Maine to Host 2016 National Narrow Gauge Convention

[Ed Lecuyer]

This just in... (courtesy of the Maine Two Footers Yahoo Group)

Hickory, NC, Sept 10. 2011 -- The business meeting of the National Narrow Gauge Convention today overwhelmingly approved a proposal to return the long-running national gathering to Maine in 2016.

The 36th National Narrow Gauge Convention will be held in Augusta, Maine on September 7-10, 2016, the week after Labor Day. The host venue will be the Augusta Civic Center, the largest convention facility in Maine.

The central location in Maine's capital city will facilitate visits to four operating steam prototypes: Maine Narrow Gauge Museum, the Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway, Boothbay Railway Village, and the Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Railroad.

Convention activities will also include clinics on railroad and industrial history and modeling, a large manufacturers' room selling modeling supplies, modular layout displays and home layout tours, and side trips to numerous Maine attractions.

The convention committee includes numerous narrow gauge modelers from the MiniBunch, the Sn2 Crew, and the Great Lakes HOn30 group.

[Thor Windbergs]

Good News,
Please post the Maine 2ft Yahoo Group address and any official site for the Narrow Gauge convention
Hum, 2016 gives me enough time to plan to come in from Germany...yahoo full steam ahead.
Any idea how many Maine 2ft steamers will be running by then B&S rr No.7 B&S No.4, WW&F No.10, No.9, No.11?
cheers
Thor

[James Patten]

I'd hazard a guess it's very likely that WW&F #9 will be operating by then.  As for B&SR 7 or Monson 3 - neither are our engine so I can't speak for the relevant organizations, but I'd think there's a good chance both would be operating before that point.

No Loco 11 by that time.

[Pete "Cosmo" Barrington]

Maybe no #11, BUT....

...a display cou;d be fassioned with the more portable components of the future #11!
Not to mention,...
...seeing the pieces then made all together would be a good draw of donation/funding for the project. 

[James Patten]

BTW - I'm really looking forward to this.  2007 was a great year for us (especially the week of the Convention - it was in Portland that year), and I have no doubt that 2016 will be just as great.  Augusta is about the same distance to us as it was from Portland, but MUCH more convenient for Sandy River and Monson countries.

[Ed Lecuyer]

The 2016 convention details are now available at:
http://nngc2016.org/wp/

September 7-10, 2016 is going to be a busy week at the WW&F!

[Stewart "Start" Rhine]

Yes, 2007 was a banner year for the WW&F because of the convention.  NNGC guests began showing up at Sheepscot the weekend prior to the start of the convention and continued a few days after the event was over.  There were so many visitors during that week and a half, we figured that we had about 1,500.  I met people from the U.K., Japan, Italy and South Africa just to name a few.  There was a group from Australia that rode the passenger train and then asked us to run a freight after the regular schedule ended.  We said that we would and they asked what we would charge so we talked among ourselves and came up with $100.  We put the freight consist together and went out doing runbys and still scenes for over an hour.  When we got back our guests thanked us a number of times, they had such a good time that they gave us $150.  I also remember one day when Zack and I spoke with a man who's father ran Garretts on the SAR.  He used to help him run the engine, that was an interesting conversation.  Another time, four fellows from Japan showed up right after the train left.  One spoke English quite well and we explained that they missed the train.  They decided to stay and look around so we got the handcar out and gave them rides.  Two of them said that it was better than riding one of their home country's high speed trains. 

Good memories,  I look forward to more good times next year as the convention guests come back to Alna.     

[Pete Leach]

We just finished this year's NNGC down here in Houston.  My home On30 layout of the WW&F was open on the tour.  I had several Maine 2-Foot fans stop by, including the team organizing next year's event in Maine.  Had a great time, met a lot of nice people, and look forward to the 2016 in Augusta.