Former Great Northern depot, Bellingham, WA.

Having previously visited in 1996, GNRHS once more held its convention in Bellingham, Washington. Highlights included tours of the Bellingham area and an all-day venture into Canada where we visited the ex-GN depot at White Rock, the Cloverdale interurban museum and the Burnaby Central miniature railway in Confederation Park.

There was a wide range of presentations for attendees to enjoy such as: Pacific Coast Railroad by Dave Sprau, Shipping Planes On Trains by Andrew Klamka, Dispatching West Coast Lines by Mark Meyer & Dave Sprau and Early Bellingham Railroads by Don Pavia to name just a few.

Sunday’s Rail Fair featured an enormous modular On30 layout (the Moose Creek Logging Company) as well as the usual GN-related paraphernalia available for purchase.

Capping off the convention was the Wednesday night banquet. Society Awards were presented, and then the famous raffle featuring GN prizes galore.

We hope to see you again next year in Fargo – July 20-24!

UPDATE:  with permission from the presenters, 5 excellent presentations are now available to you here. These cover GN brass models, GN in Vancouver, Coast Line dispatching, early Bellingham railroads, and an update on the GNRHS archives. Caution: some files are quite large.

Don Pavia and Bob Kelly interpret the GN in Fairhaven.
Southbound BNSF oil train at Taylor Street dock, Fairhaven.
Ben having way too much fun.
Tom, Chris and Pete at Bellingham GN depot.
Watching the Rocky Mountaineer from the bus at Blanchard.
Blanchard GN depot.
Lunch stop at Sedro-Woolley.
Former NP-GN diamond at Sedro-Woolley.
GN caboose X-87 at Sedro Woolley.
Boarding "Chinook" for evening dinner cruise.
Northbound BNSF coal train from the "Chinook".
Evening dinner cruise crowd shot.
The Tanners and Chinquists on board the "Chinook".
The Moose Creek Logging Company layout at Rail Fair.
Lindsay is taking our picture again!
Andrew Klamka presentation.
Watching a presentation.
Richard Yaremko and Dale Sanders presentation.
Watching a presentation.
Dave Sprau and Mark Meyer presentation.
Southbound BNSF freight at White Rock depot.
Crowd shot at Cloverdale museum.
Riding BC Electric #1304 "Connaught".
BC Electric #1304 "Connaught" suns itself among the wildflowers.
BC Electric #1207 "Steveston".
Cloverdale Museum car barn.
 
Riding the Burnaby Central.
Riding the Burnaby Central.
Steve Eckman holds forth at table.
Banquet table of GNRHS members.
Ken Middleton lifetime membership award.
Webmaster Ben Ringnalda is presented with the Hustle Muscle award.
Bev Tracy with Scott and Jan Tanner.
Steve, Bob & Mary draw raffle prize tickets.
North Bank Line donated a brass HO GN O-1 class 2-8-2 locomotive as one of the raffle prizes.