| Volume 39 Issue 3 | November 1999 |
The 1999 National Narrow Gauge
Convention
Convention
| Volume 39 Issue 3 | November 1999 |
Through the courtesy of Division 3 Member Lee Rainey and his wife Ginny, a Call Board reporter was dispatched to cover the 1999 National Narrow Gauge Convention in Portland, Oregon, September 15th through the 18th.
In a departure from previous years’ agendas, some layout tours were scheduled for two days prior to the convention. These were all in the Seattle area, about a three hour drive from Portland. Most notable was that of long-time modeler Paul Scoles, whose articles on California coastal redwood scenery have run in the NARROW GAUGE & SHORT LINE GAZETTE for the past year or so.
Rather than traveling to Seattle, however, your reporter was chained to the layout in the Rainey basement to ready his (Lee’s) New and Improved Sn3 Coal Valley Railroad for the open house. All day Tuesday the 14th was spent cleaning and checking, and some last minute scenery construction made it as viewable as it was going to be. Division 3 members may recall that when the Coal Valley was in Dayton, it was primarily based on the East Broad Top with some Tionesta Valley, Waynesburg & Washington and Ohio River & Western elements here and there, reflecting his eastern narrow gauge interests. When Lee was transferred to Portland in 1991, the layout was cut apart and moved, then reassembled in a different manner. The portion containing a helix is the only piece used intact as it was in Dayton, but various other pieces are recognizable.
The pattern for Narrow Gauge Nationals has remained the same for all 19 of them: mornings are set aside for clinics and the manufacturers’ room, afternoons are for layout tours, and in the evenings more clinics are held and the manufacturers’ room is reopened. Clinics attended by your reporter encompassed the Kelleys Island Shays, narrow gauge tank cars owned by Standard Oil, a short line in Oklahoma and one fabulous clinic on those narrow gauge Mikados were the best. In the lobby of the hotel was a wonderful HOn3 Colorado sectional layout, but your reporter still thinks the Eastern Loggers’ layout (seen at Columbus in 1992) is better.
Thursday morning 15th was spent at the last steam-powered sawmill in commercial operation in the United States. This is northwest of Eugene in the Coast Range and is served by the Willamette & Pacifc (a southern Pacific spin-off). The Hull-Oakes sawmill is amazing: it is very much a throwback to the 30’s, except the logs are not brought in by Shays. The stationary steam engine runs about half the machinery with belt driven shafts and the remainder is run by electricity. Interestingly, the owner told us the steam engine is one of the most reliable pieces of equipment in the mill but of course spare parts are hard to find. This company specializes in large timbers; the biggest we saw was 16" x 24" x 36 feet!
That afternoon in Eugene two layouts were visited, including Dave Clune’s On3 Cascade County narrow Gauge, the second best model railroad your reporter has personally visited (first is Bob Hayden’s Carrabasset & Dead River).
Friday the 17th was one of Lee’s open house days. Fortunately the Narrow Gauge Nationals do not offer bus tours, so visitors can stay as long as they wish. We had 230. This seems like a huge number until compared with the approximately 900 attendees at the convention. Where were the other 670?
The manufacturers’ room offers a good argument for leaving your VISA card at home. Your reporter was able to limit to just six small dump cars for his HOn30 Gophir Tram, but admits to casting covetous glances at a South African Garrett and $600 Climax. The model contest reflected the consistently high quality of work characteristic of the Narrow Gauge Nationals, and also the aging of model railroaders in general: a disproportionate number of the models were large scale.
The National Narrow Gauge Conventions follow a consistent pattern of locating around the country. All Division 3 members are invited to attend in St. Louis next year, Salt Lake City in 2001 and Providence, Rhode Island in 2002. Come over to the dark side and join us!
© 1999 Division 3, MCR, NMRA