2016 Kansas City Mini-Meet Report
The 29th annual Kansas City Mini Meet was held on November 12 at Hope Lutheran Church in Shawnee, Kansas. Over eighty fans and vendors attended and enjoyed four presentations and a video on the 2017 national convention in Tulsa, followed by layout tours in the afternoon and evening.
The first presentation was by Eric Goodman on his Emporia-sub., model railroad. Eric was to give this clinic at the 2016 Wichita convention, but had to be canceled. He provided great insight into how to build a large layout the “right” way.
The next clinic was Illinois memories by the well know author and Santa Fe Modeler Roger Ziegenhorn. Roger shared many slides from his collection and did a great job of documenting scenes around Chillicothe, Illinois and the Pekin branch.
Bob Walz, a director for the society give an update on Society activities and emphasized the features of the new website. The new site was on display for all to see.
The first half of the meet ended with a stirring video by Marc Montray promoting the 2017 convention in Tulsa. Marc set the video to music and featured the country swing song “Take Me Back to Tulsa”. The video received a great reception and all in attendance were ready to get to Tulsa ASAP!
The afternoon clinic was by Jack White, retired ATSF conductor from Marceline, Missouri. Jack regaled the audience with numerous tales from forty years on the Santa Fe. His nicknames were fascinating and fun, but nothing could top his memories of working the Henrietta to Saint Joseph branch.
The final clinic was by James Brown of Chicago. James is the author of the new Illinois Division book and was able to sign a number of books for attendees. James presented a detailed clinic on operations at Dearborn Station in Chicago. His clinic featured the extensive passenger operations of the Santa Fe and provided many details that were new to most in attendance.
The entire event was video taped by Jeremy Janzen of the Saint Louis area and DVD’s may be ordered for $10.00 including shipping, by contacting Jeremy Janzen at: 314-503-0981
Final thanks go to Warren Scholl (alias Chico) who was our Master of Ceremonies, to Roger Ziegenhorn co-producer, and Karl Schoettlin who was our host a Hope Lutheran.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeff Needham