Ghost train. Halloween scare train. Pumpkin patch kiddie trains. Fall colors. We've all got stuff like that, and they're all in October.

Is this a quiet time for any tourist or museum operation? Other than Steamtown that is.

Nah. The W&W has Autumn Leaf, Hayride Express, Halloween, Mt. Cuba, Santa Claus, and Holiday Lights train 'til the end of the year. Our downtime is between January-Mid March.

No, Robert, it's not quiet time. And that's why I wish the Tourist/Museum Railway convention being held this week at Orange Empire, was scheduled for a better time-- like early November!

Although that's the time we're getting ready for the Holiday Trains...

Howard P.

The weekends before and after Veterans (Armistice) Day are when OERM hosts Day out with Thomas. We have been holding one of the last DOWT events each year for about 10 years. So this is a VERY busy time for Orange Empire with the preparation and then the actual event days.

So early November is not a good time for OERM to host an event. All of this was explained when the two organizations first decided to hold combined meetings each year and the OERM invitation to ARM had been previously accepted.

That is also why few OERM people travel to the November meetings. So, can we have the ATRRM meetings earlier in the year?

Brian, quite understandable.

How about doing the ATRRM meeting in the spring? I know, I know, everyone's getting ready for the season...

Howard P.

I second Brian's question. At the T.R.A.In. conventions of the mid-1970's, I got the impression that the November date was convenient because the tourist railroads of that time ran mostly in the summer and the museums didn't run at all. Things are different now.

At the Steam Railroading Institute, we have fall color trips, several Halloween events, and an intense December schedule. (And this year we're finishing the firebox/tubes/appliances/cab/ashpan/sheet-metal job on PM 1225. That's a one-time event, but next year it will probably be something else.) Conversely, we shut down due to exhaustion in January and public events don't resume until late spring.

Now that the organizatons have combined, maybe it's time for a reappraisal of the convention calendar.

Aarne H. Frobom
Owosso, Michigan

Yes, and that's exactly where I was going with my original inquiry. Nice to know i'm not the only one who feels that way.

RE: Schedule of ATRRM's Annual Conference

I am not an official spokesperson for ATRRM although I am a newly elected Director. However, I don't think I'm speaking out of turn here when I report that at the ATRRM Board meeting last Saturday (10/20/13) the discussion on when to schedule the ATRRM annual meeting was discussed at some length. I'll let the ATRRM officers who frequent this forum report the results to the members via our usual ATRRM communications channels and specifically our quarterly magazine Tourist Railroads and Railway Museums. But I will say that the points made in previous posts about operating Thomas in the late fall early winter and all the other special events generally weren't an issue back in the 1990s and before when TRAIN more or less settled on an early November date for their annual meeting.

If one thing became crystal clear during our debate over the annual meeting it was that no matter when you schedule the annual meeting, you'll never please all of the potential attendees. What ATRRM does intend to do (as best we can) is to establish annual meeting dates three years out so members and others can then plan around the annual meeting.

Thanks!

While the NothEastern trolley museums have tried to schedule their informal annual meeting in the off season of February, that has resulted in some very cold and snowy dates.

BINGO! Spring means iffy weather and defacto scheduling the annual meeting only at those Museums in the warm weather parts of the country. If one of the purposes of the meeting is to showcase the host museum(s), then a spring conference would likely mean the diesels and steam locos are still drained and maybe some snow still in the flangeways at crossings.

Thanks!

The selection of conference dates includes the consideration of many variables. These include weather, host schedule, hotel availability (season vs off-season), etc. In some cases, as in this year's conference, the host asked for a specific date so as not to conflict with their DOWT event. In a similar vein, IRM has proposed conference schedule that takes advantage of their member's day which always occurs on the third Saturday of September. We've also had proposals from our friends North of the Border. I believe we all would like to go there when there's not one meter of snow on the ground.

After a long debate at this year's board meeting, ATRRM agreed to build a schedule of conferences that alternates November and non-November dates. The non-November dates, if needed, will be used to select a location that needs warmer weather, avoids a conflict or provides a benefit. With this in mind, the next three fall conferences will be -

November, 2014 - Tyler, TX, hosted by the Texas State Railroad
September, 2015 - Union,IL, hosted by the Illinois Railway Museum
November, 2016 - Savannah, GA - hosted by the Coastal Heritage Society

Upcoming Spring conferencs will be -

April 4,5, 2014 - Kingston, NY - hosted by the New York Trolley Musum
April, 2015 - York, PA - hosted by the Ma&Pa Historical Society. This will be a joint Spring meeting with the NRHS.

ATRRM will be considering proposals for future conferences at our Spring meeting. Groups from Calgary, Alberta; Austin, TX; Durango, CO; and Sante Fe, NM; have all expressed an interest in hosting.

Please follow http://www.atrrm.org for conference updates and attendance registration.

G. Mark Ray
President, Association of Tourist Railroads and Railway Museums