We’ve had our challenges arranging a first class convention at reasonable rates in the Halifax area but we’ve done great.

“Ocean Unlimited !” MFMR convention will be held June 1,2,3 2012.

The main venue will be the Halifax Forum Multipurpose Room. This is a great facility with good parking, and oodles of space so any layout configuration is possible. It includes a large glassed-in room which will be excellent for the contests and clinics. For set-up , there is drive in capability by way of a large roll-up door..

The public show will be Saturday only from 9am to 4:30pm Vendors can arrange for sales tables at $20 each. As usual, display tables are no charge. You must bring your own covers for the 6′ by 3′ tables. Set-up is on Friday from noon to 10pm but arrangements can be made to get in as early as 10am if necessary. Let us know if your table needs power.

The banquet will be at King’s College dining hall. This facility has the highest quality food. The meal will feature “Hip of Beef” with roast potatoes & vegetables and Yorkshire pudding. Any special dietary requirements can be handled if mentioned on the registration form.

Recommended accommodation is at the highly-rated Comfort Inn on the Bedford Highway. This is a clean and comfortable facility with free Hi-Speed and Wi-Fi in the rooms. It is located near Mile 7.9 on the Bedford Sub for you railfans..
It is a fairly straight 7 km (10min) drive in to the show venue. In addition, many of the major shopping malls and the Bayers Lake shopping district are easy to get to from there. Rooms are $107 and $114 per night depending on needs.
One great advantage is that the price covers breakfast that includes eggs and sausage. I would suggest booking early due to the pressure on hotels and motels in the Halifax regional municipality at that time of year. Call (902) 443-0303 to make arrangements. Mention the model railroad convention for the reduced rate.

The delegate fee is set at $15 per head. NOTE ! that to get access to the Model/Photo Contest room or to enter a model/photo in the contest you must be a delegate. The same applies to the clinics. We’re trying hard to not go in the hole !

We would love to have lots of representation from the model railroad groups and clubs. As there is no problem with space we can accommodate nearly any layout shape. Let us know your requirements.

Sorry we couldn’t include the particulars in the recent Branchline. A package will follow with registration forms and further details.

Regards,
Marc 240-8024 (Cell)
E-Mail: capcitymrcnssympaticoca

However, our numbers are low, and at least one member will be moving out of the area in a little while. So, a few more new members (adult: 16+) would be most welcome. Any help the Federation can give to publicizing this opportunity to modelers in Dartmouth/HRM will be appreciated.

As we do not currently have a formal organization, contact can be made with myself, or with David Stredulinsky (Stredulinskyeastlinkca). Thank you.

After lunch we stopped in to Chester, Nova Scotia to visit David Miller’s very impressive HO layout.  Duane has been helping David with some of the scenery and detail work on this layout.  It was impossible to see every detail in the hour or so that we were there.  Duane was continually pointing out tiny details that most people would overlook but were very important pieces of the scene.  Things like a scratch built circular saw on a sheet of plywood near a building being constructed (plus all the other usual items you would find near a building being constructed, tiny birds “flying” over the tree tops and sitting on things were some of the items.  See if you can spot more of these tiny details in the photos (below)

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I’ll apologize in advance for the pictures of Derwin. It really was a great get together. Great conversation and great food (the chowder was amazing!). I’ll say his expression was due to his early (3:00am) wake-up call to drive Shelley and Ashton to catch a bus to Monteal.

When she picked it up she told me that it would be for her grandson who lives with his parents in Germany (his father is assigned to a NATO unit there).  But he would be home for a visit during the summer and they’d give it to him then.  I asked her to give me a call so I could get a picture to share with members of the MFMR.

About a week ago I received the call and made arrangements to meet their grandson, Brandon.  His grandfather, Gil, told me that Brandon was so excited to receive the train set that they immediately had to clear the dining room table to set it up and he’d been playing with it non-stop ever since!

Apparently Brandon is about as big a train fan as they come, and he’s only 5 years old!  Instead of dinky cars and action figures he has trains of all shapes and sizes from Thomas to the Polar Express (and that’s what he calls all steam locos).  He loves coming to visit his grandparents. Gill has a model railroad in his basement that he is allowed to play with from time to time.  He also loves where he lives in Germany too, since there is a small privately owned rail yard practically in his back yard.

I invited Brandon and Gill to visit the Bayside and Tidewater before Brandon returned to Germany.  I wish I had taken some photos because he was definitely in his glory (actually I was too busy keeping up with him to take pictures!).  He couldn’t decide what he wanted to look at or which train he would like to run.  I think he ran just about every loco in the room, for a foot or two at least!

It’s encouraging to see a young person this excited by trains, and to be supported by his family.  Hopefully Brandon  settles in the Maritimes when he moves back to Canada so he can participate in the MFMR!

Scott

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These addresses are set to forward mail to the appropriate person so that when the position changes hands it will be easy to change where the email gets sent.

Scott