NSC Convention - Wrapup

Today was the n-scale manufacturers breakfast. Reps from each company get up and discuss their future plans. Usually you can get the same information from them at their booth so not much is really new.

My ride to Boston was arranged with Neal Carnaby of Neal's N-Gauging Trains so after breakfast I helped him pack up and load up his room full of merchandise. I ended up riding with his wife, Erica, and and son Norman, which was okay because Neal's van doesn't have any AC. We had a little trouble finding the hotel in Boston but Erica got directions over the phone and we were soon there. The hotel was near a shopping center which I visited then ate supper nearby. Tomorrow I ride the Acela Express from Boston to Washington, top speed 150 mph.

NSC Convention - Day four

Today at the convention was for for the public train show, a trip to the Connecticut Trolley Museum, clinics and the banquet. But first I walked over to the Walmart, about 1.6 miles, to replace my lost razor. Not really a good idea as the area is not pedestrian friendly.
I finally spent some money at the trainshow, buying some of the Branchline Trains kits I had seen during the tour yesterday and a set of Kato stack cars. Branchline makes some really nice laser cut building kits and I'll probably buy some more. Didn't make any clinics.
Did laundry so I would have clean clothes for the rest of the trip.
The banquet was fun though I didn't win but one door prize.

NSC Convention - Day three

The Swap-O-Rama started at nine am. All N scale stuff just for convention attendees. A few clinics today and tonight the Essex Dinner Train. It's supposed to rain all day so we'll see how that works out. Got a tour of Branchline Trains but missed the rest of the Swap-O-Rama and lunch. Went to my room for some junk food since the hotel restaurant was so expensive. It was a nasty rainy day all day and still going when we left for the Essex Clipper Dinner Train. Our bus windshield kept fogging up and the driver would wipe a little hole in the fogged up windshield to see. Made everyone very nervous. We arrived at the train station intact and a bit early so we had to wait for them to bring the train up. We were assigned to specific cars, even specific tables and were escorted to our table by a nicely dressed waiter. Now they knew exactly when were were coming and exactly what each person at each table had ordered so at this point, maybe after serving the salad, they should have been able to set our food in front of us. Not so. We waited and waited for food, finishing the appetizer, the salad and the bread then waiting some more. I just don't understand what the delay could have been. The waitress took drink orders and I ordered a coke, not knowing that a 8 oz. coke would cost $2.50. Dessert was also long in coming but eventually we finished our meal and de-boarded only to find that our busses were not there and after a call to the bus dispatcher it was determined that the dispatcher had no order to send busses. It was cold though not raining. Many were not prepared for standing around outside and some of the ladies used the hand dryers in the restroom to try to stay warm. The bus company recovered quickly however and our buses soon appeared. All in all, it was not the most fun I've ever had at a train show.

NSC Convention - Day Two

We loaded up at 9:15 this morning for a field trip. First stop was the Essex Steam Train. They have an interesting combo trip where you ride the train to a river landing and then board a boat for a trip on the Connecticut river. Lunch was served, bag style, while we cruised a few miles on the river, then back onto the train and back onto the bus. Next we went to the Groton Submarine Base Museum and a tour of the original nuclear submarine, the Nautilus. Not a life I would have enjoyed.
Tonight was the live auction of n-scale trains but in all the years I've been to these conventions, I've never even bid on anything. I skipped the auction to play with my computer.

NSC Convention - Day one

Well, started the day without my electric razor. In thinking about it, I believe I lost it on the platform in DC. I heard a noise and noticed an open zipper on my bag but looking back down the platform I saw nothing so I zipped up the bag and went on. Fortunately I have a spare. Originally sold by WalMart for $3.95, I bought a bunch of Shaveman razors for $1.00 each on close out. They run on AA batteries and the two batteries were worth a dollar. It's not much of a razor but it will do until I get to the store to buy a replacement.

Went to the Mall for lunch and while there visited the Apple Store to buy a copy of the just released iWork and iLife. Several new features but in particular a spreadsheet for iWork. I would guess that that was the only store in the mall that was identified only by it's logo.

On getting back to the hotel and starting to load the new software I was somewhat disappointed to learn that the brand new, super duper iMovie requires a G5 or Intel machine to run. Guess that gives me another reason to buy a new laptop.

Registration for the convention is at 1 pm today but until the 7 pm reception, there is nothing else scheduled. Had a nice nap. Presentation at the convention turned out to be a long, loud description of the development of the New Haven Railroad logo back in the 50's. I left until it was over. Desert afterward was good and stayed in Kim Saign's room until midnight watching him sell trains.

New Orleans to Hartford - part II

Still running late this morning but perhaps not too late to make my connection in DC. Conductor thinks we will be there at 11:20. I will now move from the luxury of a compartment to the confines a coach seat for the next 6 hours. Hope they have an outlet to plug my laptop into.

Hooray, made the connection with no problem. Even had time to drop my luggage in the first class lounge and do some shopping in the Union Station Mall. Train 176 left Washington, DC on-time and I have passed through the large cities of Baltimore and Philadelphia with the next big city being New York City. We just pulled out of Trenton, NJ, right on time. We arrive in New Haven, CT at 5:06 and I switch to a shuttle that takes me to Hartford, CT arriving at 5:58. With any luck I will have a ride waiting for me but I might take a cab to the hotel in Farmington, CT where the convention is being held.

Arrived New York City at 3:20 about 2 minutes late. Cell phone and EDGE data network seem to function fine in the depths of the underground station but not in the tunnel approches. Every seat on the train seems to have a 110 electrical outlet available. Wish they did that on all their trains. Bunch of people got off in NYC but even more got on. May have to give up the other half of my double seat. Left station at 3:31, one minute late. Lady just walked by my seat who absolutely could not walk down the aisle without turning sideways because of her hips. She also had fingernails that were about 6 in. long. Whoa!

Arrived in New Haven on time. Transfered to train 476 for the trip to Hartford along with a large number of other folks. Ended up with an aisle seat facing backwards. Didn't have time to play with any of my toys. Arrived at Hartford a few minutes late after a passenger failed to get off at an earlier station and they had to stop twice. My ride to the hotel was waiting so we stopped for dinner and I treated.

New Orleans to Hartford

Finally got to sleep about 12:30 am. A 7:20 am train made for a short night and I was back at the train station at about 6:45. Bought two cokes in the station for $1.75 each as there are no Coca-Cola products sold on Amtrak trains.

We left New Orleans on train 20 right on time at 7:20 am. No time to get breakfast so I was pleased to learn that the diner will be open later for breakfast. As we move out of New Orleans the Katrina damage and effects are still very much in evidence with boarded up homes or trailers parked in the front yard. Many homes have been restored however and look almost new.

We made our way north to the shore of Lake Ponchartrain and headed east at 80 mph. Eventually we turned more north and crossed the eastern neck of Ponchartrain and arrived at Slidell on time. We crossed the Pearl river into Mississippi and stopped at Picayune on-time. Next arrived Hattiesburg, MS at 9:40, still on time. For some reason I'm intrigued by that name and will have to look it up when I have a chance. Arrived Laurel, MS on time. At Meridian we had a "smoking break" which I usually take advantage of to stretch my legs and take pictures. We changed train crews here and said goodbye to Conductor Tommy Wood.

We reached Meridian, MS on time. They have a very nice station there, much larger that you would expect. A number of years ago, the Meridian mayor was very prominent in Amtrak advocacy. Amount other things he proposed a passenger route that would go due west from Meridian and connect to Dallas. It would have taken a lot of money to upgrade the track and signal system and nothing came of it. Don't know what happened to the mayor.



I'm riding in an Amtrak Viewliner car for the first time. The name Viewliner comes from the fact that the upper bunk has it's own window therefore it's own view, a feature not found on the older Superliners. I may sleep in the upper bunk tonight, just to try it out. Another feature of the Viewliner bedroom is an in-room toilet. It's very convenient with just one person in the room, I don't know how you would work things out if there were two people who were not VERY good friends. A side effect of the toilet is that one of the two facing seats is rather narrow. I my case, that is also the seat facing forward so it's a little cramped.

We are deep in the land of Kudzu now. Kudzu is a large leaf vine that was imported by the railroads many years ago to help hold the soil on earth fills and cuts. Like many foreign species, it found things to it's liking and soon began to spread. It can be founds miles from any railroad now. It is not a parasite but it can climb and cover a tree until it blocks enough light to kill the tree. Anytime you see a tree in this area that seems to have exceptionally luxurious foliage, especially along the trunk, it's likely Kudzu you see.

Just went through Cuba, AL. I would guess the population at about 50. Sometimes I wonder how people decide to name their towns. (Well I was wrong ... just looked it up and Cuba had a population in 2000 of 363.)

The forest we are passing through, combined with the Kudzu I assume, is playing havoc with my GPS. Excessive foliage can make it difficult for a GPS to get a good fix and especially when the GPS is traveling at a high speed. The trees here grow right up next to the right-of-way and are quite tall. The current location of the GPS satellites can make a difference also so I guess there are too many of them east and south of me right now. Hanging from a suction cup hook on the window of my compartment, my GPS can only "see" well to the north and west. Sometimes it is able to maintain a 2-D fix, meaning it can calculate latitude and longitude but not altitude and other times it is fooled into miscalculating the 2-D fix and shows the position way off the railroad track on the map. As we come into a clear area and it gets a good fix, the little yellow 2-D arrow will suddenly turn green and snap back onto the correct path.

Lunch was a tasty pepperoni pizza and even though we were no longer in Mississippi I had the Mississippi Mud Pie for desert.

We have been on time mostly but are slowly starting to fall behind. We waited quite some time south of Tuscloosa, AL and finaly started again after meeting Amtrak 19, the south bound version of this train. Had we been on time, we would have been in and out of Tuscaloosa before 19 got there.

Twenty minutes late out of Birmingham.

Departed Anniston 4:59, 42 min late. Interesting depot, looks like it once served two railroads right at a sharp junction of the two lines. Depot is being restored.

The Atlanta depot is out in the suburbs rather than downtown, a place called Brookwood Station, which is underneath I-85. I went into the depot to look for some Coca-Cola and when I came back out, the folks waiting to get on decided to follow. A very stern station announcer stopped them but I ignored him and kept going. I think a lot of people were consternated.<G> BTW, in the national headquarters town of Coca-Cola there were no Cokes available in the depot. Departed Atlanta at 9:30 EDT, 1 hour and 9 m late. I have a two hour connection in Washington so I am a bit concerned.Departed Gainsville, GA at 10:31, 1 hr 15 m late. Time to go to bed and see what the morning brings.