Railfanning at the 2003 TCA Convention

e*Train Issue: Jun 2003 | Posted in: Railfanning

By M. Stella

I know when I attend a TCA National Convention in a far off local I like to visit the local railroad facilities, a railroad museum if available, displays in city parks, and maybe a tourist railroad if lucky.

Visitors to the Western Division 49er Convention in Ontario, California will have ample opportunity to do the same.

On sponsored tours you might see a 4-6-4 Royal Hudson, visit the narrow gauge Grizzley Flats, or ride a variety of old trolleys.

On your own you can hop aboard MetroLink and visit the Los Angeles Union Station. If you transfer there to Amtrak you can ride to San Diego aboard a Surfliner. A great ride!

Die-hard railfans can visit Cajon Pass where an Eastbound UP freight going up the hill might pass another Eastbound UP freight going down the hill!

Much closer to the Ontario Convention Center and only 15 minutes away is a fantastic display of BIG STEAM representative of the three major Southern California railroads.

There is the Santa Fe 4-6-4 (a full size #2055), a Southern Pacific 4-10-2 (just made by 3rd Rail), and my very best favorite of all…a Union Pacific 4-12-2. This #9000 was the first 4-12-2 and is the sole survivor of her class. Of course many will pay more attention to the 4-8-8-4 Big Boy #4014 and a few weird railfans might even prefer the DD40X Centennial diesel on display.

If you plan on attending the 2003 convention and desire more information on how to visit this terrific Pomona Exhibit please contact your convention hosts. For now, please enjoy the pictures I took just last month.

See you all in Ontario.

1) The Santa Fe 4-6-4 that is the locomotive Lionel modeled the #2055 after.

2) An SP 4-10-2 with a third cylinder in there somewhere.

3) Possibly the most famous locomotives of all time, a 4-8-8-4.

4) The ONLY 4-12-2 left, except for those in smaller scales.

5) The Climax of a visit to this display.

6) The best looking locomotive face belongs to Big Boy.

8) The Arcadia Station filled with displays and treasures.

9) Now you see what a Big Boy Engineer sees.

10) You can crawl INSIDE the #4014s firebox if you desire.

11) For the fan of Switchers, something for you too.

Shop Amazon and Help TCA

TCA members who shop at Amazon.com can have each of their normal purchases generate a modest payment to TCA! And it won’t cost you anything!

The Train Collectors Association is now a participant with AmazonSmile, which is a special website operated by Amazon that lets customers enjoy the same wide selection of products, low prices and convenient shopping features as on Amazon.com.

The difference is that when customers shop at AmazonSmile (smile.amazon.com), the AmazonSmile Foundation donates 0.5% of the price of eligible purchases to the charitable organizations selected by customers.

The process is simple. Just search for and select Train Collectors Association when you sign up and shop at smile.amazon.com.

You use your regular Amazon.com username and password, but when you log in to smile.amazon.com, you’ll see that you are supporting TCA with your purchases:

Note that if you just log in to the regular amazon.com, this benefit does not operate.

There are no costs to either you or TCA, but TCA benefits!

This is a great way for TCA to earn extra cash to offset costs, so sign up today to help support TCA.

* Note: TCA is not a party to any of your Amazon transactions, and does not endorse any products or vendors.

Helping TCA with your ebay purchases when you use PayPal

If you’re an ebay user and have a PayPal account you use to make payments, you can designate a donation for TCA when you’re checking out — any amount, small or large.
If you’re a regular seller on ebay, you can pre-designate a percentage of your sales to be donated automatically in your name to TCA as long as the purchaser pays with their PayPal account.

In both cases, you will receive a donation receipt from the PayPal Giving Fund, and enjoy applicable tax advantages.

How to do it:

Click on the image above, or use this link. This will take you to ebay, where you will see the following page (log in to ebay if you are not already):

This offers TCA as an option. Click on the “Add to My Charities” button where indicated with the red arrow. Thereafter, when you make a purchase, at checkout you will be offered the option to make a donation to TCA in any amount of your choosing. Small amounts add up, larger ones are great! It’s always up to you!

The option will appear at the lower part of your checkout page, something like this:

If you’re a regular seller on ebay, you can allocate a portion of your sales proceeds to be donated to TCA. Look at the green arrow marked “Optional” above to see how to do it. Details on how ebay calculates the donation may be read here. This is a wonderful way to share the financial benefits of your hobby with the organization that promotes it!

An added benefit to TCA is that these donations are not subject to normal processing fees, so that makes your donation work harder!

* Note. TCA is not a party to any of your eBay transactions, and does not endorse any products or vendors. PayPal issues the receipts to you for your donation, not TCA.

Railfanning at the 2003 TCA Convention

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