The NMRA Pacific Northwest Region convention was held
at Cranbrook, British Columbia from May 29 to June 2. It was a very good
convention, with interesting prototype tours, many informative clinics, an
excellent public train show, layout tours and non-rail events.
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| Convention hotel - Prestige Inn, Cranbrook, BC |
I particularly enjoyed the Modelling with
The Masters session lead by Fred Headon, MMR and Jack Hamilton, MMR. These fine
gentlemen took the participants through all the steps of constructing a laser
cut kit of a railway bunkhouse which had been supplied by Fast Tracks. It was a
very informative session. I learned several very useful tips.
The convention hotel is situated virtually next door to the Cranbrook History Centre which has a distinct railway flavor. The museum has a very large collection of passenger cars which are in various stages of restoration as well as several locomotives. There are two large operating model railroads, one in HO scale and the other on O scale, as well as numerous other historical displays. It is worth a visit.
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| new covered shed over some of the passenger cars |
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| cars and locomotives awaiting restoration; the shed which partially covers the collection is in the top right corner of the photograph |
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| a Canadian Pacific mixed freight, running east on CP's Crowsnest Pass line, obligingly passed through town while I was out for an early morning walk |
The prototype tours included a half-day
trip to the now-closed Sullivan Mine at Kimberley, BC. The mine, which operated
from 1892 to 2001, produced primarily zinc and lead. Visitors ride from the
visitor centre, which is a station on the Kimberley Underground Mining Railway,
uphill a couple of kilometers to the mine entrance and into the mine where they
disembark and receive a detailed explanation of the mine and its history. For
me, the highlight was a very informative gentleman in his 80’s who looked not a
day past 65 and who conducted the underground portion of the tour. He had spent
his career in hard-rock mining, including at the Sullivan Mine. During the tour
he operated several pieces of still-operable mining equipment for a few seconds
to demonstrate its power and noise which was indescribably loud. I have visited
several mining sites in my time but have never before been able to see any equipment in
operation. Another highlight was the visit to the mine’s powerhouse which has
been nicely preserved. This tour, which is open to the public, is well worth
it.
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| riding on the narrow gauge train uphill to the mine entrance |
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| inside the power house |
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| a 3-dimensional model of this massive underground mine |
The other prototype tour, not normally open
to the public, was to the Canfor Forest Products sawmill at Radium, BC. This
all-day tour allowed participants to witness all aspects of the mill process
from unloading raw timbers from logging trucks to packaging and loading of
finished products on railway cars and trucks. The mill is a very impressive operation.
Following is a selection of the very nice modelling on display at the public show which was held concurrently with the convention:
