KANSAS CITY <strong>2018</strong> NATIONAL CON- VENTION REPORT - Mike Arnold KC<strong>2018</strong> was up there with the best I have attended, and the extras we put into our itinerary made it so special. But where to start? So two preliminaries – first, plan well and book the tours you want (they do sell out) and second, arrive in style. Four of us flew into Chicago, spent one whole day railfanning Dolton Junction, then took Amtrak’s Train #3, The South West Chief from Chicago’s Union station to Kansas City, a seven hour, 427 mile pleasure in itself, all for $58! The hotel was opposite Kansas City Union Station so views of trains were not difficult but we had much to do at the Convention itself. I gave a clinic on day one (“British Railway Modelling”), repeated on day five and others to listen to tours to go on etc. The trip to see Stephen Priest’s ATSF HO layout was a joy. Visits to see Mike McLain’s HO MKT layout and Jon Percy’s N scale Buffalo & Pittsburgh on the LDSIG layout tour day were brilliant - all quality modelling. Prototype tours were good too but with security being the way it is, access at yards was very limited but expected so we were not disappointed with that. The Train Show opened on the Friday at 9.00am for <strong>NMRA</strong> members only til noon. As they say in the advertisements – it’s a candy store! Wallets were hammered with items you do not see back at home, with discounts too. As a consequence all four of us had to attend Border Control in the red channel to declare our goodies on our return. There were also visits to local hobby stores and one not so local, Spring Creek Model Trains in Deshler At Mid-America Car (loco and car re-builders) of the Brits in the tour group L-R Mike Cox, Mike Arnold, Graham Charman, Dan Spalding, Dave Griffiths, Ian Lampkin photo by Dan Munson (our tour guide and also BNSF Yardmaster, BNSF Argentine Yard). NE. They were at the Tran Show but we just had to see the shop…. After the Convention closed we hit the road for a road trip through Kansas and Nebraska via North Platte’s Golden Spike Tower to Cheyenne, WY to visit the Big Boy program (no photos allowed) and Greeley, CO for the Colorado Model Railroad Museum, and then back to Chicago. We discovered some little gems along the way, purely by chance. The Rock Island may be long gone but its presence can still be found at the Depot Museum in Fairbury, NE and on the preserved passenger depot in Iowa City on IAIS. We were also spellbound by real operations and switching on the short line Nebraska, Kansas & Colorado Railroad east of Sterling, CO on what was a BNSF line. The switchman travels by pick up between each location rather the 60- plus car train reverse each time to pick him up! But then we had to come home…..well pleased with our purchases, our photos and our memories of places visited, old and new friends met, and meals and beer consumed. HO CODE 83 Authentic American Track Featuring the impressive #6 Double Slip SL-U8363 UNIFROG ACCURATELY SCALED FROM A.R.E.A DRAWINGS & <strong>NMRA</strong> COMPLIANT 5 0 5 0 8 8 1 0 9 9 6 8 1 NEW CATALOGUE NOW AVAILABLE Main photo - a scene on Lewis Junction modelled by Roger Epps. Photo: Neil Davis. THE TRACK SPECIALIST Find 83 LINE at your favourite model shop or visit www.peco-uk.com for more information 30 ROUNDHOUSE - <strong>October</strong> <strong>2018</strong>
<strong>October</strong> <strong>2018</strong> - ROUNDHOUSE 31