Animas Rails 2017

Animas Rails 2017 RMR Convention Registration

DURANGO, COLORADO - June 8-11, 2017

Convention Chair – Gary Myers

Convention website: www.rmr-nmra.org 

(available on the Region home page!)

Hello Everyone! Just a month to go to 2017 ANIMAS RAILS!

This year’s Rocky Mountain Region annual convention in Durango, Colorado, will be from June 8-11, 2017.  For 2017, the convention will be hosted by the Region with an assist from the Silver San Juan Division.

Enjoy other activities while visiting Durango and extend your stay!  Check the “Attractions“ section on the convention website, to get info on:

Mine Tours, Zip Lines, Theatre, Dining, Jeep Tours, Horseback Riding, Fly-Fishing, Museums, Activity Centers, and River Rafting to name just a few!  Don’t forget to visit the Durango & Silverton Railroad Museum at the roundhouse, open from 7 AM to 7 PM.  

I encourage you to come to Animas Rails and take advantage of all there is all to offer in Durango!

CONVENTION ACTIVITIES

Thursday Evening, June 8th

Starting at 6 PM at the Durango DoubleTree, we open the registration/contest room.  Stop in and say hi, enter your contest models, pick up a door prize!  Enjoy the evening in Durango, at their many fine restaurants and shops!

Friday Morning, June 9th

Join us Friday for morning for clinics at the Durango DoubleTree hotel. We have two clinics on Steelmaking - Parts I and II, followed by another clinic on what you need to model a mine on your layout.  Also during the morning, an opportunity for a 10:30 AM shop & yard tour (for an extra fare) at the D&SNG yard.  We will also have the registration/contest room open for more contest entries and door prizes. At approximately 11:30 AM, we will close up at the hotel and break for lunch.

Friday Afternoon, June 9th

After a lunch break, we hold our layout tours from 1-4 PM, approximately 8 miles north of town.  We will be visiting Duane Danielson’s 3000 sq-ft O scale Great Northern and Northern Pacific, the late Jim Richardson’s Canadian Athabaska HO scale layout, and Andy Saez’s 7 ½” gauge live steam railroad, full scale AT&SF replica depot and authentic full-size AT&SF Caboose.  Also during the afternoon, another opportunity for the D&SNG shop & yard tour at 2:30 PM (extra fare required).  At 4 PM (for an extra fare), join us for a tour at the new Soundtraxx facility.

We take an official break for dinner at 5 PM.

Friday Evening, June 9th

After dinner head back to the Durango DoubleTree.  At 6 PM, the registration/contest room will be open for our Region Board of Directors Meeting and Popular Vote Contest, to be held concurrently. Please be courteous to the meeting attendees, by casting your votes “quietly”.  Simultaneously, we kick off our evening clinics, with the first on Forced Perspective Scenery, the second on the history of the railroad, and the third on western scenery sagebrush and yucca.  In between the clinics, feel free to listen in (quietly) at the BOD meeting and cast your vote in the Popular Vote model contest.  After the clinics end, the popular voting will be closed and models in the Popular Vote Contest only will be available for pick-up.

Saturday Morning, June 10th

At 7:15 AM, we will board the first train out of Durango, riding in an open air covered gondola or coach, and follow the Animas River and take the high line bound for Silverton.  We will be the first train into Silverton at 11:30, and have first choice of restaurants for lunch, with time for some sight-seeing before departure.  Take advantage of hitting the restaurants for lunch as they open, so you don’t have to compete with the next trainload of tourists for a seat.

Saturday Afternoon, June 10th

Your ticket will return you to Durango by train or by bus-coach (extra fare), make sure you select what is right for you on the registration form. The train gets back at 5:15, the bus earlier.  We will break for dinner. Everyone will be able to enjoy the excellent dining and venues available in Durango.

Saturday Evening, June 10th

After dinner at your favorite restaurant (reservations recommended!), festivities resume at the DoubleTree.

The contest room will be open to contest judges only at 6:30 PM, to begin NMRA judging of the 2017 RMR Contest models.  The room will be closed to non-judges.  After judging is complete (maybe around 9 PM), please come by and pick up your models, we have to empty the room this evening.

At 7:30 PM, clinics kick off again with a presentation by Soundtraxx, to give us important Digital Command Control (DCC) information and advice.  Our final clinic will be on your health, to help you have a safe, long and healthy journey in the hobby, especially as we all get older and things get more challenging.

Sunday Morning, June 11th

Sunday morning, we will gather at Rotary Park a few blocks north of the Depot, to take photos of the train from the trail footbridge which parallels the train track on the trestle crossing the Animas River. Between trains, we will gather at the edge of the Park to present the model contest awards.  After the Model Contest Awards presentation, the convention will be officially concluded.

Convention’s website: http://www.rmr-nmra.org/ (available on the Region home page!)

Hope to see you at Animas Rails, in Durango in June 2017!

-Gary

2017 Convention Registration