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2024 Everett, Washington
GNRHS Convention
by Lindsay Korst
gngoat@gngoat.org
Saturday, September 14th
The first big event of the convention was the joint GNRHS - NPRHA swap meet (Railfair)
which was also open to the public. Let's go in and take a look.
GN books on the hoof; J. Craig Thorpe has artwork galore; Father Dale is taken
with a Winold Reiss print; Cordell Newby has an intriguing assortment of brass
models.
People. Andrew Klamka; Steve Leach; John Chute; Scott Tanner, Ben Ringnalda and
Bill Lee.
More people. Don McGlothlin, Gary Thurow, John Langlot; Andy Kern; Loren
Charnholm.
Saturday afternoon and evening featured self-guided (drive yourself) tours of
some sensational Seattle-area layouts. I concentrated on three Eastside
locations -- the first two of which I had seen published in
Model Railroader Magazine!
First stop was Lee's GN Cascade Division in Issaquah.
From left to right, is an overall view of this majestic layout. Wow!
Lee shows us how the layout operates. Closer-ups of GN models.
Second stop was Mike's (O Scale) Pacific Railway & Navigation Co. in
Maple Valley.
Climb the stairs up to Mike's PR&N to see a GN switcher, a box car referencing
the late John Allen's fabulous
Gorre & Daphetid
(pronounced "Gory and Defeated"), and a trio of GN work train cars.
Moonlight. Feels
Right. Spokane, Washington is the setting for this nighttime
super-detailed shelf layout. The former Great Northern & SP&S depot is
prominently displayed center stage.
On the other side of the aisle from Spokane, a layout operator switches the
tracks at Palouse on an NP branch. Well done, Mike!
Third stop was Pete's Great Northern & Northern Pacific in North Bend..
Of interest to GN fans, this magnificent, double deck layout covers the GN from
Seattle to Spokane using selective compression with key structures built or
planned. There's much MUCH more than that, but I'll concentrate on the Scenic
and Columbia River subs for brevity's sake. ;p
Starting with King Street Station and a fantastic mural of Elliott Bay and the
Olympics. Looks like they're going to model the famous view down 4th Avenue of
the GN Empire Builder billboard.
Grotto is the last town before Skykomish as we follow the GN and US 2 east.
Sky looks great with the Skykomish Hotel, GN depot and 5th Street crossing all
represented.
Sunset Falls bridge, maybe?; Scenic shows the old depot, substation and US 2
bridge; East Portal of the Cascade Tunnel #15.
Wenatchee features the famous Cascadian fruit warehouse; Appleyard models the
engine facility; What I consider the pièce de résistance of the layout - the
bridge within a bridge over the Columbia River. Reaching Spokane, we find
ourselves at the GN shop town of Hillyard.
Sunday September 15
Today is our all-day bus tour of the Northwest Railway Museum in Snoqualmie. It
turned out there were WAY more people wanting to go on this tour than seats on
the bus. No problem. I lived in the area for 40+ years, so I told Mary I would
simply drive myself over there. I know where everything is.
Well, I USED to know where everything is. I figured the tour would start at the
Snoqualmie train station just like the old days. I was wrong.
Found a GREAT parking spot and ambled over to the depot. Nice GN baggage car on
display. No train in sight. It finally dawned on me, the tour might be starting
at the fairly NEW display, museum and engine house over closer to North Bend.
Now slightly rattled, I headed over to the "shops". Sure enough, their steam
engine and diesel switcher were busily shuffling our excursion train around. I
grabbed the LAST feasible parking spot and stomped in.
There's nothing like live steam (even if it IS Northern Pacific) and L-5 class
0-6-0 NP #924 is no exception. It is megatons of PEOPLE MAGNET. And here are its
fans.
I really like the blue/gray boiler jacket on 924; Hannu Peltola of Finland is
possibly the furthest-from-GN-territory attendee of this convention. Looks like
Ben R. in the upper-right corner too; Neva Pavia steals a glance at my camera as we
board the train; HI BEN! Gosh, the guy's got a great smile, dontcha think?
Interior of the beautifully-restored SP&S passenger car; here we are crossing
the Snoqualmie River near North Bend (don't ask me which fork); the dam above
Snoqualmie Falls; looking down the canyon.
They dropped us off at Snoqualmie Falls station. #924 is all steamed up and the
crew is tending to her early 20th Century needs; NP #924 is popping off!
A local docent explains the workings of the power plant associated with
Snoqualmie Falls. "Remember when
Richard Dix came in here and tried to take over
this town?"
Okay, GN fans. The moment you've all be waiting for. A Jersey Mike's lunch back
at the museum!
Appetites sated, let's take a look around for Great Northern artifacts. Inside
the car barn, we find the ex-Jack Hoover (Belt, MT) X-101 caboose in the process
of being restored. Built in 1892, this is the oldest GN caboose in existence.
Thanks to the efforts and funding of a diverse group of organizations and
interested people, GN #1246 has finally come home to the Seattle area. #1246 is
an F-8 class 2-8-0 Consolidation built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in November 1907
and retired to Woodland Park Zoo in July 1953.
After languishing in Southern Oregon for over 40 years (private collection),
GN
#1246 has been repatriated to the Northwest Railway Museum in Snoqualmie. Word
on the street is, she will be getting a more accurate tender to go with her
future renovation (static display or operational has yet to be determined).
And so as NP #924 slowly backs towards North Bend on another excursion, we say,
"Farewell and Thank You" to the good folks at Northwest Railway Museum.
Monday, September 16
Today began the "seminars" portion of the convention. Leading off the
presentations was Kent Sullivan to talk about the various railroads of Everett.
Kent walked us through how the Great Northern, Northern Pacific and Milwaukee
Road accessed the city utilizing old pictures and a map of the area. Included
were two pictures of the old GN Depot over on Bond Street.
Between shows, Mike Showers was hustling up raffle tickets for the audience to
buy for Wednesday's Banquet. In the back of the room were some of the Larry
Fisher prints and books to be raffled off.
Next up was author Kurt Armbruster to talk about his book, "Pacific Coast"
(Seattle's Own Railway).
Kurt is introduced by Bob Kelly. See if you can spot yourself in all these
upcoming crowd
shots.
After lunch, we heard from Mike Intlekofer and Jim Hansen about "GN's Salmon Bay
Bridge".
Also known as "Bridge 4", this huge, double-track Bascule bridge over the
Ballard Locks has been in operation since 1914. At one time, the concrete
counterweight featured a "See America First" Great Northern Goat painting.
Tom Carr and Adrian Kopystynski presented, "The Cloverdale Story" (that's Tom on
the right) which talked about Great Northern's access across the border into
Canada and on to Vancouver.
Monday's final presentation was "Who Discovered Stevens Pass?" by Bob Kelly.
(the answer is, it depends...)
Tuesday, September 17
"Takin' Care of Business" Leading off today's slate is the GNRHS Annual
Membership Meeting (a.k.a. the Business Meeting). Various officers gave reports
on the Society's current status.
Archives Officer Don McGlothlin and President Mac McCulloch; Treasurer Bill
Sornsin; Layout/Photo Editor Andrew Klamka; Director Gary Thurow.
Modelers' Page Coordinator Rich Remiarz; Membership Officer Mary McGlothlin;
Director Tom Lambrecht.
Recognition of 50-year 2024 GNRHS Members. William (Bill) McGinley (GNRHS Member
74-0037) was presented with a plaque for 50 years of continuous membership and
support to the organization.
Marias Pass Mountain Signs by Jim Ruffing.
This was a really unique and interesting presentation about the signs GN placed
alongside the right-of-way pointing at famous Glacier Park mountains and their
elevations. Apparently, there were 20 signs in all and by the time Jim began
collecting pictures, there were 8 left (see the last picture). He even modeled
these signs. Very cool.
Archives Report by Bob Kelly
Bob is our GNRHS Liaison at the
Pacific Northwest Railroad Archive in Burien. He
gave us an update on the happenings at the "West End Collections".
Wednesday, September 18
Scott Tanner gave a wonderful presentation to start the day, featuring Great
Northern's "new" Oriental Limited and the beginnings of the GN "Goat" employee
magazine. There are just a few remaining Goat magazines Scott would like to add to his
collection -- check that last image if you think you might have one.
Puget Sound: Then and Now - These guys were a lot of fun. Clay Eals and Jean Sherrard
from the Seattle Times took old pictures and tried to match them with how the
scene looks today. Then and Now. Get it? ;p The big "O" represents the tunnel
portal we're going to see next.
For starters, here's GN's tunnel underneath Seattle being constructed, then
present day as Elliott Way is being re-constructed over North Portal.
GN #1246 used to be one of the star attractions at Woodland Park Zoo. After
languishing in Southern Oregon for many years, here she is "back home again" in
Snoqualmie.
Here are three lassies on GN's Seattle-Everett mainline posing in
period-costume. Many, many years later, three contemporary gals strike a similar
pose along Puget Sound.
Modeling Mid 50's GN Freight Cars by Rich Remiarz.
Mr. Remiarz shared lots of
good information with fellow modelers about how Great Northern equipment
differed from other roads.
Great Northern Diesel Power.
Richard Yaremko & Dale Sanders talked about their
upcoming book, (Spring 2025), in two volumes all about diesel locomotives. I want!
Finally, the Banquet is upon us. Time to enjoy a repast with friends and fellow
members and maybe score a raffle prize or two. Here's some of the goodies to be
won.
See if you can find yourself at one of the tables.
Old friends (Ben Ringnalda/Lindsay Korst/Scott Tanner) and Overseas Members
(Greg Harper - Australia/ Hannu Peltola - Finland/Ben Ringnalda - The
Netherlands)!
Serendipity. For me, it was attending the GNRHS convention and running into an
old college chum I had not seen in 30 years. Mark Shinkle is his name and
he lives/works in Everett. He was my guest at the Banquet and after buying a wad
of raffle tickets, he won this Larry Fisher print. Boonie! Kick! Whoa, Shink!
So that was the convention for 2024. Next up, GN, NP and SP&S societies
meet in Saint Paul, MN for 2025!
THE END
 
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