July 16-19, 2009

Chicago, IL

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ATSF Model Contest Entry

BNSF Model Contest Entry

ATSF Photo Contest Entry

BNSF Photo Contest Entry

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Vendor Information

Layout Tours

Some of the above files are in Adobe Acrobat format.

You don't have to be a member to attend!

Updated 7/5/09

New: Day rate $40, payable at the door, gives admission to clinics and the contest room. No meals are included in the day rate.

This year’s convention honors, no not the name of a crack Russian Limited traversing the Siberian Plain during the Cold War, but the Santa Fe’s first train service to depart from Chicago’s then new Dearborn Station in 1888.  The Sixteenth Annual Convention of the SFRH&MS based at the Holiday Inn Select in Naperville, Illinois will have activities aimed at the interests of railfans, modelers and historians alike.

Some of this year’s highlights will include a visit to 80 East Jackson, the Railway Exchange Building, longtime home to the Santa Fe’s headquarters in Chicago. A trip to the Museum of Science and Industry to view their large HO layout, Pioneer Zephyr and the ever popular coal mine passenger railway. On Sunday, the Illinois Railway Museum will feature Diesel Days.

Clinics will include a look at the Illinois Division, from the very early to present day, a railroad history of Streator, IL and the Illinois Northern Railway. A demonstration of Illinois Division train control signaling and modeling cantilever signal bridges. We will look at the ubiquitous ballasted deck pile trestles and other bridges found in Illinois. For the passenger fans there will be modeling ATSF heavyweight passenger cars, a talk on the San Francisco Chief and a look at Business cars.

Other convention features include the modeling and photography contests, the Saturday night banquet, modular railroad displays, layout tours, vendor sales and swap meet.

For those arriving by Amtrak, Amtrak has rail service from Union Station to Napierville once a day.

Rail service is available from the airport to the Naperville. Plan your trip at the Regional Transportation Authority website. Use parameters: “O’Hare Airport”, “Midway Airport”, “Union Station”, and “Naperville Metra”.

Clinics:

ATSF Diner from AHM Heavyweight - Casey
ATSF Junctions around Chicago - Szwajkart
Building ATSF Cantilever Semaphore - Green
Chicago: Then & Now - Rhodes
Dearborn Station - Szwajkart
History of Illinois Northern - Bates
Illiois Division Roadmaster - Buell
Locomotives in my Life - Hendrickson
Modeling: LED lighting - Hinds and Sandifer
Modeling Heavyweight Cars - Casey
New Model from Intermountain - Angstad
Railroad & Heritage Museum - Ordner
Railroads in Streator - Cisco
Railroads of Joliet - Merzlock
San Francisco Chief - Hoffman
Santa Fe 2-10-2s 3800 Class - Wilkowski
Santa Fe Business Cars featuring #405 - Rhoads
Signaling on the Illiois Divisoin - Rippeteau

New - Pre-convention options.

Tuesday July 14: Railfan Road Trip

Join us for an informal railfanning trip along the Santa Fe in Illinois.  We plan to start in the Willow Springs/Lemont area and follow the rails west to Joliet and beyond. Highlights will include the crossing of several rivers and stations both big and small. There is a lot of the original Santa Fe still out there if you know where to look. Your host’s have spent many years railfanning this area and would love to share their experience with you. Stops will be at public access locations. We will have NO special permits to be on private or company property ! – Sorry, no trips to the secret places where the F7s are hidden.  Transportation will be by auto, so we need drivers & we need passengers.

• When: July 14; 8:00 am until ?
• Where: Meet in the convention hotel lobby.  Look for the folks with cameras.
  
• Cost: Almost nothing – share the gas costs.  Your tour guides will accept brass locomotives and other expensive gifts.
  
• If you are interested, please contact ATSFILLDIV@aol.com
  
• Let us know if you can drive, if you need a ride or you will do either.

Wednesday July 15: Operating Session on Mitch Rosset’s ATSF Illinois Division Layout.

Mitch will host two operating sessions on his HO layout.  The railroad represents the Santa Fe from Chicago’s Dearborn Station to Fort Madison Iowa in 1958.  For those that saw his layout at the Super C Convention in 2000, it has grown and changed significantly. The layout features multi section running of the famous Santa Fe passenger trains of that era. The layout is fully signaled and Dispatcher controlled.  Space is limited to about 15 people per session, so please let Mitch know as soon as possible if you are interested in participating. These sessions are for people interested in prototypical model operations, as there will be an open house later in the week for layout viewing.

• When: July 15
  
  • Afternoon Session - 12:30 pm to 4:00 pm
    
  • Evening Session – 7:00 pm to 10:30 pm
• Where: Des Plaines, Illinois (30 – 45 minutes from convention hotel)
• Contact Mitch at ATSFILLDIV@aol.com to reserve a spot.  Indicate afternoon or evening session.  Also indicate if you are interested in car-pooling from the hotel, either as a passenger or driver.

Friday July 17th, Des Plaines Hobby Shop Open House, 6:00 till 9:00 PM

Des Plaines Hobby Shop in conjunction with Centralia Car Shops would like to extend a warm invitation to all convention attendees to their store for refreshments and Hors D'oeuvres. Your hosts, Ron and Sue Sebastian, will be happy to share their more then twenty year experiences in running this successful store and manufacturing business. This store is a must see for any Railfan whether it be for the books,O scale detail parts,custom S scale cars,extensive HO stock, exclusive N scale brands and DCC equipment. There is nothing like walking into a well stocked hobby shop and finding that special something you have been searching for. It might be here, please check it out.

Friday July 17th., Layout Open House, 7:00 till 10:00 PM

THE ATSF ILL.DIV. an HO operating layout will be open for viewing. The layout which is located about Five blocks from Des Plaines Hobbies features the Santa Fe in 1958. The layout runs from Dearborn station to Shopton Iowa. Featured are multi section name passenger trains of this exciting era. Operations are controlled by dispatcher via custom software with full detection and signals.

Please look in you convention packet for maps and other goodies to help you enjoy your convention expierence.

Convention Chairman: Preston Hamilton