Trains 2007 - this weekend!

[Dane]

Hello all,

A reminder of the upcoming Trains 2007 show coming up this weekend
(09-12 Nov 07) at the Cameron Centre Community Centre located in
Burnaby, BC.

This year will mark the 25th annual exhibition which will showcase
nearly the highest number of layouts to date with dozens of vendors
and exhibitors to check out.

Public Show Fares are:
• Senior (60+) $3
• Adult (16-59) $6
• Youth (6-15) $3
• Child (0-5) Free
• Family $15 (Maximum 2 Adults, 3 Youth)
• Uniformed Youth Groups Free
• NMRA Member $3

Hours are:
Saturday 10am-4pm (10 Nov 07)
Sunday 10am-4pm (11 Nov 07)

Address is:
9523 Cameron Street, Burnaby, BC (Details:
www.sfu.ca/~danen/public_venue.htm)
Parking is very limited at the Cameron Recreation Centre and on
Cameron Street so we encourage you to take transit. If transit is not
an option we have permission from Lougheed Town Centre to use their
parking facilities)

In addition to the large public show we also hold the annual meet.

Basic Registration Cost this year is $16 (Meet Registration Form:
www.sfu.ca/~danen/meetreg.pdf)
Basic Registration includes participation in self-guided layout
tours, operations sessions, advanced opening at the public show, two-
day public show admittance, clinics, and contest entry.

Additional Fare Activities are:

Escorted Layout Tour – leaving from Cameron Centre with chartered
buses participants will see 5 Maple Ridge Area Layouts in various
scales and prototypes. The extra fare for this activity is $20.

Meet Banquet – the meet banquet is on the Sunday night following the
public show (11 Nov 07) and will be catered buffet style by Cosmic
Catering. This year's speaker is Joe Smuin who will do a slide
presentation an the Kettle Valley Railway. Joe Smuin is a local
authority on the KVR and its surrounding areas. The extra fare for
this activity is $30.

Detailed Meet Activity Information is found here:
www.sfu.ca/~danen/meet_activities.htm
Show Timetable is found here:
www.sfu.ca/~danen/meet_schedule.htm
Registration form is found here: www.sfu.ca/~danen/meetreg.pdf
Website: www.bctrains.org

Registrations will be accepted this Friday evening at Cameron Centre
is you are registering now.

We look forward to seeing you at the show!

Dane Nicholson
Trains 2007 Committee
www.bctrains.org

[CN2972South]

Dunno if I'll make it on Saturday, playing with the real thing from 0730-1530, but I will be there Sunday.

[Mill Bay]

Dane... if you're on the committee, does that mean you'll be there Saturday, because that's the day I'm gonna be there.

How bout anyone else?

[Dane]

I'm there all weekend, except 0945 - 1245 hrs Sunday to parade for Remebrance Day

See you there! Should be an awesome show, most layouts ever, all new layouts on the tours!

We won't have two of the three vendors that brought ferry stuff I would assume they'll be at the March show though, we're trying to get stricter on train-related content.

www.bctrains.org

[Mike C]

I'll be there Saturday.

[Mill Bay]

Cool, too bad about the guys selling ferry stuff... have too wait until march I guess.

We'll have to make sure to find each other tomorrow then.

[Ferryman]

I'm half considering going tomorrow as well. I'm going to be on either the 5:00pm or 7:00pm sailing over to Nanaimo tomorrow, so I'll see if I'll have time to come down for the morning to early afternoon. Would the Skytrain stop near the recreation center by any chance?

Re: Ferry vendors. 2 of 3 vendors won't be there, so I'm assuming there will be 1 there....What types of things would they sell? Surely it's not just postcards...

[Mill Bay]

Yes, Chris, the Lougheed Town Centre Station should get you to Lougheed Centre Mall, and then you'd have to walk north through the mall, and there's a street that's called Cameron, and you just cross the street to the rec. center there.

[Taxman]

I went last year...

This year I don't know, I am moving and have to set up my own trains.

[Mill Bay]

Yeah, I went last year too... I was a little disappointed actually, cause the layouts were all mostly repeats, and the guys selling old ship photos weren't there that time either... and then I missed the one in March. This one sounds like it might be more expansive than in the past, so hopefully there's lots of new stuff to look at.

I have some trains of my own as well, but their setup is taking a while... almost as long as building a real railroad... just too many other interests and things consuming my time right now.

[Retrovision]

millbay said:

Yes, Chris, the Lougheed Town Centre Station should get you to Lougheed Centre Mall, and then you'd have to walk north through the mall, and there's a street that's called Cameron, and you just cross the street to the rec. center there.

Indeed, and for the shortest walk be sure to take the western exit stairs, at the Vancouver end of the platform, and take the walkway directly to the mall's parking lot and then follow Mill Bay's directions; you'll still make it the other way, you just get slowed down by going down to cross the street and back up a hill into the mall.

I'm hoping to get out there on Saturday too.

[Dane]

Yup we have three of four big layouts that haven't been around for a couple years, plus the normal ones but they are smaller in scale than usual.

[Mill Bay]

dane said:

Yup we have three of four big layouts that haven't been around for a couple years, plus the normal ones but they are smaller in scale than usual.

Yeah I was looking at the listing of exhibitors... I used to go to this one when I was just a kid, so I remember some of the older exhibits. My favorite one was always the Salmon Arm Model Railway, but they haven't been there in years... I was wondering if anyone knows if that club is still around somewhere.

[Dane]

They are, and they were actually going to come but the membership is getting older so transportation is an issue.

[Dane]

Apparently they are coming - Salmon Arm - I mixed them with North Okanagon

[Mike C]

Well, I went today.

Overall, a fantastic show. Neat models, and great amounts of detail put into everything. If you're still debating whether or not to go, I highly reccomend it.

I saw Dane there - of course, as some of you know, I was far too shy to say hello - he actually held a conversation directly behind me for about 2 or 3 minutes (btw, Dane, if you remember standing in front of a short, skinny guy in a grey jacket with aviator sunglasses - that was me).

Anyway, again, very well done show. Lot's of people in the 60-70 year-old age-group, so if you're a teenager, be on your best behaviour.

[Neil]

I hadn't been for a few years, so everything there was new to me. I was only there to look at the layouts (although I did buy one passenger car), and they didn't disappoint. The Salmon Arm modellers really take model railroading to an art form- it seems absurd to call what they do a 'hobby'. Didn't spend any time looking at the lego stuff- I just don't get putting that much time and effort into building blocks, but, to each his own.

If anyone went and enjoyed the layouts and hasn't been to Granville Island to see the layouts and dioramas there, you really have to go. Quite remarkable.

[Mill Bay]

Yes, it was good... I wish I'd had a better camera to appropriately document the Salmon Arm layout, I found out that it is no good for interior photography...

I saw Dane running around a lot, and went on his tour of the show which was fun for sure... and I spent fifty dollars on books, but no ferry books this time.

I just feel overwhelmed by all the older generation there... the ones who were truly lucky enough to work on the railroads when they still ran steam, or on the coastal steamships and can still remember all the little details about day to day happenings that we all scramble to read on this forum. Did they ever know what they were doing would be so memorable, and how much we would all be sorry now that we missed it, and that it is largely vanishing?

Honestly, I felt like I lost all sense of direction watching and listening to those guys who are searching everywhere for unpublished plans of CPR steam engines as if their value is beyond price and they approach them with such reverence. I feel like a dwarf next to these giants with memories that seem ages old and who possess such unfathomable knowledge.

Here's to the veterans of steam on the rails and along our coasts.