Frisco Convention in Pittsburg, Kansas Sept. 12/13, 2009

[friscomike]

1st Frisco Festival


Come join us in Pittsburg, Kansas on Sept. 12th and 13th 2009 to celebrate the Frisco (St. Louis – San Francisco) Railway at the 1st Frisco Festival hosted by the Heart of the Heartland Corp. a railroad historical society, Watco Companies, Inc. and the South Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad. Events will include three clinics on Frisco history and modeling, swap meet, slide show, model display area, operating model railroad layout and on Sunday an all day train ride over former Frisco track to the Heartlands railroad museum at Carona with a catered lunch by Chicken Annie’s

Saturday’s events will take place at the Watco National Headquarters building at 315 W. 3rd Street. Two of the clinic presenters will be Richard Napper and Rick McClellan. Bring your slides to show on Saturday evening, limit of 15 minutes for each presentation. Bring your own laptop computer we will have a projector on site.

Swap tables will be limited to two per registration. First come first served on the tables, we have a limit of 30.

The Watco meeting room is located in the basement and requires going down at least one flight of stairs. If you need help going down stairs please contact us ahead of time so we can arrange entry into the building at the rear entrance.

Total cost for both days including the train ride and lunch is $20.00 per person for advanced registration or $25.00 at the door. Advanced registration deadline is Sept. 4, 2009.

NAME:_____________________________________
ADDRESS:__________________________________
CITY:________________ST:____ZIP:____________
EMAIL:_____________________________________
SWAP TABLES:_____
PHONE #:___________________
Number Attending:_______ x $20.00 = ____________

Make Checks out to Heart of the Heartlands

Send to: Frisco Festival
c/o Bob Wintle
2712 Morton
Parsons, Ks 67357

For questions please email: bob.wintlejr@att.net (bob.wintlejr@att.net) or jchambers@watcocompanies.com (jchambers@watcocompanies.com)


Schedule and Motel Information Below



Frisco Festival Events Schedule

Sat. Sept. 12
9:00 a.m. Doors Open/Registration
9:30 to 10:30 Clinic #1
11:00 to 12:00 Clinic #2
Noon to 1:00 p.m. Lunch on your own
1:00 to 2:00 Clinic #3
2:30 to 5:30 Swap Meet
5:30 to 7:30 Dinner on your own
7:30 to 11:30 Roundtable discussions and slide/media show.
Modular Layout set up and running
Area set aside for model display

Sun. Sept. 13
Train Ride to Carona and back with lunch at Carona.
9:30 a.m. Load train at Monroe and Elm.
10:00 a.m. Depart Pittsburg
Travel over former Frisco and MoPac track.
Noon Arrive Carona
Lunch catered by Chicken Annie’s
Tour museum grounds.
2:00 p.m. Depart Carona
3:30 p.m. Arrive Pittsburg

End of Convention.

Pittsburg Motel Information:
When making reservations to get the room discount please mention that this is for the Frisco Festival. Rooms need to be booked by Aug. 12, 2009 to receive the discount.

Comfort Inn and Suites
4009 Parkview Drive
Pittsburg, KS 66762
(620) 231-8800 or 888-876-8186
www.choicehotels.com/hotel/ks067 (http://www.choicehotels.com/hotel/ks067)
25 rooms at $62.99 plus tax.

Super 8 Motel
3108 North Broadway
Pittsburg, KS 66762
(620) 232-1881 or 800-800-8000
www.super8.com/pittsburg (http://www.super8.com/pittsburg)
25 rooms at $50.00 plus tax.

Lamplighter Inn and Suites
4020 Parkview Drive
Pittsburg, KS 66762
(620) 231-8700 or 800-404-4329
www.elliottlodging.com (http://www.elliottlodging.com/)
50 rooms at $69.00 plus tax.

We now have the registration forms and information ready to fill out and send in!! It should be a great weekend of Frisco Folks and Frisco Activities and all for $20.00 advanced registration for both days!! I will be sending out a map of Pittsburg with the locations of the Watco headquarters and the motels later.

Hope to see YOU in Pittsburg,
John Chambers
Meet Chairman

[Iantha_Branch]

I think I will come.

[Larry Parrish]

Rats! I will be arriving in Mississippi that weekend to support our 33 year old son for a hip surgery.

This looks like fun!

--Larry Parrish

[bob_wintle]

Larry:
Where in Mississippi? When I was a kid I lived in Long Beach for 3 years. I lived right across the street from the L&N for awhile a had a front row seat to watch trains.
Bob Wintle
PS: I will keep your son and family in my prayers.

[Larry Parrish]

In Jackson, MS. He is down there on a three year medical fellowship in fetal medicine following a residency as an ob/gyn doc in Kansas City. He and his wife will return to KC after the fellowship. The hip surgery is to repair an improperly formed hip due to his being born with a congenital dislocated hip. He has gone this far without surgery, anyway!

We have been down there a few times in the last two years, so are getting to know Mississippi better than we ever would have without the kids being there.

Please don't count the no votes on the Convention. Have a good time with the ones that are there and expect more the next time you do it. I would have made arrangements this year if we weren't doing this family thing.

I was in Parsons or through Parsons a number of times when I was working for the Kansas National Guard full time 2005-2008. I was very aware of the Katy presence but had forgotten that Frisco showed up there, too!

--Larry

[Rick McClellan]

Regarding our turnout for our Frisco meet . . .

At last count Bob indicated 40 which I think is fantastic. I had expected about 20. We may even get a few more before it's all done. A few simple facts for your consideration:

1. I was at the MKT Historical Society meet in KC in 2008 and we had about 30 people. We had an absolute blast. Dave Webber was a superb meet chairman. Next year we will meet in Sedalia and I expect about the same head count.

2. Looking back at the FMIG Issue #17 we see 16 attendees photographed on the KC turntable at 19th St. This was August 1978 and the Frisco was still in operation. While there could have been more in attendance, I would think that few would miss the tour of the 19th St yard. You can see the cover of Issue 17 in "The Interchange" section of this website.

3. The NMRA Mid-Continent meet this year in Wichita had an attendance of 70. Normally this would be in the 120-150 range based on past meets I have been associated with. As you can see, it is not huge by any measure.

4. The Frisco fan base is scattered out all across the country making it difficult for a large turnout no matter where the meet is held or the nature of the festivities.

5. For those with school age children, September is not a good month to travel. Period.

6. The Frisco fan base is not a young fan base. Not sure exactly what the average age is but I would guess it to be in excess of 50 at this time. This translates into either mature workers with considerable responsibility in their jobs or retirees who simply cannot get away no matter how much they love the Frisco.

So there you have it. Bob Wintle has done a great job with registration and I think the Frisco fan base has more than "shown up" with this meet. My congratulations to those attending and my condolences to those who are unable to attend. You are going to miss a great meet.

For those not able to attend the meet, there is hope. I volunteer to host a Frisco meet in 2010 in Kansas City. We should be able to get a prototype tour or two, a layout tour, 2-3 great Frisco clinics and maybe some operating sessions for those interested. If 40 people come in 2010, I will be thrilled. Start thinking about 2010, like either May or August.

Ship IT on the Frisco!

Rick

[meteor910]

Rick - You can count on me attending in 2010 in KC! My Olathe "base" will be convenient. Let me know if I can help in any way - maybe I can come up with a clinic topic?

Ken

[yardmaster]

5. For those with school age children, September is not a good month to travel. Period.

6. The Frisco fan base is not a young fan base. Not sure exactly what the average age is but I would guess it to be in excess of 50 at this time. This translates into either mature workers with considerable responsibility in their jobs or retirees who simply cannot get away no matter how much they love the Frisco.


"Precisely" on #5, Rick, and "hmmm" on #6! :) I will plead guilty to skewing the average age.

Regardless, I'll start looking at May/August dates for 2010! Assuming that it's a 2-day meet, that will work well for the whole family and will conditionally offer my assistance if you're looking for youngin's to do some grunt work.

Best Regards,

[gna]

I was thinking of coming, combining a family visit to Lawrence with a jaunt down to Pittsburg, but it doesn't look promising. My wife and daughter are not going to Kansas for a visit, so I'd have to drive all the way alone, I'd have to take a day off work, and I have to travel to Shreveport for work later in the month. That's two chunks of time away from my family, which puts a lot of pressure on my wife. 2010 in Olathe is very doable, though.

I'll see if I can swing the day off and make up my mind tomorrow.