Conventions & Mini-Meets

2025 annual convention – The CHICAGO LIMITED

June 11 – 15, 2025

The Society is planning Annual Conventions at the following locations:

  • 2025: Chicago, IL  June 11-15, 2025, at the Sheraton Lisle Naperville Hotel. Extra Fares will include a trip to the Illinois Railway Museum and the normal array of convention activities including clinics, vendor room, Awards Banquet, etc.  Watch the website and Running Extra for more details.

Tentative List of Clinics

Richmond Bates – Illinois Northern Railroad

Jim Brown – The Construction of the Sibley Bridge, 1887-88

  • This clinic will feature over 50 historic photos detailing the construction of the Sibley bridge in 1887-88 as well as its reconstruction in the 1910-1913 era. Some of these photos appeared in the Missouri Division book but publishing constraints prevented more of these truly historic photos from being included.

Sammy Carlile – Last years of the ATSF on Curtis Hill with transition to early BNSF

  • 50 years on Curtis Hill – 1975 to 2025.  We will explore the last 20 years of the Santa Fe as they made their way through Northwest Oklahoma’s Red-Carpet country. Also covered will be the transition era into the BNSF merger as well as modern operations in the area.  The presentation will be made possible with assistance from several friends that have allowed their work to be shared though the Carlile photo collection.

Tom Casey –  Modeling Rr21 & Rr-29 Duryea underframe ice reefers

  • Using either a C&BT shops or Intermountain 40′ ice reefer as a core, this clinic will show how to create these two classes of reefers.   With their distinctive Duryea cushion underframe, they can create a contrast from the more commonly available USRA fish belly underframe cars.

Steve Cigolle – Changes on the former Santa Fe between Chicago and Kansas City

  • This clinic will discuss physical plant and operating changes on the former Santa Fe Railway between Chicago and Kansas City since the BNSF merger.  This territory continues to be known as the Chillicothe and Marceline Subdivisions

Jim Giblin – SANTA FE ALWAYS ON THE MOVE TOWARDS A BETTER WAY

The inside story of how Santa Fe management shifted the paradigm on rail intermodal service by “boldly going (at a very high rate of speed) where no one had gone before.”

This is a personal recollection from an active participant who was there.

John Hartline – 3D modeling

Dave Hiler – Southern Transcon Model Railroad

  • Building the HO scale Southern Transcon Model Railroad from Willow Springs, IL to Tejon, NM, A 1600 ft main line with the capacity to run up to 20 trains at a time.

Don Q. Lamb and Terry W. Lehmann – The Fast Vestibule Express – The Handsomest Train in the World” and the start of Santa Fe’s through Chicago – West Coast Service

  • Completion of the AT&SF airline between Kansas City and Chicago in April 1888 opened the way for Santa Fe’s first luxury train, the Fast Vestibule Express — which Santa Fe advertised as “The Handsomest Train in the World” — and the start of through Chicago – West Coast service.  In this clinic we describe both services from their chaotic early days to the autumn of 1892 when Santa Fe inaugurated The California Limited.

Ian MacKellar – Modeling Santa Fe freight cars of the early 1930’s

Dennis Opferman – History of railroads in Colorado Springs with emphasis on the role of the Santa Fe Depot

  • The Railroad History of Colorado Springs, with emphasis on Santa Fe’s role in that development and that of its Passenger Depot.  We will follow the chronological development of railroads in the City of Colorado Springs and explore the dynamics of how this changed over the years due to economic events, corporate rivalries, government involvement, and competitive realities.  Guaranteed to enhance your knowledge of a seldom explored outpost of the Santa Fe.

James Regier – 3D modeling Santa Fe U30CG, Beep…

Ramon Rhodes – SANTA FE’S CHICAGO OPERATIONS IN THE 1970s

  • In this presentation featuring hundreds of photographs, maps, and diagrams, we will explore the operations of the Santa Fe Railway in Chicago during the 1970s.
  • The 1970s was a transitional period for the railroad. Gone is the Santa Fe of the steam and early dieselization era, to be replaced by what can arguably be called “the modern” Santa Fe. The Santa Fe of the 70s features reduced passenger service, the rise of intermodal shipping, the birth of unit trains, telecommunications advances, and many other technological advancements that became industry standards.

Rita Smith – Santa Fe Courier Nurses

  • Rita Goble-Smith RN, will share her experiences as a Santa Fe Courier Nurse on the El Capitan, Super Chief and San Francisco Chief during 1968 – 1971

Carey Williams – Minton Cronkhite and the Santa Fe Railway

Upcoming conventions

The Society is planning Annual Conventions at the following locations:

  • 2026: Phoenix, AZ
  • 2027: Oklahoma City, OK

Society Mini-Meets

Our Mini-Meets are regional based gatherings generally one half to one day long on a Saturday. Interested members have organized these meets in areas not regularly visited by our conventions allowing us to reach the East Coast and the Pacific Northwest.  A mini meet may include;

  • Clinics by experts on various aspects of Santa Fe history and modeling.  Some of these clinics are “warm ups'” for a presenter who will be at a future Annual Convention.
  • Models on display for close up viewing and discussions with the builder.
  • Networking with fellow Society members who live close by and a good way to attract new members.

Upcoming Mini-Meets

The Society is pleased to announce that MINI-MEETS are restarting!  Here are the planned mini-meets so far:

  • September 28, 2024, Denver Area Minimeet.  Lone Tree Library, 10055 Library Way, Lone Tree, CO  80124.  10-2 pm, Registration $5.00.
    • Clinics:  
      • Gerry Glancy, “The Role the Railroads Played in WWII in Europe”
      • Bruce Barrett, “Three Presentations on Railroad Topics”
    • Also Sales Tables, refreshments, door prizes.
    • More information, contact Denny Krausman (303) 880-1879 or dkkrausman_at_gmail.com  Click for FLYER
  • March 8, 2025, Indianapolis Minimeet.  More details will be forthcoming.
  • November 16, 2024, Save the Date for the Kansas City Mini-Meet.  More details will be forthcoming.
  • May 17, 2025, Winslow Minimeet.  La Posada Hotel & Gardens, Winslow, AZ.  More details will be forthcoming.

Please send us your planned mini-meets so other Santa Fe fans can attend!  Bob Chaparro, Southern California Mini-Meet coordinator, is looking for possible venues.  If interested, contact .

Convention model and photo contests

Model Contest

The model contest is divided into two groups: a popular vote contest and a technical contest. In the popular vote contest, all models participate and compete for first, second and third place ribbons and “Best of Show” based on the number of votes that they receive from attendees. Popular vote categories include steam locomotive; diesel locomotive; multiple unit diesel locomotive; freight car; passenger car; intermodal equipment (cars and support equipment); caboose/way car; maintenance of way; and structure/diorama.  In the technical contest, models are judged by interested members based on prototype fidelity (10 points), modeling effort and proficiency (10 points) and finish and weathering (5 points), with 22 points required for a Certificate of Technical Excellence, 18 points for a Certificate of Technical Merit, and the best overall model scoring 22 points or more receiving the President’s Award for Technical Excellence.  Technical contest categories include: motive power; rolling stock; and structures.

If you would like to learn more about the Model Contest, click on the following links:

Model Photo Contest

The Society also sponsors a “model photo” contest where participants recreate the Santa Fe in model form and then photograph it. You can see the ATSF entry form here and BNSF entry form here.

Past Convention and mini-meet Reports

Read about other prior Annual Conventions and see what members did, learned, and showed!

Reports on other past conventions and Mini-Meets
List of all International conventions

SFRH&MS Mini-meet Reports

other meets