model train set on track

Conventions Ongoing

e*Train Issue: Jun 2020   |   Posted in: ,

By Carol McGinnis and Jim Alexander

When the first band of TCA members came together in Ed Alexander’s barn in June 1955 for a meeting, they probably did not realize that they were starting a tradition of over sixty national conventions. You can see the full list here. The successful Albuquerque, NM convention in 2019 has yet to be added to the list, but it’s an impressive record of hobbyists and friends coming together to share goodwill, fun, and learning.

The difficult decision to cancel the 2020 Convention in Jacksonville (to be held in conjunction with Department 56) because of the national health emergency proved a wise one, but that should just be regarded as a postponenent, as TCA has rescheduled it to the next available slot, in 2025. The Southern Division had skillfully prepared a promotional video, and in light of events, developed the modified one below.

No doubt, when 2025 rolls around, their video will be even more enticing!

But how does a convention happen? It takes years of advance planning, location selection, hotel and event veu selection and contracting, tours plannning, registration setup, website setup, computer programing, and more. It’s so complex that it takes a 75-page National Convention Operations Manual to lay out all the steps.

Yes, 2020 was a year to remember, and one way to remember the positive side is to consider the array of Convention Cars that so many members had ordered, as seen below:

As always, delivery dates can be checked here. And there are currently a limited number of Department 56 water towers designed for the convention available on the Southern Division website.

TCA e*Train has chronicled our conventions since its inception. Just use the search box at the upper left to find some! Here are some of the long line of convention logos from recent years that we have featured:

And the list goes on, well into the future of a prosperous and happy TCA! With its long heritage of leadership an accompolishment dating back to the days of 1954, TCA has much of which to be proud.