Now I am not a member but I would love to participate, at least walk the vendor area, but I am wondering about how accessible this will be to non-members? I assume any non-member access would require a fee at the gate.
So, what do NMRA members here know about this convention and what, if any of it, will be accessible to the general public?
PS I’m not a member since the group is primarily focused on smaller scales and I am in large scale, where its been a very touchy relationship these past few years…and even though I’m indoors just like the small guys, I just havent seen any advantage cost to benefit wise for me personally. Now if someone there can convince me otherwise…
…but then I have to get past the door, now dont I.[;)]
I’ve only been to one NMRA convention, so take what I say with a grain of salt. Usually, there are two events that coincide, the NMRA Convention and the National Train Show (NTS). The convention usually runs about a week (Mon-Sat) and is only open to NMRA members. For a non-member to get in, you need to pay a year’s dues to join the NMRA plus the cost of the convention (somewhere around $150, not counting added costs if you want to go on the tours or participate in other “extra fare” events - I see there are several G-gauge layouts listed as tour destinations). There are single day rates, but it’s usually cheaper to pay for the whole week.
But, starting Friday afternoon, the NTS gets started and runs through Sunday. It is open to the public (for a ~$10 fee). The only advantage for NMRA members is that there is often several hours at the very beginning of the NTS that are open to convention attendees only.
I was not very impressed with the convention when I attended, but the NTS was a blast. In hindsight I would have been better off spending the $10 to get into the door of the NTS, and then blowing my convention entrance fee plus hotel costs at the NTS. For me: Live and learn. For you: if you’ve never been to an NMRA Convention, it may be worth it for you to attend and make up your own mind. But don’t miss the NTS!
I’ve been to three National Conventions and like potlatcher said, the National Train Show is open to the public and you will see everything us NMRA members will see. The only thing you won’t be able to attend would be the clinics etc. I enjoy going to the clinics as you get different ideas on how to do things. The National Train Show though is GREAT, tons of layouts, vendors and manufacturers. You get to see a lot of stuff before its released to the public later on in the year.
OK, nix that years fee in advance stuff! So it sounds like the NTS is what I want to aim for. I’ll make sure to block out a day for that. looks like its the last weekend, the 18, 19 & 20th
As mentioned, the NTS is open to the public and usually runs from Friday through Sunday. Lots of vendors, manufacturers, and modular layouts.
The NMRA convention is open to NMRA members. As of now, there is a $9.95 ‘Rail Pass’ for trial membership available. This give one 6 months of membership. After it expires, you have to wait 18 months before getting another Rail Pass. If you are not an NMRA member, this is a good way to get into the convention when it is in your area.
Be aware that like any other convention, it is expensive! The initial registration is usually over $100, and layout tours/banquets/excursions usually are ‘add on’ items. My last National convention was a few years ago(Cincinnati) and I went on two layout tours(at about $30 each). I may not go to another convention until Milwaukee(2010). That one is always a good one with Walthers & Kalmbach giving great tours. I usually spend a lot of time at the many ‘clinics’ and activities like the DCC meetings.
My first NMRA convention was in Indianapolis in 1963, and the train show was just some vendor displays in the hotel. The first NTS I remember was San Jose in 2000, and it was so big I ended up spending two days at it. Since this will be your first NTS, if I were you I’d plan on spending the whole weekend at the show.
BTW, I believe the last NMRA national convention in So. Cal. was Long Beach in 1994.
The train show is open to the public usually about noon on the Friday of the convention,Sat and part of Sunday. As mentioned by another post, you cannot go to clinics etc if you are not a member. I will not get on my rant about how the NMRA helps the hobby. Its been done before to no good effect on this forum.
And all of the future NMRA National Conventions scheduled so far are:
July 13 - 19, 2008 - Anaheim, CA
July 5 - 11, 2009 - Hartford, CT
July 10 - 18, 2010 - Milwaukee WI
July 3 - 9, 2011 - Sacramento, CA
July 28 - August 4, 2012 - Grand Rapids, MI
The 2010 Convention marks the NMRA’s 75th Anniversary.
If all goes as planned, I’ll be attending Milwaukee and Grand Rapids with the Operations Road Show layout, giving hands-on timetable and train order operating session clinics on our large (25’x50’) portable layout at the hotel during the week.
Actually, that’s close, but not quite right. I believe the Train Show is open only to convention goers on Friday, and opens to the public on Saturday. Of course the convention registration includes a free admission to the Train Show, so the Friday time is a great time to go because the convention goers get the show all to themselves. On Saturday you can more than double the floor population and make things three or four times as crazy.
The times may vary from one NTS to another, but the several conventions I have attended have worked out like this:
FRI - Show open at 2 or 3 PM for NMRA Convention attendees. Later, about 5-6 PM it is open to the general public. This gives the Convention folks time to look/talk with the manufacturers before the masses arrive.
My experience with the National Train Show at the NMRA conventions has varied and I can’t recall any two being the same; generally, however, on Friday convention attendees are granted three or so hours access before the floor is opened to the public. Attendees have unrestricted access at all times the show is open.
The fee for admission at San Jose in '00 was, I believe, $5.00; I recall that the price had gone to $8.00 at Cincinnati in '05, the last convention I was able to attend.
That was one of my big disappointments about the Seattle convention; that there were no opportunities for me to actually run a train or two. Sure, I could have attended some of the off-site ops sessions, but the ones I was aware of were “extra fare” and reserved for members of the Ops SIG (which I could have joined for, you guessed it, more $$$).
If I understand your post, it looks like your ops clinic will be open to regular convention attendees. Knowing that there will be opportunites like this at future conventions might make me think twice before I miss out on the the next convention that is within my “striking distance”.