Some blog updates by other bloggers have started to hit the net about yesterday's Modelling the Railways of NSW Convention #28 and it has brought back some fond memories of this convention.
Sadly another MTRNSW Convention has come and gone and I have been able to attended. I have not been since my daughter was just about 1 month old. She is now 9. I was quite lucky many years back when for a period of about 4 or 5 years, I used to get work to fly me down to Sydney on the day before the convention and fly me back home. I used to have 3 staff in Sydney that reported to me, so I'd go down and do a mid year review on the Friday morning, flex off in the arvo and visit Bergs and Casula. On some of the times, I'd also attend a business convention for work in Sydney starting on the Sunday and running until Tuesday and having Saturday at the MTRNSW convention filled in a day. In alternate years the business convention was in Melbourne so on Sunday morning, I'd catch a plane from Sydney to Melbourne for the work convention, while I reviewed, the staff, attend a couple of train shops on the Friday, went to the MRTNSW on the Saturday and on Sunday went to the work Convention. Quite neat really and it worked out cheaper for work, I'd just have to pay my own accomodation.
On one occasion, four of us went to the convention via a road trip from Brisbane. We left on the Thursday Morning at an ungodly hour, stayed Thursday night at an ex-Club members place at Wingham, and did lots of train following, picture taking and finally making the shops in Sydney around lunch time on Friday. We'd stay at the Marco Polo motel, a short stone's throw from the Convention when it was held at Petersham, and it was great because the guys from Toowoomba (who read this Blog - Hi Bill, Hi Baz) would stay in a similar 4 bed room at the same hotel. On this particular road trip we had the pleasure of actually visiting Werris Creek on the Sunday morning and we were offered a run on the layout. I took a large amount of photos. On another trip I caught the XPT down and back with a mate, arriving Friday night and returning home on the Sunday afternoon overnight trip back to Brisbane - to sleep some more before returning to work on Tuesday. I particularly loved the trivia nights, the great fun that was had, the cheating and so on that occured.
Ahhh! Those were the times. I can't wait till I can get to one again. I think next year I will try and arrange a trip to this convention again with a few mates from Brisbane. I will be putting in the hard yards with the Missus to square that side away. I think we should try and re-create our epic road trip from many a year back. I think I will raise it at this week's Tuesday Nighters to see who is interested in attending.
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