot as well....

Which tours were you on? I was looking over the listings, and I know at least one out-of-towner asked about why a tour would last 6-7hrs for only 4 layouts. Those were the ones going to Kitsap, Whidbey Island, and any of those that had at least a one-hour drive one-way. The two I mentioned were at least a one-hour ferryboat ride (worth the price if the day was nice).

On the Seattle tour, we were the second bus, but the driver knew his way and took the shortcuts, to which we arrived before the first bus. Plus, the time saved got us a couple of side trips; one to the Interbay Yard and a trip to a Hobby Shop.... :D

Hope to see you at Cincy next year...

Kennedy

Kennedy:

Way too many things going on all at once! I imagine everyone who attended missed a lot, I know I did.

I was on the Gig Harbor tour Tuesday morning, and the Mill Creek one on Thursday afternoon. The afternoon one was the one that ran late.

Speaking of running late, I was on the Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad tour on Wednesday of the convention; it was supposed to last 10 hours, it actually took 13.5. It wasn't quite like I expected, as there wern't many "Scenic" views from the train, mostly trees. Never even saw Mt. Rainier.

I lucked out being in the second coach behind the three steam engines, as it had regular railroad padded seats. It wasn't until later when I walked through the following cars that I noticed they all had park bench type wood slat seats on metal floors. Hard on the butt for a long trip!

Also we were supposed to have three run-bys for photos. We stopped next to a passing siding and most of the 300 passengers got out and stood on the far side of the passing track. Imagine a line of people about a quarter mile long, and trying to get some photos of the approaching train that was only 15-20 feet away! I got the front of the lead loco and that was about all. The train did two run bys with similar results, but there wasn't a third one.

We stopped at Camp 6 on the way back to see the logging stuff in a Tacoma City park, but it was around 7:30PM or so and the light was fading. And the area was among large trees, so it made photos difficult even with ISO800 film. But I did manage to get a few, but not what I would have liked. I brought along two small point and shoot cameras for the trip to make my load lighter, and I couldn't do what my better film or digital cameras could have done. I still managed to shoot 18 rolls on the trip (see below). Overall it was a good experience.

You won't see me there, I don't have that much interest. The only reason I was able to make it to the Seattle event was because my wife and I wanted to take a cruise to Alaska. We originally would have left from Vancouver, but since they also leave from Seattle, we took one from there. The cruise ended on Sunday the day the convention started. So we we already there for another reason. The whole two week trip was OK except for the flying part, man those airports are a pain!

Bob Boudreau Saint John, N. B. Canada

My folks live in Gig Harbor; that's where I was staying. I hope the traffic was OK on the trip to and back; my Dad complains about it all the time...

I was on the Seattle tour Thursday afternoon; so we may have been on adjacent "tracks"; I was on Track 2...

Well, hope the cruise was OK. Weatherwise, I was told that the rain the week of the convention was the first in some time.....

Kennedy