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Sunday, July 16, 2006
I am up early. My first meeting as Board Member gets going at
8 am and doesn't quit until quarter of 2pm! I have a hearty
breakfast because I don't know when/if we get lunch.
 
Lots of Board business discussed. Of the "Things I can probably
tell you", Max Ulver was elected our new GNRHS Vice President. All officers
were re-elected to another two year term (President, Secretary, Treasurer,
etc.).
Next year's convention (2007) will be at the "Grand International" in Minot.
http://www.internationalinn.com/
The 2008 convention will PROBABLY be in Wenatchee (excellent!) and we are
in very early negotiations for possibly having the 2010 convention
at the Glacier Park Lodge -- which would coincide with Glacier National Park's
100th Birthday. VERY cool...
The mayor of Kalispell, Pam Kennedy welcomes us to town. Next up,
John and Bev Tracy who have organized this year's convention, provide us with a
complementary light buffet (thanks, guys!). They introduce the hotel staff and
give us a brief rundown on what would be happening during the con.
  
Next up at 2pm is the beginning of the convention registration. Here
we get our convention shirts, caps, mugs and name tags. An innovation,
introduced by the Tracy's this year, is printing the tours we have purchased
right on our name badge so it can be viewed at a glance. No more tickets!
I wander over to the Railfair which will open at 3pm to take some pictures
and help Scott Tanner set up his booth. I set up my laptop on his sales
table and presented the new Cascade Division DVD created by Tom Garrett.
http://www.gngoat.org/videos.htm
I'm over talking to Bob Kelly at his table when the doors are opened
and the conventioneers swarm in.
I figure I should go have a look myself, so I start circulating around.
Almost immediately, I come across a table where the lady is selling
order hoop sticks! (she's got two on display). These were used by the
GN agents/operators at depots along the line to "hoop up" Form 19 orders
(flimsies) to trains as they passed. A real relic, these items were long
ago replaced by CTC and radio.
Ooo...I've been looking for one of those. I ask her how much. "Oh,
five dollars", she says. I try to remain calm and with trembling hands pass
her a fiver. I would have gladly paid ten times that for this item. And
it's gen-u-ine. It comes from the ex-GN Summit depot on Marias Pass.
I was talking to her the next day at Railfair asking why they were selling
them at such a reasonable rate. She said they got a whole BOX of them
at an auction for like pennies on the dollar. They sold all 10 of them
in just a couple hours Sunday. Anyway, I'm tickled pink.
You never know what you're going to find at these swap meets. That made
my day. I told Bill Sornsin about it and his eyes lit up and he stomped
over there to get one. He was waving it around like a little kid afterwards
(just like I had been doing). There's something magic about holding a
mundane, yet fascinating historical item in your hands.
I also picked up a GN safety button for the Mrs. (her birth year), and Bob
Kelly gave me a VERY nice price on an old Pacific Coast Railroad timetable.
I met author Gary Krist who is coming out with a book about the
Wellington disaster in February 2007 entitled, "The White Cascade" to
be published by Henry Holt and Company (http://www.henryholt.com).
Author Ray Djuff (View with a Room, Glacier/Waterton In A Snap) who
stopped by Scott Tanner's table to chat. Of course, I wandered around Railfare
getting some candid shots of Stan Townsend (left) and Cordell Newby (right)
in my "official duties" as convention photographer (how did THAT happen???)
 
Anyway before I knew it, dinnertime was approaching. I managed to tag
along with Scott Tanner and we had in our group Ray Djuff, Craig Neros
and a local guy, Bill Lundgren from the West Glacier/Belton area.
We headed out to a local bar/casino joint for some brewskis and burgers
and jabber. Our waitress, bless her heart, got a couple of the orders
wrong (she didn't write anything down) but I don't think she charged us
enough as dinner for the five of us was under $50 including a generous tip
with me picking up the tab. Update: Yep, the receipt shows the correct
items...food is just that much cheaper out in Montana.
Back to the hotel about 8:30, I snapped a couple pictures of Ron Erickson
giving his presentation on Hustle Muscle and called it a night. Back to
my room to download and type up notes. A good day! Got me an order hoop....
...wwwwwwwwWOW!
Monday, July 17, 2006
Slept in a bit. Hit the buffet about 7:45. Scrambled Eggs, sausages and
little mystery potato things, not bad. Lots of pepper for eggs.
Signed for it to "put it on my room bill" like a big shot... ;p
At 8:15, I went right to work. Took the following photos at the
Railfair in numerical order:
"Art's two GN FT B units" at the request of Duane Buck.
The Photo Contest entries (12 or so).
The Model Contest entries (44 models entered this year!)
Pictures of this year's convention models for sale
8400 and 8405 (two numbers) WFE refrigerator cars.
Wow, used up a whole roll of film...er...entire CF Card on that!
Visit the GNRHS website for the above pictures.
Bought a Vanishing Vista postcard of Oriental Limited behind P2
at Whitefish in color (for website cover shot).
Bought a GN 1950 International pin from Scott. When we get
home will see about buying a similar Red River pin and then
frame them both. Very nice little items.
After Railfair, walked with Scott downtown to check out the funky
Kalispell book stores - I found/bought the book, "Louis Menk speeches" for a
laugh (I can hear the Brotherhoods and railfans snarling in the
background) to read after the convention up at Essex. Update: After
perusing this book on the potty, I can honestly say the guy had some
good ideas (deregulation of the railroad industry)...unfortunately he
comes across as a bit of a pompous ass.
Scott got hungry so we had dinner at a place called Red's in
downtown. Pretty good! I had a couple Kokanees on tap with a BIG
Cobb Salad and cup of spicy corn chowder. Scott had a burger and picked up the
tab for both of us! (Thanks, buddy!)
It was getting late so we hustled back to the con so I could take a
few pictures (man, this is getting to be a lot of work...). I helped the
guy setting up the projector by removing the lens cap! Hey, it's what I
do for a living...
Both Scott and I begged off on the first presentation as it was...nap time!
(and camera download time)
Came back refreshed and watched NPS Ranger Doug Follet's presentation,
"Through The Years" at Glacier Park - very droll Scandahoovian humor. Lots
of "groaners", but it was fun.
Next up was Father Dale's interesting slide show on trains using Marias Pass.
We had evening tours starting in just 90 minutes, so the hotel had set up
an "Italian Buffet" for us just outside the meeting room. Scott and I
zoomed over there to the line.
At first, there was a little confusion with the big crowd. Do we get
seated first or get food from the buffet first? We gambled on getting
food first and stayed in line. A Manager appeared and sorted it all
out, no problem.
The fettuccini was excellent, chicken was good, ziti was so so and meatballs
were good! (How's THAT for a hoity toity buffet line review, eh, Martha???)
Or should I say it was faaaaabulous (as they haul Ms. Stewart away to the
hoosegow).
Anyway, back to the story. Scott said the Hockaday Museum was walk-able from
the hotel so rather than take the shuttle bus, Scott, Ray Djuff and I strolled
it
over. It turned out it was about 3 blocks over and 3 blocks across, not too
shabby.
We saw this on the way over. A Montana convertible.
The museum door was locked, but when we knocked, they immediately came to the
door
and asked, "GNRHS?" Yessir, we're here! The big attraction was the five original
Winold Reiss drawings on display in all their colorful glory. Here are some
"establishing shots" of the GN-related section of the museum:
They also had the nifty Joseph Scheuerle (pronounced "Shirley") Vacations
For All poster on the wall. Scott and Ray got into a lively discussion
with the museum curators trying to fix the exact date of the poster
from the items pictured.
http://www.gngoat.org/vacations_for_all.htm
It wasn't long before the GNRHS shuttle bus showed up and unloaded a
couple dozen GNRHS members. I walked around taking my obligatory candids of
folks looking at the artwork.
If you'd like to visit this museum the next time you're in Kalispell, their
website, with directions is here:
http://www.hockadaymuseum.org
Tomorrow's a long day with an all day trip on Marias Pass, so I took the first
bus
back to the hotel to type up my notes and get some shuteye. And DON'T call
me Shirley...
 
 
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