News

Oct. 20, 2024 - Ladies and Gentlemen, we had a great day and a full day...capped off with 130 of us attending the awards banquet.

clinics
ops
layout tours
excursions

Comment cards filled out by attendees were scooped up by the hotel staff clearing tables before I could get to them. I got caught up chatting with folks. So, feel free to let us know what you liked and where we could improve. One gentleman handed me his comment card directly and offered that banquet speakers should hold their mic closer to their mouth. We had numerous compliments throughout the convention and our volunteers appreciate those.

Please write up your experience for The Local or for your Division newsletter.

Sunday morning has the following on the schedule:

7 am breakfast.
8:30 am Rick Coble will give us an NMRA update in clinic room B or C.
9 am begins the settlement of sold items in the company store. (One person still needs to pick up the locomotive that he won in the silent auction.)
10 am annual MER Business Meeting.

There are a number of layouts open for visiting on the way home. Refer to the website or your convention layout guide for times, addresses and descriptions. Remember the late addition of Walter Hoffman's layout from 1-4.

We thank you for your attendance. Drive safely.

Jack

Oct. 19, 2024 - This was a busy day all around.

Prototype tours
9 layout open houses
4 operating call board sessions
a full slate of clinics from 8am to 10:30pm
over 600 items in the Company Store
two hotel layouts and the circus display
checking in and viewing some excellent models in the Contest Room

And tomorrow, Saturday, we get to do it all over again and then some, capped off with the banquet and awards event in the ballroom (function rooms B,C,D). There will be a cash bar from 6-7pm located near the Franklin Room. Dinner will begin at 7pm. Remember to bring your banquet ticket. There are a few tickets still available. Inquire at the convention registration table.

Here are some reminders and invitations to help plan your day.

Greg Warth and David Ferrari need to pick up their N scale NS hoppers in the Company Store.
The Aberdeen excursion. Those attending should start to gather in the lobby near the front door at 7:45 am. Randy Foulke will have liability disclosure forms for participants to execute. The bus will leave promptly at 8:15 am.
7 layouts are open for viewing.
3 more operating sessions.
A slate of clinics from 8am to 4pm.
The Authors' Table book signing from 4 to 6pm; located in the hallway near the Franklin Room.
The Company Store will again be open with shorter hours from 9am to 3pm. See page 5 of your Convention Guide for selling and purchasing details.
Those going on the Saturday Tichy tour should plan your driving to arrive by 9:45am. 3260 Nova Lane, Burlington, NC. Carpooling is recommended.
A great add-on to the Tichy trip is a visit to the Carolina Model Railroaders two club layouts in the old REA freight house. See the separate email with further details about parking suggestions.
Regarding the 7am Superintendents' breakfast, we have set up reserved tables in the far corner of the restaurant.
Reminder to layouts hosts, please return layout tour yard signs to the hotel. Leave them by the convention registration desk and let me know that you have done so.
We have more than 30 women attending the convention. For those who are NMRA members, here is a message from Karen Confer. (Note that a family membership is only $10/year.)

- I would like to gather all the women modelers in attendance at the convention for a picture. The picture would be sent to Michele K. (Colorado Model RR Museum), who is the leader of the WIMRR SIG (Women in Model Railroading).
- I think ... that a gathering at 4:30 pm, Saturday, October 19, 2024, would be a good time to catch people. The location can be in the Lobby, in front of the NMRA MER Banner. Thank you very much for your assistance in this project.
  Best, Karen
From Alan Mende, judges should report to the Contest Room by 8:30am on Saturday.

Thank you for making this a great convention!

Jack

Oct. 18th, 2024 - Clinic #23 "Backdrop Painting Painlessly" by Ken Wilson has been canceled. "Original Norfolk Southern Motive Power" by John Sokash will take his time slot - Friday at 9:30pm.

Oct. 18th, 2024 - Ladies and Gentlemen, we had a great start to Piedmont Junction.

70% of registrants have already checked in! Yes, a busy day for Kirk Bateman and his team of Jim Fisher, Randy Foulke, and Don Roback. But, they can look forward to a less hectic rest of the weekend.
Gene Sing's "Company Store" did a brisk business all day. With 120 donations to our raffle and about 400 items on the sales tables, we had over 500 items for you to win or purchase. Dale Young, Owen Maddux, Don Roback, and Peter Jerkewitz kept the tables organized and the process moving. Don't forget the one free raffle ticket in your registration envelope. Late additions are shirts from the 2023 convention for only $10! And you can expect more additions to the sales tables tomorrow. The Company Store will open at 8am on Friday.
Four operating callboard sessions took place today. Four more are on the Friday's schedule: Ken Reising, Rick Hollings, Erik Dyke, and Jim Kalenowski again.
Six layouts were open today. Six more are open on Friday. Check your layout guide for the schedules and addresses.
Other "off-campus" events on Friday include the New Hope Valley Railway where four of you will get to operate a locomotive. The Tichy Train Group tour has a scheduled start of 2pm. Please arrange your carpoole to arrive by 1:45 pm. Allow forty minutes for the drive. A special treat for folks coming back from the Tichy tour would be to visit Tom Cook's layout in Durham. We might want to add this layout to your itinerary.
The prepaid breakfast and lunches plus the buffet style at each meal should result in efficient service. The 6:30 breakfast start should get you to your 8am clinics on time. The clinic schedule is on the website, in your convention guide, and will be posted on the clinic room doors. The only change is the Friday night session by Ken Wilson, but we will soon post a substitute presentation.
Alan Mende will be accepting entries in the contest room Friday at 9am.

And how about those hotel based exhibits!

A room full of T-TRAK modules.
A raffle layout that you can win.
Rick Allen's circus modules with hand-sewn canvas tents, and the lighting!

Thank you for joining us at the Piedmont Junction. If you have any questions or suggestions, just look for one of the white shirt volunteers.

Jack Dziadul, Co-Chairman

Kevin O'Connor, Co-Chairman

Oct. 17, 2024 - The North Carolina State Fair officially opens today! Be careful of extra traffic in Raleigh around the Fairgrounds, especially on Wade Ave.

Oct. 16, 2024 - Be sure to double check the latest Clinic, Layout Tours and Ops session schedules here on the website to make sure you have the latest versions.

Oct. 11, 2024 - The Golden East Ops Session has been canceled due to unforseen circumstances. Refunds will be issued. The Layout Tour on Saturday afternoon is still ON.

Oct. 10, 2024 - Convention Guidebook is available for download HERE!

Oct. 10, 2024 - The City of Greensboro is working on S. Davie Street, the Western Boundary of the Greensboro Depot Complex. The Upper level parking is increasingly being filled by City Bus Drivers. If anyone finds this lot full then an approximate 10 minute trip to the Greene Street parking garage is required. Planning on utilizing this parking option can be a challenge. Access on Washington St. at Davie is now blocked from all directions.

My suggestion is utilizing a South Davie Street parking lot that is at the Western foot of the Depot Complex and has not been heavily utilized since construction began. Access to South Davie Street from ML King Blvd is marked Road Closed - Local Traffic only. Accessing the Davie Street parking lot is considered Local Traffic. This lot has concrete sidewalks that lead up to upper level of the Depot and the train layouts. I parked in that lot this past Saturday and had no issues getting to the lot or leaving from the lot.

Additionally, utilized ML King from I-40 places the driver on a slow drive (25 to 35 Mph) through an older neighborhood that ends with a view of the Greensboro skyline along with the Davie Street Railroad bridge. And the trip to back to I-40 is to just to reverse the journey. The approximate address for the Davie Street parking lot is 309 South Davie St., Greensboro.

We had a large group from the Neuse River Club visit on Sept. 28 but they all came by Rail. And there was no parking issue.

Oct. 8, 2024 - Marriott has just made five more rooms available for our convention!

Sept. 27, 2024 - Added Caboose to the evaluated model categories on the Contests page.

Sept. 26, 2024 - The a-la-carte breakfast menu for the convention has been posted under the Hotel page. Note that the prices do not include tax or tip.

Sept. 21, 2024 - Facebook Event has been created for the Convention! Mark yourself as going now! Share it with others!
https://www.facebook.com/events/768525431971039

Sept. 15, 2024 - Additional Home Layout Tour has been added - Saturday, October 19th, 1-4pm - Ken Smith

Sept. 12, 2024 - Deadline to order a Convention Shirt is October 1st, 2024. There will not be any shirts for sale at the Convention.

Sept 5, 2024 - Marriott has just released ten additional rooms to our reservation block. These will be the last rooms available at the convention rate. All are King bedrooms. Once these are booked, the hotel will be full.

August 26, 2024 - Ladies and Gentlemen, the Marriott is full. Our convention has booked approximately half of the 225 rooms; other groups and individuals have booked the balance. Marriott might have another group release some of its blocked rooms. If so, they will be assigned to the Piedmont Junction convention.

If you still need to reserve a room for the convention, Marriott recommends the Hilton Garden Inn, which is the closest hotel to the host Marriott. There are numerous other hotel options within a short drive of 4700 Guardian Drive, Durham, NC. Directions to Hilton Garden Inn Raleigh-Durham Research Triangle Park Hotel

August 24, 2024 - Updated new Clinics being offered! Check out the Clinic Descriptions page for more info.

Clinic #5: John Gallagher

Designing Operations Which Reflects the Economic Purpose of Railroading

Clinic #32: Alan Mende

Obsessive-Compulsive Detailing Revisited

August 15, 2024 - Ken Smith's Layout Tour has changed times from 7:30pm-9:30pm to 1pm-5pm and has been updated on the Layouts page. It remains on Friday 10/18. In other news, unfortunately Dan Fisher's layout tour has been canceled.

August 2024 - The Pre-Convention Early Fare of $60 is only good through August 31st. The rate increases to $70 on September 1st. If you have been planning to attend, but have not yet registered, please head on over to the Registration tab. And while scrolling through the website be sure to explore the layout tour schedule, clinics, prototype tours, and the other convention offerings.

August 2024 - Updated the Hotel page and added new Sponsors to the Sponsors page.

May 2024 - New Things to Do Around the Triangle has been posted under Prototype Tours webpage.

April 2024 - Added Mike Rossi's layout to the operations page.

February 2024 - The 2024 convention venue, Marriott Research Triangle Park, Durham, NC, has a new owner and will be undergoing renovations that will impact our September convention dates. Therefore, Piedmont Junction has been rescheduled for October 17 through October 20, 2024.

For this inconvenience the hotel has reduced the room rate from $109 to $79 per night, in addition to other incentives.

All existing reservations will be transferred to the new dates and at the $79 rate. We apologize for any inconvenience, but as you no doubt understand, this change is beyond our control.

We will be contacting all clinicians, layout hosts, and other relevant parties affected in the coming days.

November 2023 - Piedmont Junction has now been listed on the NMRA website! https://www.nmra.org/region-conventions#Mid-Eastern

October 2023 - Added more Layout Tour descriptions.

September 2023 - Added more info to the Operations and Layout Tour pages.

August 2023 - Added more Operations, Layout Tours and Clinics descriptions.

July 2023 - Added more sponsors to our Sponsor page.

July 2023 - News page launched for convention announcements and change record.