Does anyone have any news to share from the ARM-Train Conference in Chattanooga?

Wesley

I'll start with a quick review. Hopefully some others will add.

The word was that about 230 were in attendance -- I have not yet counted up the number of entries in the attendees list.

There were a variety of vendors displaying: three ticketing suppliers; three offering steam locomotive rebuilding services; other firms offering parts and supplies for steam and diesel locomotives; specialty light blubs; insurance firms; engineering firms; Adlake (as I reported earlier); several museum store suppliers; and others.

A great variety of seminars were offered. Some of the topics covered were museum stores, volunteers, wood car repairs.

During the Saturday trip to Tennessee Valley Railroad (outbound from the hotel via a train pulled by the Museum's ex-Southern GP30) the shop was open for thorough inspection. The 4501 was undergoing its major repair; on the next track was the Southern E-unit getting its overhaul (including body work). The driving wheels from the 261 were in process -- two sets done, one in the wheel lath, and one in the quartering machine.

The Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel has a ex-New Orleans streetcar which is operated on weekends, etc. On Sunday a impromptu railfan trip with photo stops was operated before regular service started.

I'll be writing up a trip report for my museum's board of trustees, so I'll post that here too when its ready.

One thing Brian didn't mention is the 'delay' on Saturday morning. The train was scheduled to depart the Choo Choo at 8AM, but was nearly 90 minutes late arriving. Word is a coal drag occupied the NS-CSX interlock that the TVRM train had to cross. I didn't hear much griping from the crowd, being that many are used to dealing with the Class 1's, but that and moving a car parked too close to the track for the morning's entertainment caused more bemusement than anything.

It is said that a picture is worth an thousand words and since Evan has offered a written narrative of the conference, here are some visuals. On Sunday a trip on the Summerville Steam Special was run for Conference attendee's, Monday was a trip on the museum operated Hiwassee River train. Tuesday was a trip to the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History, home of the General.

pic 13 Southern 630 at Rock Springs, Georgia on the Summerville Steam Special.

pic 230 The Hiwassee River train parked in Copper Hill, Tennessee.

pic 19 The General of great locomotive chase fame.

More Pictures from the conference.


pic 123 The Theatre in the conference center at the Choo Choo. Seminars as well as the show and tell presentations by many organizations on Thursday night were held here.

pic 126 The vendors area at the conference. On Saturday the banquet was held here.

pic 187 Hotel lobby at the Choo Choo, former Chattanooga Passenger Station..

More pictures from the conference. These are from the Friday afternoon field trips.

pic 6 A Lookout Mountain incline car. Line at one point runs at an astonishing 74% grade.

pic 11 Inside a Lookout Mountain incline car.

pic 61 Inside the Towing Museum.

Pictures from Saturdays trip to TVRM from the Choo Choo.

pic 106 The unscheduled towing clinic.

pic 132 Our train from the Choo Choo to the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum.

pic 235 Inside the shop at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum.

Since this post was started by a trolley guy, we have a big finish with the Sunday Morning Trolley "Fantrip". Thanks to our Motorman Payton for being such a gracious host.

pic 5 Taken Sunday morning after the ARM Annual Meeting. Choo Choo in the background

pic 9 There are two of these (non operational) wig wags at the trolley grade crossings in the parking lot.

pic 21 Terminal Tower, formerly governed train movements in and out of the station. Now landscaping dept offices.

Great stuff. Thanks for sharing.

Three observations from one who attended all the conference's events starting with the Sunday steam trip to Summerville, Georgia.

1) Tennessee Valley RR Museum did a truly outstanding job handling the conference. On Sunday, those involved were understandably exhausted but that was because of their hard work and great coordination. The conference itself was almost flawless. Kudos to G. Mark Ray of TVRM, and all the Museum's volunteers and staff for their hard work and great execution of a most difficult task.

2) The attendance was lower than expected. There were some significant no-shows including a number of the all-electric museums, and certain other ones.

3) The Boards of both TRAIN and ARM voted unanimously to continue the combination of the two organizations. The new name of the organization was not decided. An unofficial "straw vote" was taken at Wednesday morning's plenary session presented by Don Evans of the West Coast Railway Association in Squamish, BC Canada. The attendees fully supported the steps that have been taken, and that will be taken, to combine TRAIN and ARM. Final official vote to combine will be held at the 2012 annual meetings of both organizations during the joint TRAIN/ARM conference in Montreal, PQ Canada scheduled for early 2012. Combination should be completed sometime in 2013.

Thanks!

Did they miss the new item about how the economy has had a slight downturn? I think it may have been mentioned on the evening news a time or two.

As somebody who's income is roughly 60% of what it was two years ago, the cost of flying to the convention, paying for a week in the hotel, food, the convention etc. simply wasn't even an option. I suspect I'm not alone.

One thing not mentioned was the the Choo-Choo was hosting two separate railroad groups on the weekend as the pre-conference activities of the Lexington Group were taking place as well. I arrived on Sunday afternoon and we spent Monday on TVRM and then on Tuesday #630 took us to Knoxville where the actual meeting was held.

I just stated a fact. I did not, nor will I, speculate on the reason(s) for any museum not attending. The economy might have had something to do with the lower attendance--or not.

The evening news? Hmmm. I'll have to check that out sometime.

Thanks!

Just for information, several groups in my area recently had annual meetings and also reported that their attendance was down significantly from past years. In addition, staff at several museums in the area have commented that volunteer participation is down considerably and quoted the economy and the price of gasoline this summer as contributing factors.

PC