NEW! History Corner

Where were you 65 years ago?  I was still in High School in Washington D.C.

Any of the following that precedes 1977 is from stories I have heard over the years.

65 years ago (1949), the Rocky Mountain Region was formed at an NMRA National Convention in the Colorado Springs, Manitou Springs area.

Within minutes, two divisions were formed.  The Pikes Peak Division beat the Denver Division by five minutes.  Initially, the Region was made up of the states of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.  This was the beginning of the RMR.  Eventually, the El Paso area was added and later, the Rapid City area.

Over the years, more divisions were added.  Some folded or combined with others while some split into separate divisions.  In the early years, most of the Region's management came from the Front Range area because this was where most of the members lived.  In the 1980's, a strong effort was made to get representatives from all over the Region to be part of the Board of Directors.  A core group of us made contacts, hosted train shows, etc. around the RMR to gather more members and get activities going in different areas.

My first involvement with the NMRA and RMR was at the 1977 National Convention (Rocky Rails 77) in Denver.  In 1991, we again hosted a national convention (Mountains of Fun in 91).

Many regional conventions were convened over the years.  Until the mid to late 90's, we had two a year.  These were in the Spring and Fall.  Our Board of Directors met at both conventions plus a mid-year meeting in January.  This mid-year meeting was eventually dropped.  Over the years, conventions have been hosted by almost every division.  We have gone as far north as Rapid City, south to El Paso, west to Salt Lake and east to North Platte, Nebraska.  The Rapid City and North Platte conventions were made jointly with the appropriate region.  At the Rapid City convention, the two regions agreed to transfer that area to the RMR as we were closer than their central organization.

I would like to encourage some of the other members to provide the Callboard with more Region history.  After all, I don't remember all the neat things that have occurred in the RMR.

Dick Hunter

Oldtimer