2014 Frisco Convention?

Hope we can have a convention in Springfield next year. As long as college doesn't get in the way I'll go. Just to the south in Springdale, AR the A&M is hosting the 2014 NRHS Convention during the Summer. Be cool if the two events could work with one another.

 

The 2014 NRHS Convention, based in Springdale, will be open to the public. Planning on the convention is already quite advanced and there is no likelihood of the two intermeshing. The convention starts Tuesday, June 10, 2014 and ends on Saturday, June 14, 2014. Publicity on the Convention will startr after the current NRHS Convention in Alaska is completed.

 

If this convention ever gets to the St. Louis area, our club would be honored to be on the tour. We no longer have enough active members to host conventions or swap meets, so we have no idea who around here could produce it.

 

We have a plan afoot to have a joint MPHS-frisco.org convention in 2014. The idea was to have it in the Joplin-Carthage area. The MPHS board has approved the idea. Kevin Love will head it up and several of our group have agreed to help. The big step that has not been taken is finding a hotel/facility since the MPHS has a pretty set pattern of convening on the weekend before Columbus Day. We do need to pull the major details together soon and start publicizing it.
We could also have some frisco.org activities during the NRHS convention if there are some folks coming to NW Arkansas for it.

 

Joplin would be nice. I've been wanting to get pictures of the last operational Frisco wig wag anyways.

 

Just back from the MPHS convention in Pueblo. We did talk some about things to do real soon. So stand by, or let me know if you have ideas for presentations, especially if they relate to the SW Missouri area.

 

Hopefully a SLSF/MP 2014 Convention won't conflict with the yearly M&NA "Railroad Days" at Harrison. Had a great time there and intend to return next year.

 

Coonskin, I was just pondering that possibility of a conflict. Do they have presentations, perhaps we could get a presenter to come to Joplin on Friday if they were the same weekend. The M&NA crossed the MP a time or two down in east-central Arkansas.
I've got several of the "Oak Leaves" that had M&NA stories in them, since my mother was a member of the society.

 

Hi Steve:

The M&NA "Railroad Days" is quite informal, more like a gathering of like-minded friends from here n' there. Once we were all there, we each took a moment and introduced ourselves and shared what led to our interest in the M&NA/etc.

Other than that, it was just a great time of sippin' coffee and eatin' cookies and lookin' at pics and artifacts and indulging in our "North Arkansas Thang". Lots of camaraderie and fun, like the fledgling Fort Smith area model railroad meets I attended back in the early-mid 70's.

EDIT: Once the SLSF/MP date is set, if you'll make it known, I share the date with the Boone County Museum that hosts "Railroad Days" and hopefully a conflict can be avoided.

 

I will restate my concern about a joint meet and that is what the content might be. I would have no interest in sitting through a bunch of MoPac sessions just to attend a couple or three of Frisco items. The MOP was a good railroad like many others, but I have no interest in it.

Thanks

Tony LaLumia

 

Early August in Springfield sounds great to me. Would anyone be interested in Kansas City in 2015. Jam Jester and I hosted one in August 1979 I no longer have my buddy but maybe some others would help out.

Dave Lindquist

 

Springfield in August 2014 sounds great. I can very likely do that schedule. Maybe I can use it to motivate me to get some Frisco things done. An August schedule would also dodge the M&NA Railroad Days at Harrison (typically in October), where some other of my great friends gather.

Though I would LOVE to do a Frisco Friends get-together in Kansas City in 2015, at this point plans are in place to attend my first ever National S Gaugers Association National Meeting that same year in KC. (The NASG National will likely never be closer than KC.) I MIGHT be able to do both, depending on the shedules of the two.

 

The Arkansas-Boston Mountains Chapter of the NRHS held a day long meeting in Joplin in early 2013. There definitely is a lot to see including the Frisco depot, Joplin Union Depot (interior tour by special arrangement) as well as the Frisco/MOP trackage (now M & NA ) and the Ruth Yard. We had a great time and plan to re-visit the area to scope out the extensive traction network that once ran in the area. We did not have time to see the Frisco wig-wag signal.
I think Joplin is an ideal location with/without the MOPAC group. My sense is a joint convention is worth considering. I went to the MPHS meeting in North Little Rock last year.Some of the presentations were interesting and others were not yet ready for prime time (Power Point presentations with an excess of data per page and presentations that were hard to follow-signalling) . If Joplin is the place to be we should have a mechanism to ensure that the presentations meet minimum viewability standards.

 

As was previously posted, the Missouri Pacific Historical Society is very interested in holding a joint meeting with this group in 2014. The MPHS convention will be held in Joplin on Oct. 9-12, 2014. A facility for this event is yet to be determined.

There was some previous discussion among various members of this group concerning content, activities, etc. Unfortunately, momentum was lost and we have not pursued the concept any further. With that said, I do not consider the idea to be dead. As the 2014 MPHS convention host and MPHS president-elect, I am hopeful that we can make a joint convention become a reality. There are lots of good reasons to have a joint convention and we will do everything possible to make it enjoyable for all attendees. Each railroad would be represented equally.

If this group agrees to participate, in a timely fashion, the MPHS will move forward with the joint concept. We have just a little under 12 months to get this project planned and executed. This is more than enough time to develop a good program. I will continue to monitor the discussion at this site, but given my schedule, I have asked Steve Marquess to lead the effort on the Frisco side.

Thanks and I look forward to the discussion.

 

Kevin:

If this date for the MPHS Convention is "set in stone", so to speak, then I will inform the Boone County Museum so they can schedule their "Railroad Days" around it, for there are attendees at "Railroad Days" that are also interested in the MP and this way they have the ability to attend each event.

I may be able to attend both events, depending on my vocational schedule, however if it comes to attending one or the other, my priority at this point will be the M&NA "Railroad Days" as an effort on my part to support the Boone County Museum with much-needed finances, attendance, publicity, etc.

 

I would like to second the comments made by others about the advantages of having a joint Mopac-Frisco meeting to achieve a greater turnout. As a fan of both MP and Frisco, its hard to see any downside to this proposal. More participants, more presentations - definitely a win-win situation, and the Joplin area offers a wealth of railroad history and current railroad activity.

With regard to presentations, and specifically the comments about "not yet ready for prime time" presentations, I have a considerably different perspective. The signaling presentation mentioned was very technical, but for anyone interested in train operations or today's version of train dispatching, the presentation was fascinating and very well done. More importantly, all presentations are put together by volunteers -- people doing the research, creating the graphics, and making it all fit together on PowerPoint or some similar digital medium. Until you have produced a program yourself, its difficult to imagine the time involved from start to finish. Previewing a program before "prime time" is not practical for many people, because few have a digital projector handy. Anyone who uses PowerPoint has discovered that the appearance on the computer screen and the appearance projected on a big screen in front of an audience can be quite different. Also, most of us don't put together programs (or conventions) for a living - its done as a labor of love, for the good of the cause, but it is - of necessity - done in between "real world" responsibilities of job, family, etc. I appreciate the time spent bringing any rail presentation to an audience, and think that all of our interests are best served by encouraging more people to develop presentations about whatever special aspect of the rail industry (or models, or history) they find most interesting.

 

Yes, the MPHS has its annual convention the weekend immediately prior to Columbus Day. Unfortunately, there is no "wiggle room."

 

Thanks for the reply. I will inform the Boone County Museum so as to avoid duplicate scheduling.