UPHS
Conventions
This
page will tell you about UPHS Conventions and Activities.
The 24th
Annual Convention will be held in Topeka, KS
July 23 - 26, 2008
Capitol Plaza Hotel, rooms $89.
CLICK
HERE for the Registration Form
The 25th
Annual Convention will be held in
Cheyenne, WY
July 9 - 12, 2009
Little America Hotel
Additional
information will be posted here as it is available.
General Notices
General Notices
Updated June 19
(scroll to bottom for updates)
[Mar 23]
The $89.00/night hotel rate is good from Sun Jul 20 to Sun
Jul 26.
The Topeka Blvd. Bridge is still under construction and may
not be open before the start of the convention. Please be
aware of posted detours if you are coming into town via I-70.
The tour schedule for Wed Jul 23 is in place. We will depart
the hotel at 10:00 AM for PKMW Metal Fabrication to see how
signal houses are made. For lunch, the buses will be parked
in a location central to several places to eat within a 2
block walk. From there, we head to the BNSF shops for a 1:00
PM arrival. We then go next door to Gunderson Rail Services
where they repair well cars. PLEASE NOTE THESE FOOTWEAR REQUIREMENTS!!
BNSF requires that all visitors wear steel
toed boots. If
you have them, please wear them. If you don’t, please
wear some sort of other work boot. Steel toe caps will be
provided, as will hard hats and safety goggles. This is a
heavy duty maintenance/repair area so we will be expected
to follow all safety rules. In addition to proper footwear,
this includes NO SHORTS OR SKIRTS. The UPHS strongly encourages
you to wear jeans or other clothing suitable for this environment.
For the Thu Jul 24 bus tour to Marysville and Jeffery Energy
center, steel toed boots will not be required but the usual
requirements of no open toed shoes or shorts/skirts will
be in place. When packing, please keep these things in mind!
The traditional swap meet will be a full blown, 2-day train
show on Fri Jul 25 and Sat Jul 26. We expect to have several
outside vendors participating in addition to our own Society
members.
Banquet entrees will be flat iron steak, chicken cordon bleu
and maple lacquered salmon. Please indicate your preference
of beef, chicken or fish on your registration form. There
will be a wide selection of things to choose from at the
dessert bar.
If you will be arriving in Topeka via Amtrak and need transportation
between the station and the hotel, please let us know on
your registration form. We will contact you about arrangements
to pick you up.
The convention polo shirts will feature variations of
these designs:
Front pocket
Rear
[Apr 12]
Buses for the Wednesday tours will depart the hotel at
9:30 AM, possibly as early as 9:00.
The Marysville tour stop will include time to watch and
photograph trains coming into the yard from the north.
We may be able to get a brief tour of the area if operating
conditions allow.
The train show / swap meet will start at 8:00 AM on Friday.
From 8:00 to 10:00 it will be open to convention attendees
only. At 10:00, the general public will be admitted. Your
registration fee includes admission to the train show anytime
over the weekend.
[June 3]
The slate for presenters has been firmed up.
Ron Sleeter Operations at Marysville, KS: Steam & Diesel
Eras
Bob Helling The K.P.: Salina – East
Marvin Bush The K.P.: Salina – West
Marvin Bush U.P. Date Nails
Steve Orth Genesis FEF-2-3 Modifications
Chris Faulk Gibbon Cut-Off Contemporary Photo Gallery
Dick Harley PFE Mechanical Reefers - 1952 to 1978
Jim Ehernberger U.P. Doodlebugs in KS
Jim Grimwood Manhattan Branch & Marysvillle Bypass
[June 19]
Sandy McCulloh will not be presenting.
Jim Ehernberger will present an additional show, “A
Tribute To A Kansas Legend: Diesel Era Photos by Lloyd
Stager”.
* * SLIGHT CHANGE IN PLANS FOR WEDNESDAY TOURS * *
BNSF has informed us somewhat late in the game that time
and personnel constraints will limit their ability to give
all of our convention attendees a tour of their shop facilities.
We still want as many as possible to have the opportunity
to see their shops so we are doing the fairest thing we
can think of. The first 50 attendees who sign the BNSF
Tour list at the registration booth and can assure us that
they have the proper clothing and
footwear requirements
covered, will go on the BNSF / Gunderson tour. We will
be checking for proper clothes and shoes as the bus is
being boarded! Registration times and location are shown
on the back of this letter.
Those attendees not going on the BNSF tour will have the
opportunity to tour the Kansas Museum of History for the
afternoon. There, one can find the Cyrus K. Holliday, Santa
Fe’s oldest preserved steam locomotive, restored
passenger cars and many other interesting items. We believe
that everyone will have a great afternoon, regardless of
which tour you take!
There may be an informal presentation on Topeka area railfanning
Tuesday evening. Details will be at the registration booth.
Final confirmation letters have been sent with the above
information and other news.
Union Pacific Historical Society
2-DAY Train Show and Swap Meet
At the
ManEr Conference center
Sunflower Ballroom
Adjacent to
Capital plaza hotel
AND
Kansas Expocentre
1717 SW Topeka Blvd
Topeka KS 66611
Show times:
Friday July 25th
8:00 AM to 10:00 AM: convention attendees
10:00 AM to 5:00 PM: General public
Saturday July 26th
10:00 to 5:00: General public
Tickets @ The Door
Adults $5.00
Children 10 and Under Free
VENDORS: Tables are $20 each, electrical outlets are $45
each. Please send your name, address, phone, number of
tables and payment information to:
Jim Grimwood, 721 Knox Lane, Manhattan, KS 66502-6730
Please make checks payable to “UPHS 2008 Convention”.
We also take Visa and Mastercard. For more information,
email grimwood@ksu.edu
Convention Cars
are Here
Available at the
Convention Company Store
and our Cheyenne
Office after the Convention
Convention Photo & Model Contest
Rules and Entry Form
Click Here
2007 Convention, Chicago, IL.
Click Here for photos
2006 Convention, Omaha, Ne.
Click Here
for Photos
2005 Convention, Denver, CO.
Click Here for pictures
Click Here for more photos
2004 Convention, Ogden, UT.
Click Here for pictures
2003 Convention, San Pedro, LA Harbor, CA
Click Here for pictures
Convention
Site Selection
The UPHS Board has a convention site selection chairman,
currently Bill Settle. He is charged with working with prospective
convention hosts to be sure they can fulfill the needs of
the convention. Some of these needs are:
A local group of at least three UPHS members to organize
and run the convention.The usual assignments are one person
to be the registrar and finance person, one to be in charge
of operations including hotel space, meeting rooms, meals,
buses or other transportation and the third person to be
in charge of clinics, outside tours and guest speakers.
These people should have attended a number of UPHS conventions
and be familiar with their operation. There are many other
positions to be filled by other volunteers once the basic
work has been done by these three persons.
A Hotel must be selected that can handle a group of our
size with sleeping rooms at a competitive rate, as well
as having meeting rooms for contests, clinics and meals
for about 200 persons, sometimes all at the same time.
Another consideration is what is there to see or do in the
vicinity. Are there tour friendly industries in the area?
Is there a tourist railroad or public transportation rail
system that can be ridden as an extra fare trip? How about
museums and large club model railroad layouts?
In the early years of the UPHS every effort was made to
focus conventions on the pre merger UPRR locations. Now
that the UPRR has had time to make it's own history in
all these new locations, Convention proposals from all
parts of the system are welcomed, as Convention attendees
prefer a variety of locations.
We also try to move the convention across the system from
year to year. Our preference is to hold the convention between
the middle of June and the middle of August.
The procedure to be followed for a site to be considered
is for the key members to approach the convention site selection
chairman at least two years and preferably three years before
the intended date. A complete proposal including possible
hotel sites, tentative program and a budget should be prepared
for presentation to the board at it's mid year meeting 18
months before the proposed date. The convention can then
be announced at the next convention.
If you would like to host a convention, please contact our
convention site selection chairman.
Email him at conventions@uphs.org
Past UPHS Conventions
1. 1985, Cheyenne, WY
2. 1986, Portland, OR
3. 1987, North Platte, NE
4. 1988, Salt Lake City, UT
5. 1989, Omaha, NE
6. 1990, Pocatello, ID
7. 1991, Kansas City, MO
8. 1992, Cheyenne, WY
9. 1993, Stockton, CA
10. 1994, Ontario, CA
11. 1995, Omaha, NE
12. 1996, Pendleton, OR
13. 1997, North Platte, NE
14. 1998, Salt Lake City, UT
15. 1999, Kansas City, MO
16. 2000, Cheyenne, WY
17, 2001, Portland, OR
18. 2002, Grand Island, NE
19. 2003, San Pedro, CA
20, 2004, Ogden, UT
21, 2005, Denver, CO.
22. 2006, Omaha, NE
23. 2007, Chicago, IL
24. 2008, Topeka, KS
25. 2009, Cheyenne, WY
