Overview
Join us in Front Royal for our 26th Annual Convention, the first ever in the Shenandoah Valley. As always, the railroad has changed a lot since the days of lumbering steam-powered Y's dragging freight and streamlined K's providing through Pullman service from New York. But big-time railroading in these parts is far from a distant memory. We'll see how Norfolk Southern is upgrading its lines, adding second track, improving junctions, and increasing train speeds as part of its Crescent Corridor project to move even more freight than ever. We'll visit the Virginia Inland Port, an intermodal terminal providing international container shipping and customs service 220 miles from the ports at Norfolk. We'll also be returning to the past by visiting the many surviving stations still standing along the Hagerstown District.
Registration for the 2010 Convention is Closed.
Accommodations
The headquarters for this year's convention will be the Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites Blue Ridge Shadows located directly across from the Virginia Inland Port. Only two years old, the Holiday Inn is a full service conference hotel, with an on-site restaurant, pool, whirlpool and 24 hour fitness center. The hotel has 124 beautifully appointed rooms with one king or two queen beds and with a refrigerator, free high-speed wireless Internet, a 32” LCD TV with HBO, hairdryer, iron/ironing board, and coffee maker with complimentary coffee. For those such as families needing more space, 26 suites are also available.
We will start our Convention Wednesday night with a presentation by noted author Mason Cooper who will fill us in on the history of the N&W Hagerstown Division.
Virginia Inland Port
On Thursday we will tour the Virginia Inland Port, also known as VIP. VIP offers the same services for shipping containers offered 220 miles east at terminals in Norfolk, Portsmoth and Newport News, effectively bringing the port of Hampton Roads to the mountains. VIP is also a U.S. Customs-designated port of entry, and the full range of customs functions is available to customers.
Note: Due to safety considerations, our tour of VIP will be limited to viewing the facility through a window in their control building.
Thursday: Luray Tour
After visting VIP, we will proceed south with stops at Front Royal, Luray and Shenandoah. There will also be stops at a few of the more spectacular bridges along the route. Restoration of the station at Luray has recently been completed. It now houses offices the Luray/Page County Visitor's Center and the local chamber of commerce.
For lunch we will dine at the Mimslyn Inn, a historic 1931 hotel that was one of the first large buildings in the Commonwealth of Virginia to use concrete construction techniques. The Inn just recently underwent a multi-million-dollar restoration.
Alternate Tour
For those family-members who are not so rail-minded we are offering an alternate tour on Thursday. The alternate tour will be to the
Museum of the Shenandoah Valley showcasing the art, history, and culture of the region. The museum in Winchester, Virginia, includes a historic house dating to the eighteenth century, six acres of spectacular gardens.
We'll stop for lunch at the Wayside Inn in Middletown VA on the way back to the convention hotel.
Clinics
Clinics will begin Thursday upon our return from Luray. There will be three presentations Thursday afternoon and evening. One will be held Friday night followed by the Virginian Rwy Interest Group meeting. Three more will be held on Saturday. Check the official convention schedule on the NWHS web site for times and topics.
| Presenter | Topic |
|---|
| Mason Cooper | Introduction to the Shenandoah Division's Hagerstown District |
| Steve Summers | Trestles of the Virginian Railway in West Virginia |
| Alex Schust | Mine to Market - Follow a ton of coal as it starts in the miners "room" and makes it way to the consumer |
| Alex Schust | N&W's Pochontas Division Dry Fork Branch |
| Paul Weber |
Detailing N&W steel cabooses |
| Dave Stephenson | Horsepower vs. Horsefeathers; analysis of steam locomotive power |
| Jim Nichols | Clearing up various N&W tender classes |
| Bill McClure | Modeling VGN Wooden Passenger Cars |
| Frank Scheer | History of N&W Railway Post Offices - 1864-1959 |
Friday: Hagerstown Tour
On Friday we'll follow the N&W north to its terminus at Hagerstown, Maryland. Along the way we'll be seeing surviving stations at White Post, Charlestown and Sheperdstown, WV. We'll also see the spectacular bridge over the Potomac River at Sheperdstown. The Christ Reform Church across the tracks from the Sheperdstown station will be feeding us lunch in return for donations. Then we'll move on to the
Hagerstown Model Railroad Museum located in the former historic N&W station at Antietam, MD. We'll finish up our trip north with a bus tour of the N&W-related sights in Hagerstown including St. James station, Vardo yard, and the former sites of Hager Tower and the N&W/PRR passenger station at milepost H-0.
The tour will be stopping at Boyce, VA on the return trip for the cookout.
Cookout at Boyce Station
After the success of last year's cookout in Roanoke, we've decided to do it again! Frank Scheer and the
Railway Mail Service Library will provide the location for our cookout of hamburgers, hot dogs and all the fixings right next to the tracks in Boyce, VA. Being on Norfolk Southern's gateway to the northeast, we hope to have some live prototype action during our stop. Frank maintains an ATCS computer server that can show us the rail traffic in the area and give us plenty of warning before those double-stacks come roaring through!
Buses from the Hagerstown Tour will be stopping over at Boyce for the cookout.
Saturday Activities
After a long day on Friday, relax by catching a clinic, shopping the Commissary, voting for your favorites in the modeling contest, or just swapping stories with other members. If your engine's still fired up you can check out the
Winchester Model Railroad Club's layout or do some railfanning along the busy Hagerstown District. Just remember to be safe and stay off the tracks.
The Commissary closes at 3:00pm. Get your final Commissary purchases before 3:00pm!
Annual Banquet
Join us for an enjoyable buffet dinner with your choice of sirloin or chicken. Following our meal, we will present the Golden Arrow, Brakeman, H. Reid, and Precision Transportation awards. Beverly T. Fitzpatrick, Jr., Executive Director of the
Virginia Museum of Transportation will be our speaker. Having first worked at the museum as a teenager, Bev is well qualified to talk about the history of the museum. He will also discuss developments in planning for the museum's future and the million-dollar Norfolk Southern Challenge Grant.
Due to space constraints the Commissary will NOT be open following the Banquet. Make sure to get your purchases by 3:00pm Saturday!
Membership Breakfast
We’ll prepare to say goodbye for another year as we enjoy a hearty breakfast buffet of scrambled eggs, biscuits, French toast, sausage and bacon. The annual Society business meeting will follow, including presentation of awards from our modeling contest.
Questions? You can e-mail us at <convention@nwhs.org>.