Author: Al Lowe

Tom Crawford, IHE Registrar

If you have never been on a speeder ride through the Niles Canyon you are truly missing something. For those who don’t know what a speeder is, it’s a small gasoline engine powered “car” that runs on standard rails. Riding on one is an absolute blast!

The group that owns the speeders takes them all over the place. It’s like a motorcycle gang on rails. (Okay, I’m joking, but you got the idea.)

Enough speeder owners have volunteered their speeder so that we can have 15 people for each time slot.

The rides are on Thursday, April 4, and run times will be 10:00 AM, 11:00 AM, 1:00 PM, and 2:00 PM starting at the Niles Canyon Railway’s Sunol Station. The rides are $25. We will carpool to the Station.

You can see a YouTube video of a velocipede in action here. By the way, the popping you hear in the video is not the velocipedes, but rather another rail car.In addition to the speeders we will also have two velocipedes and one hand pump car to operate in the Niles Station area while you are waiting for the speeders rides, or when you get back.

Speeder riders must wear long pants and closed shoes, preferably not tennis shoes. They will also be required to sign two legal releases, one for the speeders and one for the railroad.

To sign up for the speeder rides, you must be signed up for the Iron Horse Express 2013 Convention. Sign up for the convention, and the speeder rides, at the convention website under “Outside Activities.”

There are a limited number of speeders and seats. Whatever spaces are not sold by March 1 will be opened to the public.

Steve Wesolowski, Publicity

I like trains. You like trains. That’s why I’m writing and why you are reading this.

I often think there cannot be enough trains in my life. Maybe you agree but I’m sure some of those we’re close to think we are both “train obsessed.” Of course, we believe our good friends and family are mistaken; we just love trains more than they do and we enjoy and need train fun more than most people. So what? Train lovers are mostly harmless. So long as we continue to handle our other obligations, enjoying trains is not a real problem. Besides, I’m unaware of any 12-Step Program for train lovers to “cure” us of our train fun “problem,” so we all just have to deal with our train fun “problem” responsibly, by enjoying more trains.

Why bring all this up? Because if you like trains, you’ll enjoy spending more quality train time with other train lovers at the 2013 PCR/NMRA Convention, the Iron Horse Express. Everyone who loves trains should plan to attend.

The Iron Horse Express is your best, closest, and least expensive opportunity spend several days surrounded by, and totally immersed in, train fun with other train lovers. The more train lovers assembled at one place and time, the more train fun we will have!

I thank the IHX’s Convention Committee, most of whom have years of volunteer experience planning and enabling so many of us to enjoy many fun PCR & NMRA conventions plus the 2012 PCR/PNR convention.

Visit our website and register before February 1 for only $79. Save $10 to spend on more trains! Our website has the latest information, updates and changes.

We also have a $69 First Timer registration, for PCR members who’ve not attended our past five PCR conventions. (Note: my previous article in the Grab Iron was wrong; First Timer fares only apply to PCR members.) All registrations include full access to all clinics, layout tours, operating sessions, and Saturday’s Awards Banquet. The Youth registrations at $50.00 and One-Day fares at $35.00 per day do not include banquet admission.

Enjoy Unique Train Fun

Of course, every convention is unique and every train lovers’ gathering offers a mix of fun train activities. Each location has different local train lover’s resources to draw upon and Iron Horse Express is no exception to the rule.

Enjoy Great Clinics

Are you looking for new ideas, inspiration, skills, methods or just enjoy learning about railroads in their many different guises? The clinics at Iron Horse Express are just what you are looking for. We have a truly awesome lineup of clinicians covering just about every topic you might be interested in. So far we have:

• Fundamentals of Backdrop Painting – Dave Biondi
• Starting Over on a New Layout – Tom Blinn
• Keeping Your Trains on the Track – Tom Blinn
• Tools forModelBuildingandScratchBuilding- Jack Burgess, MMR
• CaliforniaWestern Railway and Nav. Co. and Modeling It – Gus Campagna
• Simple Car Cards – A Simple Approach – Guy Cantwell
• Fast Forward – Ten years of Layout Construction in an Hour – Guy Cantwell
• Practical ABS Signaling for Model Railroads – Chuck Catania
• The San Ramon Branch of the SP – Dave Connery
• Public Utilities and How to Model Them – Tom Crawford
• Under table Positive Turnout Controller – Dave Croshere
• Basic Structure Design with Free Software – Dave Croshere
• JMRI Operations – Dennis Drury
• Model Railroading with Arduino – Dave Falkenburg
• How to Get Kids Involved in Model Railroading without Losing Your Sanity – M.C. Fujiwara
• Layouts Portable, Practical & Palatable – M.C. Fujiwara
• A Talk with the NMRA President -CharlieGetz
• Website Design for Your Layout or Club – Dave Grenier
• Basic Track Warrant Control – Steve “Breezy” Gust
• Early West Coast Railroad Equipment – Randy Hees
• Freight Car Trucks 1900 – 1960 – Richard Hendricksen
• Prototype Operations in the Yard – Tommy Johnson
• Prototype Operations on the Road – Tommy Johnson
• Operating with Direct Traffic Control – Tommy Johnson
• Random Thoughts on Prototype Operations – Tommy Johnson
• The State Belt Railroad ofCalifornia- Bill Kaufman
• Operations for Dummies – Bill Kaufman
• Nn3 – An Overview – Thomas Knapp, MMR
• Modeling the Pacific Coast Railway’s San Luis Obispo Facilities – Thomas Knapp, MMR
• Modeling Trees – Brad Lloyd & Darrell Dennis
• Copper on Rails – Don Marenzi
• Creative Solutions to Common Modeling Problems – Frank Markovich
• A Sense of Creativity – John Marshall
• Introduction to LEDs and Their Use as Lighting Sources for Locomotives – Joe Melhorn Building and Implementing Working Searchlight Signals and Lower Quadrant US&S Semaphores – Joe Melhorn
• The Northwestern Pacific in HO; Recreating the Railroad and its Operations – Ed Merrin
• Control Panels with PowerPoint and Plexiglas – Seth Neumann
• Radio Frequency Identification (RFI) in Model Railroading – Seth Neumann and Chris Drome
• Creative Effects for Your Model Railroad – Paul Newitt
• Adventures in 3-D Printing – Kermit Paul, MMR
• Fall Creek Branch: Building and Operating a Portable Switching Layout – Bob Pethoud
• Building turnouts – Jim Petro
• Vintage Dated F Units – Jim Providenza
• Bring them Back Alive from Past Photos using Google Sketchup to Create Plans –
• Bill Schaumburg
• Key events of the 20^th Century East Bay Interpreted Through Aerial Views and Images of an
• Electric Railroad – Stuart J. Swiedler
• Modeling Transition-era Tank Cars – Tony Thompson
• The Evolution of Scenes on My Glenwood & Black Creek Narrow Gauge – Parts 1 & 2 –
• Jim Vail, MMR
• A Look at Resin Casting – Tom Vanden Bosch
• Layout Design Elements in Free-moN – Steve Williams
• The Last Great Train Robbery – Bob Wirthlin, MMR
• 35 years of the Sacramento Central – Dick Witzens
• Open Loads – Dick Witzens
• The Locomotives and Cars of the Central Pacific – Kyle Wyatt

Dave Connery still has a few TBD Clinic slots. If you’re interested in giving a clinic at IHX, please contact Dave at dgconnery@sbcglobal.net

Contests, Swap Meets and More

We’ve planned a Swap Meet, our Hobo Breakfast for anyone who’s attended a NMRA National Convention outside of PCR, plus all our usual Model, Photo and Crafts Contests. I hope every attendee enters the contests, to share your work with the rest of us. Our Contest Chair, Giuseppe (Joseph) Aymar, is looking for more volunteer judges to help us judge the contest. No previous experience is needed; Joseph and the rest of us will teach you to judge.

In addition to the many contest categories available for you to enter, there are many other fun train related activities, for both our Rail and Non-Rail attendees to enjoy.

Train Walks, Bike Rides

Convention goers interested in improving their health will have an opportunity to walk or bike on the nearby Iron Horse Trail, the roadbed of the San Ramon Branch of the SP. We will have a sheet available explaining how to get to the trail and how to take a combined bike and BART trip that includes the trail. So, plan on grabbing a train buddy or several and get out to enjoy exploring some local SP roadbed!

Food for Trains?

We know nobody wants to skip any nourishment breaks (aka meals) required to re-fuel our pursuit of train fun. We assure those not obsessed with health thatDublinhas one of the densest concentrations of fast food outlets anywhere, all within easy walking distance of the convention hotel. A list and map will be provided. No munching on layouts!

Or, for non-fast food, the Holiday Inn Dublin is adjacent to both highways 680 and 580, so you can jam off to many restaurants offering more varied cuisines. Model railroaders like to eat; you’ll have plenty of opportunities nearby.

Local Train History

For those modelers interested in train history, your registration includes our Saturday banquet, where our guest speaker, Beverly Lane, will speak on the Electric Railroads Serving Contra Costa County before BART.Mrs. Lane is a noted local public official and historian and an entertaining speaker.

Rails around the Bay

If you want a self-guided rail tour of the Bay Area, you can spend part or all of a day using a wide variety of public rail transportation to go fromDublin, completely around the Bay, and back. It’s a fun way to spend a day.

You may want to arrive early or stay after and enjoy your rail journey before or after the Iron Horse Express. That way you won’t miss a day of visiting layouts, enjoying clinics, or the other IHX activities that won’t happen again.

Visit New Layouts

We will have many awesome layouts to enjoy visiting and operating trains upon. Every layout I’ve seen has been unique every visit: I always see and learn something new. Layouts evolve as their builders learn, change and grow.

At the Narrow Gauge Convention in Bellevue, WA this year, I visited some layouts. One was a deja vu experience, because I’d seen it during PSX 2004! That’s not unusual, but the layout was totally new because the owner had changed scales! Paul Scole’s layout re-visit was wonderfully new again because I saw and learned different ideas. A third layout builder described his layout changes since it was in RMC recently, plus his religious conversion to prototype operations during PSX 2004 inspired him to hand excavate a 20×40 foot basement for his new Ops layout that replaced his 12×25 oval upstairs.

2784 at Snowflake -- photo by Jack Burgess

I look forward to visiting every layout possible during IHX, including Andy Schnur’s C&O Railroad, shown here in a photo by Jack Burgess. If you visit the IHX website, you’ll find many others just as good. We’re lucky to have so many modelers willing to share their talents with us.

Operating Sessions

All registrants, layout tour hosts, ops session hosts and crews for the IHX Convention may also participate in ops sessions, with the intent that many who normally do not operate will take advantage of this chance.

No previous experience is necessary, just a desire to run a model railroad as if it were a real transportation system. This is not a special club or special interest group event; it’s open to all convention attendees and tour participants. Even though I’ve only participated in one Ops session so far, even I know every train lover should try it.

More Outside Activities

In addition to traveling by rail around the Bay, visiting layouts and enjoying clinics:

Thursday, April 4

Speeder, velocipede and handcar rides on Niles Canyon Railway tracks in the morning and afternoon. Limited tickets available for $25 until March 1, first come first served.

(Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility tours have sold out. Sorry.)

Friday, April 5

Steam Train Excursion on Niles Canyon Railway, $25, from about 9AM until 1PM, including a photo run-by at historicFarwellBridge.

Saturday, April 6

8:30 and 11:30 AM tours of Jacques Littlefield’s Military Vehicle Technology Foundation (www.mvtf.org) in Portola Valley, with 240 restored WWI, WWII, Korean and Vietnam era military vehicles of all types situated in four football field-sized buildings. You’ll enjoy close up looks at light, medium and heavy tanks, recovery vehicles, trucks and more vehicles from the USA, USSR, Germany, England, France, Switzerland, Czechoslovakia, Israel and more. Two trips leave the hotel by bus and return 4½ hours later. Seating is limited. $50.

For more information, visit our Outside Activities page

Volunteer

The experienced volunteers organizing IHX have planned much rail and non-rail fun. Of course, our convention only happens because of its many volunteers. I encourage everyone who attends to volunteer your time to help others enjoy more. So, to enjoy IHX the most, email our Volunteer Coordinator, Karen Kiefer.

I hope you’ll join us for a few days packed with train fun in Dublinat the Iron Horse Express, April 3-7, 2013!

Al Lowe

The annual banquet is included in your Iron Horse Express 2013 registration fee. The banquet will be held in the Convention Hotel, the Holiday Inn Express, in Dublin, CA, Saturday evening, April 6. It will start with a no-host cocktail hour at 6:00 PM, with dinner served at 7:00 PM. The guest speaker will be Beverly Lane, who will speak on Electric Railroads in Contra Costa County before BART. You may not realize it, but at one time, both steam and electric railways servedDanville and theSanRamonValley.

Mrs. Laneis eminently qualified in this topic, currently serving as Curator of theMuseumofSan Ramon Valley, located in the ex-Southern Pacific depot inDanville. She is also president of the Contra Costa County Historical Society.Mrs. Lanehas been a member of the East Bay Regional Park District Board of Directors since 1994 and has been recognized nationally for her role in the creation of the Iron Horse Regional Trail through Central Contra Costa on the original SP right of way. She served as a member of the Danville Town Council and was Mayor of Danville for three terms. A graduate of Occidental College (BA) andCaliforniaStateUniversity, Hayward (MPA), Beverly has authored a pamphlet onContraCostaCounty’s electric railroads, as well as books on the 150-year history ofDanville, and a pictorial history of theSanRamonValley. The annual PCR and contest award presentations will followMrs. Lane’s talk.

This is truly an evening you won’t want to miss. Additional banquet tickets are available through registration for $45. (Note that the banquet is not included in Youth and Day fares.)

Sign up for the convention, or purchase additional banquet tickets on the website.

Tom Waters, Co-chair

As a lot of you know, Boise will host the Northwest Regional Convention next year, June 26–30, at the Boise Hotel and Convention Center (formerly the Holiday Inn, across from the airport).

All of the usual convention functions will be on the agenda: clinics, model contests, prototype tours, silent auction and even a two-day train show! Our web page includes information on registration, hotel reservations and more.

We begin on Wednesday evening with a BBQ at the Boise Depot. Joel Slagg will give a clinic about the history and move of Big Mike.

There are some new things in the works that we’ve never done before; see the web page.

If you can share your model railroad with us, tell Clyde Queen, layout tour manager.

If you have or are part of a modular club, tell Tom Waters.

If you are interested in presenting a clinic, tell Bob Parrish.

There are 30+ people actively planning this convention. But don’t let that stop you from volunteering to help.

By the way, if you’ve never attended an NMRA Regional Convention, you’ve missed a great time. Just ask me, I’ve been to eight or nine and I had a great time at every one!