Annual Conventions and Toy Train Shows

During a memory-making day trip, we boarded the Texas State Railroad and traveled deep into the Piney Woods of east Texas along a roadbed made by prisoners back in the late 1800s. For lunch, we had a delicious picnic in the shade of large Texas pine trees. One lucky person was chosen to ride in the cab from Palestine to Rusk and experience first-hand the thrill of being an engineer.

We visited the impressive G-gauge, two-story-high train layout at the Children’s Medical Center of Dallas, which is the home of the country’s largest display of its kind in a hospital. It was designed and built by Malcolm Furlow for the enjoyment of young patients and their families. Members of this tour group also visited Dealey Plaza (the site of the JFK assassination) and see the Sixth Floor Museum within the Texas Book Depository building.

Motorsport fans enjoyed a trip to the high-bank track of Texas Motor Speedway (TMS), one of the country’s largest and most modern speedways. 

Football and baseball sports fans toured the Cowboys Stadium, the largest domed facility in the world, with behind-the-scenes discoveries. We also visited the Ballpark in Arlington, the home of the Texas Rangers.

Local commuters call it DART, but we consider it “Urban Railroading.” We rode the light rail trains of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit and hopped aboard carefully restored trolleys of the MATA (McKinney Avenue Transit Authority) “M” Line.

The Grapevine Vintage Railroad operates on the old Fort Worth, Denver, and Western trackage from Grapevine to Fort Worth, TX. This railroad is serviced by two vintage locomotives, which include “Puffy,” the 1896 steam locomotive and oldest continuously operating steam engine in the South, and a 1953 GP-7 diesel locomotive. Passengers enjoyed riding in authentic 1920s and 1930s Victorian-style coaches as they stepped back in time and experienced rail travel as it was in the glory days of the expanding West. The tour included saloon girls and a train holdup enabling the riders to relive the action of the old west.

The Museum of American Railroads was visited which includes examples of great American trains on static display—from the “Big Boy” to the GG-1.

Other tours provided:

• Bureau of Engraving and Printing (where U.S. money is made)
• International Bowling Museum
• Museum of Science and History
• Cavanaugh Flight Museum
• Vetro Glassblowing Studio
• Cross Timbers Winery
• Downtown Dallas

Significant Convention events held:

• Annual business meeting
• Lionel seminar
• Informational seminars and hobby clinics
• Junior member activities for young club members
• Get acquainted party
• Reception for first-time attendees
• Saturday evening reception and banquet

July 25–30, 2011, was a memorable time. However, we are looking forward now to the model railroad train shows, camaraderie and more at the Norfolk Convention in 2012 - July 23 thru July 28, 2012.

These events held in Dallas are just a taste of the type of things in store for you, your family, and friends when you come to Norfolk, VA and help us celebrate the 42nd anniversary of the "Best toy train club on the planet" by making this convention one of the best in Lionel Collectors Club Convention history. Members may register online for the Convention early in 2012 and read the details of the event published in The Lion Roars, the club’s model train magazine. Nonmembers may join the club now and be prepared for a fabulous week of fun, great food, toy train shows and friendship with train operators and collectors who favor the Lionel brand and celebrate the world’s greatest hobby.