The Rulers of the Red Line! - Arnold Arons, Wayne Lawson, Bill Royse, Dave Chaney, Jeff Sickelsteel, George Johnsen, and Zana Ireland! There were more who helped, and didn't get their names formally recorded. If you are one of those, remind us, and we'll add you to the list. This team put together a phenomenal Red Line DCC experience. Over 500 trains were dispatched over four days, commanded by 248 different operators. The number of 1st time DCC-ers was not tracked, but there were many. Due to the ease of operation, and the reliability of the set up, no one knew who was veteran and who was a rookie. Even the public got involved by throttle operators handing interested parties their throttles, and letting a wide-eyed youngster operate a leg under the watchful eye of the engineer.

The Spine Crew - Literally the backbome of this complex and mesmerizing layout, Art McCoid, Micheal Barrett, and Greg Goyette led a large team of SoCalN volunteers in creating a hub for the week that everyone enjoyed using, and the public enjoyed watching. This spine packs in one pallet transportable box, and can be used wherever it is deliverable by truck.

The Clubs and Individuals - We will post a full list of participants shortly, but for now suffice to say there were a LOT of people who made this layout a success, by bringing modules, operating trains, helping the public, and generally having a good time doing it. Thanks to all of them, and I hope y'all had fun. Those that weren't in the Ntrak layout included the Nn3 Alliance North, with their revolutionary shadow box layout that showcased what could be done in narrow gauge.

The Promoters - The SoCalN Group and the N Scale Collector Association went way out on a limb for this one. Dean Daughenbaugh and his crew of Convention folks did a stupendous job of making a good time for 700 people registered and thousands of public attendees. Steve Smith got us 3 different television stations and 5 news coverages that were so effective the hotel switchboard was swamped with inquiries. Even with a sold out crowd of 100,000 next door watching the Chargers, 60,000 at the Tall ships festival at the waterfront, and countless San Diegans in bars and living rooms watching the Padres and the Chargers, we still had a great weekend sharing with the public.

The Clinicians - Russ Kaufmann and Kirk Reddie organized many prominent N Scalers into a phalanx of amazing, informative, and most of all well attended presentations on many diverse subjects of interest. Many of these clinics will become articles in major magazines that will benefit all. Those that were there got to enjoy presentations as well as Make and Take clinics from Russ Kaufmann, Neal Carnaby, and Jim Hinds. The learning never even slowed down.

The Tours - The level of modeling and hospitality can't be equaled from our hosts at Belmont Shore Lines, San Diego Society of N, and The East Valley Lines. A sampling of some of the finest clubs in the world was offered openly and with great humility. In addition, the rail trip to Tecate and the boat trip including the USS Midway were spectacular and different. Some were ambitious and sought out individually guided other layout tours in lieu of the Midway venture, and a good time was had by all.

The Special Events - The Welcome Reception was a great time to mingle and renew or make new acquaintances. The Auction is always a hoot. The Swaparama is a feeding frenzy, as are the room sales all weekend, The Texas Hold 'em Poker Tournament is a new feature that was both fun AND profitable (no money changed hands, but the winners received great N Scale prizes!). The Banquet is great fun with good camaraderie, and a great Raffle. The Ntrak traditional Manufacturer's Breakfast was very informative and more fun. All in all a great week of N Scale.

There is more to come, but I wanted to get a start right away. Thank you to everyone who helped, everyone who came. I hope you had a great time.

Best-

George Johnsen
Chairman, SoCalN
Chairman, N Scale Collector Society