Steam on the Prairies, the TLR's 2010 convention, will be held in Winnipeg on the Memorial Day weekend, from May 28 to May 30.
On Friday we'll begin with a railfan trip to Portage la Prairie, rated by Trains magazine as one of North America's 10 best railfanning locations. The CN and CP mainlines come within a few hundred feet of each other at the Portage yards. We'll also tour the former CP railway station at the CP Heritage Park Museum.
As a non rail option on Friday, we have scheduled a tour of Lower Fort Garry National Historic Park, a beautifully restored 1830 Hudson's Bay Company Trading Post. It is the oldest stone fur trading post in North America.
On Friday night we'll feast at a barbecue held at Bill Taylor's Assiniboine Valley Railway. After our delicious meal, we'll enjoy riding the AVR's 1:8 scale trains into the sunset. The AVR has a live steam scale model of CP's famous Royal Hudson on its roster of locomotives.
On Saturday morning we'll have clinics. Our special guest will be Bill Schaumburg, Editor of Railroad Model Craftsman, presenting a clinic on commuter rail lines. Morgan Turney, Editor and Publisher of Canadian Railway Modeler, and Suzanne Lemon, Editor of Railfan Canada, are also scheduled to present a clinic.
After the clinics, there'll be activities centered around the Prairie Dog Central Railway. We'll tour their shops and hold a swap meet. Then we'll ride the rails behind their beautifully restored 1882 steam locomotive to the towns of Gross Isle and Warren. The Prairie Dog will also take us to the Hitch'n Post Restaurant for our annual banquet.
On Sunday morning we'll hold our annual general meeting. The afternoon and evening will be free for layout hops.
The convention will be headquartered at the suburban campus of Winnipeg's Canadian Mennonite University. Their dorm rooms are available for less than half the price of an average hotel room. If guests wish to purchase reasonably priced meals, the campus cafeteria will be open.
CN SIG: www.cnlines.com
Assiniboine Valley Railway / Winnipeg Model Railroad Club: www.swedenfreezer.com
Canadian Mennonite University: www.cmu.ca
Canadian Railway Modeller: www.cdnrwymod.com
Prairie Dog Central Railway: www.pdcrailway.com
Hitch'n Post Restaurant: www.thehitchnpost.com
Lower Fort Garry National Historical Site: www.pc.gc.ca/garry
CP Heritage Park: www.CPRStationPortage.ca
Past Conventions:
2005 Convention: River City 2005 - May 19-22 in Mason City - Joint Meet with the Chicago & North Western Historical Society
2006 Convention: NorthStar '06 - May 5-7 in the Twin Cities
2007 Convention: Steamin' to Winona - Winona, MN - June 8th - June 10th, 2007 Convention Activities Contest Photo
2008 Twin Ports Express Duluth, MN May 2nd, 3rd & 4th, 2008 Convention Activities Contest Photo's
2009 Three Roads to Hutch. Hutchingson, MN Contest photos 2009 TLR Convention
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updated 12/21/09.