Historical Society Convention?

[AZ Rail Rat]

Anyone ever been to a railroad historical society convention? The Southern Pacific Society is having theirs just down the road in Tempe on 7 October. I can't see shelling out the $125 for the full four days. Would go a long ways towards that new system. I'm thinking about going for one day (Friday the 8th) and checking it out.

Answer the poll and give me your thoughts. :roll:

[AZ Rail Rat]

OK, here’s my report from the 2004 Southern Pacific Historical & Technical Society Convention held 7-9 October in Tempe, Arizona:

I only attended the Friday session (cost $40) and four presentations. By far, the most interesting was one given by Joe Schweiterman, professor at De Paul University and author of “WHEN THE RAILROAD LEAVES TOWN”. These are two books which compiled some ten years of his research on the impact of railroads leaving towns in the US with populations greater than 3,000. His eastern version is out and a western version to be published any day now. Though I did not spring $22 for his book, some of you might find it interesting. It’s full of maps, stories and before/after pictures of what used to be. Problem is, a quick search could not find it on the Internet. Try your local train store.

Another presentation by Bob Knoll was of local interest to me because it was of his teenage picture-taking days back in the ‘50s as he roamed rails of the Southern Pacific in southern Arizona. Bob said he had lots of picture credits in old books, but I could not find much on-line. Bill Kalt gave a good show about railroad history around Tucson from 1880 through the 1950s. Struck out again on any links to him.

The two most valuable items I picked up (for free) were the final “SOUTHERN PACIFIC BULLETIN”, the company news magazine published in 1996. It was the last one before the Union Pacific took over and made the Southern Pacific ride off into history. I learned a lot more about the SP as this last edition had several articles about its history.

One example, did you know there once was the Southern Pacific Communications Company (SPCC)? It started with a 316-mile microwave transmission system in California in 1963. In 1983, SP sold it and it became SPRINT. Also, in the late ‘50s, the SP was having problems competing transport of gasoline from Tucson to Phoenix, so they built a gasoline pipeline. I suspect this is the same line taken over by another company years later and, because of poor maintenance, burst last year and caused a local gasoline crisis, worse one to hit the Valley of the Sun since 1976.

The other free item was a reprint of an original flier on the Arizona Limited, a named train ran by the Rock Island and Southern Pacific from Chicago to Kansas City, through El Paso, Arizona and on to LA and San Diego in the winters of 1940-‘42. Found this picture with brief story and beautiful (looks and price) models of Pullmans: http://www.uncledavesbrass.com/CY-CRIP-AZLTD.HTML

The only item I paid for was an 8” metal herald of the Southern Pacific Lines, the same one used in my AZRR map. It now hangs in a prime location in my office. Worth the $10 I think.

These were the good things. Here are a few of the bad:

Model contest entries were nice, but did not float my boat too much. One thing that did was a model of the Southern Pacific Solano Train Ferry: http://www.cprr.org/Museum/Solano/
The full layout is about half finished (like my AZRR map was for SO long). Was it RRT1 or 2 that had ferries?

There was only one big layout at the convention location. You had to pay the full $125 registration fee and be one of 20 to sign up for a local layout tour. Here are pics of the Solano model and layout:
http://www.users.qwest.net/%7Egreames/SP%2704%20Convention.html
Made me wish I had a higher-end digital camera.

Creature comforts for convention goers had a bit to be desired. Coming in the second day, the resort had a sign pointing to registration, but in the wrong direction. Had to ask several people where things were. Also, the only refreshment available was ice water. Not too bad for a brisk 98-degree fall day in Arizona, but a little coffee and punch would have been nice. I found the resort restaurant was much better than I expected. Good food at a reasonable price (less than $10 for lunch).

Finally, there were two small rooms of vendors. Most had VERY over-priced books, reasonable to VERY over-priced black and white and color photos, and if you had anything from a couple of Ben Franklins to a couple of grand, some rather rare loco models. Too rich for my blood.

So if I had to vote, I would say if one is in town, give a railroad convention a look over, but leave your credit cards and checkbook at home. There was not a lot of time to talk to anyone, so I did not mention I was a gamer first, historian second, and modeler-NOT.

Your roving reporter – AZ Rail Rat 8) 8) 8)