News Story

2023 LCCA Convention and Year End Product

The 53rd LCCA National Convention held in Concord, NC in late July of 2023 was not only highly successful, but it was also noteworthily in so many ways. By the Numbers, 418 members registered (with over 800 in attendance). 2,810 tour seats were sold. 600 attendees were able to visit the Lionel Facility in Concord. and 1,300 banquet orders were filled during the week. The attending members had the opportunity to receive a registration gift and a number of other items during the week. The LCCA store was full of items including many of the cars shown below. With the convention over, many of these cars are no longer available. All cars were made in limited quantities. Cars that are still available can be found on the LCCA website. Check back often as inventory can change. LCCA Store

The LCCA and its members celebrated this week with the introduction of a number of new and exciting products. The car that defines the convention, the Registration Gift given to the first 400 members who registered at the host hotel for 2023 is a boxcar proudly displaying the convention's location and date and bearing a circled number 23, representing the 23rd registration gift car. This car set the tone for the week, members of the LCCA meeting with and touring the Lionel facility.


In Concord in 2023, the most anticipated tour of the year was a visit through the Lionel Facility in Concord, NC. Our Friends at Lionel surprised all members on the facility tour with a personalized box car! Members were offered a chance to sit at Howard Hitchcock's desk (Howard is President of Lionel) while a picture was taken. The next day, Lionel delivered a US produced car directly from the facility we had just seen with the member (and their guests) picture proudly shown on the side of the car. WOW! a Tour Car. Talk about Priceless!



The most anticipated item for any year is the LCCA Convention Car - Celebrating the current year and a reminder of a long and successful convention history. Convention Cars are available to all LCCA members, whether they attend the convention or not. For 2023, the Convention Car is a set of two (2) scale tank cars. Keeping with the constitutional requirement to depict and/or represent railroads or events having a current or historical connection to the convention city/state, the first car is a Southern Railway unit tank car with the second being a Norfolk Southern Traditional Car.
 


Each year, the LCCA provides a limited-edition onsite car available to members who attend the annual Convention. This year, for 2023 there are two Onsite Cars offered. Each member is able to order one of each car during the convention. The first On-Site Car, a mint car, is an action mint car, with NASCAR racers circling the track while excited spectators watch. This car is lighted -Members were limited to purchasing one of these beautiful cars at the convention. 



The second on-site car celebrates our Friday Train Ride on the ACW and is a scale tank car in ACW colors. This is the first of four unique ACW cars produced for the 2023 Convention, the other three are boxcars as noted below. This car is produced in ACW Hearld. All 4 ACW cars are in true ACW colors and are a great addition to other ACW locomotives and rolling stock being produced this year by Lionel. Members were limited to purchasing one of these beautiful cars.



At the LCCA Gala Banquet celebrating the convention, each attendee gets a table prize. One lucky attendee will be selected to receive the limited-edition Banquet car. This car becomes an instant favorite as so few are made available. For 2023, a specially moderated ACW box car was modified with a change in the bottom of the door to yellow, matching the rest of the car. A circle 19 indicates this is the 19th car in this series. No one who was fortunate enough to win their table prize was disappointed!



No convention would happen without volunteers. The LCCA recognizes its convention volunteers (bus captains, ticket takers, door monitors, etc.) with a specially noted car. For 2023, it is an ACW box car identified as 11th in the series of volunteer cars. it can be recognized by the Volunteer label in the upper left side of the car. The volunteer can also be identified as the bottom of the car door painted purple.




The LCCA produces an annual car to recognize the contributions of its Officers/Directors and Appointed Officials. for 2023, the ACW box car was pressed into service. Similar to the volunteer car and banquet cars, it uses black trim on the door and includes a notation in the upper left corner. it is the 9th car in this series.