The “early bird” track erection team set up 4 loops on the patio. Two outer loops, the over and under loop, and an 8’ small center loop. The trains were running by 9:08am Saturday and didn’t stop until 5:00pm Sunday. We had a great turnout of club members both running trains and those that came by to just gab. As always I can’t remember which was more fun.

Keefe brought his 50+ Character Train down from Santa Fe and ran it continuously on the outer loop. This is always a child pleaser and this year is no exception. I estimate that we had up to 40 people at a time watching the train, and some children’s stay stretched into the hours. We also generated a lot of club interest and some new members.

Putman brought his brand new Amtrak Genesis Diesel Locomotive up from Deming to run. Ham also brought some of his Genesis cars to run with Lewis’, ending up in a very impressive long train. The consist ran flawlessly until late in the day when we had some derailments due to “driver fatigue”. 

We had a double header running with Lee’s and Semler’s new Bachmann Spectrum Consolidations pulling the 1:20 AMC freight cars. Lee has sound in his engine making a striking image.

The small inner loop had a constant parade of trolleys and Lil' Eggliners to view.

Over on the Bio Park’s permanent layout several Club members were running their long haul trains with Luxford. Viewing 3 freight train sets running simultaneously with upwards to 150 cars on the track at any given time was a sight to see.

Luxford had arranged to have the folks from “Operation Life Saver” set up under the tent, they were there both days handing out safety information and Rail Runner paper models to 100’s of happy kids.

E:Mail or call me with your ideas on how to make this event even better. Everyone there had a great time and we have received nothing but complement from the Bio Park and visitors.

Check out our Web site for photos of the weekend event. www.nmgrr.com

We are also looking for more open house event. As we move into summer there is a long gap in or calendar that could be filled. Please contact us if you would like to show off your layout or any other ideas you have to get us together. I couldn’t have said this any better; “Thanks for all of you work and enthusiasm. We are always looking to expand our knowledge and RR’ing skills. We are making every attempt to position the Club to be a benefit for all members and skill levels.”

Furman - VP of Operations