This has been a most interesting discussion indeed. I think the fact that the
BRHS has tradionally had its BOD meeting in October is something that could be
overcome by some forethought, creative planning and out of the box thinking.
"Where there is a will there is a way." I don't believe that there is a
shortage of ideas but rather a shortage of manpower stepping forward to
organize and host such meets as pointed out by Rich Gortowski a veteran and
tested warrior of such events.
I am all for a joint meet. Whether it coincides with a BRHS annual meeting,
spring meet, mid-summer meet or just a "Hill Roads Meet" is immaterial.
However, I don't think it will happen in Minneapolis/St Paul for a few years,
since this year the NP is scheduled to have their annual convention at White
Bear Lake, Minnesota, a suburb of St. Paul. Boy, that 2010 GN meeting at
Glacier National Park in the Lodge should be an awesome meet. It certainly was
tempting... cha-ching $$$.
I think it is a mistake to assume that members of the GN, NP or any other
historical society wouldn't come to Chicago for a joint meet. After all,
Chicago is a World Class city with one of the premier operating railroad
museums in the country located nearby. If we rescheduled for a summer meet
then there's even the 2005 World Champion Chicago White Sox and that other team
that plays on the north side of town as a potential draw/attraction. In August
you could even possibly throw in a preseason Bears game. The point is Chicago
would be a draw in itself for entire families with our meetings, seminars and
swap meets as a bonus. Attendees could ride Amtrak to town, jump on commuter
trains into or out of Union Station or ride the El for some excitement.
Obviously knowing the planned meeting sites and dates for all three groups
would be a necessary first requisite for future planning. On first glance it
appears that the NP and GN have planned events further out than the BRHS. Off
hand I don't know the proposed meeting sites/years for the GN or NP groups in
future other than those already mentioned in this discussion, but I'm pretty
certain a quick note to either Duane Buck, current president of the GN group or
Gary Tarbox, current president of the NP group would obtain their proposed
locations and dates. Both of these gentlemen seem to be very approachable.
After all, they are already working together on their joint Roundhouse archive
program. If the current BRHS president were interested in contacting either of
these gentlemen I can supply the information necessary to make that happen.
While our current discussion has focused on meeting with the GN and NP groups,
how about considering a joint meet with say... the D&RGW group? I think they
are attempting their first annual meet this year. Why not consider a future
joint meet with one of our CZ partners in Denver! Say for a 65th anniversary
celebration of the inauguration of the CZ. Perhaps they'd jump at the
opportunity. Again, consider the Rock Island and/or D&RGW groups, would either
(or both) be interested in a joint meet in Colorado Springs. Just following
along discussions on this topic there already seems to be some interest in a
West Chicago Meet. Who would be our most likely partner/year for that meet? I
think the BRHS is in a great position to reach out to more than just one
potential partner for the occasional joint meeting. Perhaps we could even
consider rotating partners to keep things fresh in addition to having their own
annual meetings.
Anybody interested in an annual meeting in Tucson? Oh yea, I forgot even major
league baseball Spring Training and minor league baseball teams have fled
Tucson. But it's a dry heat, believe me!!! For excitement we could have a
lottery to guess when the next Amtrak train will come through town and sit
outside the train station frying eggs on the platform. There's even a local
brew pub that offers free house drafts when the UP blocks the intersection
outside their watering hole. Exciting stuff. All kidding aside, this past
summer the Garden Railway Group had their annual meet in Phoenix. A neighbor
with one of the premier G-Scale railroads in all of Arizona asked me to operate
for his open house. That was a fun two day assignment. Somewhere around 500
people made car or bus trips down to Tucson from Phoenix to visit his back yard
empire and other operating garden railroads in Tucson. But that's another
subject for another day.
In closing, of interest to me is the fact that so far after two years of living
in Tucson I've meet a GN officianado, Hugh Grinnell, [Anybody that knows the
history or early details of the founding of Glacier National Park should
recognize that last name. Yes, he is a descendant of Charles Bird Grinnell.],
even an NP fan, several SP and AT&SF fans, a Milwaukee fan and a Northwestern
fan and a plethora of C&S narrow gauge fans, but no other CB&Q fans. I haven't
even given finding a fellow Chicago Great Weedy fan out here a second thought.
Later, Dave S. Tucson, AZ
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