Southern Pacific Historical & Technical Society

Dedicated to preserving & disseminating the historical record of the Southern Pacific Railroad. Supporters of railfanning, archeology & scale modeling of this great pioneer railroad

2025 SPH&TS Convention : Tucson, Arizona

The Argonaut

Welcome to Tucson, The City of Gastronomy! We have one of the most diverse menus in the country. The weather in October is usually in the mid 80’s and sunny. The evenings are amazing to be outside.

Dates:

October 15-18, 2025

Location:

Doubletree by Hilton Tucson- Reid Park
445 South Alvernon Way
Tucson, AZ 85711

All events will take place in and around the Grand Ballroom.

Hotel Rooms:

A block of hotel rooms has been reserved for Wednesday October 15 through Saturday October 18. The basic room rate is $182.15 per night with rooms available from October 14th through October 19th. (This rate includes taxes and fees as of December 1st, 2024 and are subject to change) Parking is Free.

The booking link for the hotel is:
https://www.hilton.com/en/book/reservation/rooms/?ctyhocn=TUSBTDT&arrivalDate=2025-10-14&departureDate=2025-10-19&room1NumAdults=1&amp%3BgroupCode=CDTSHT&amp%3Bcid=OM%2CWW%2CHILTONLINK%2CEN%2CDirectLink&amp%3BfromId=HILTONLINKDIRECT

The group booking SRP CODE is C-SHT. Please use this code if you need to call in a reservation for our conference. It will be available by April 10th, 2025 for rooms to check in as soon as October 11 th and check out as late as October 21st, 2025. If you do not use the hotel link on the SPH&TS convention website, please make sure that you use our booking code for the conference dates. If we can get to 300 room nights booked by August 1st , 2025, there is a good possibility that we will be able to offer a free breakfast on both Thursday and Friday of the conference.

Please book your rooms as soon as you can.

Presentations:

Presentations will be held in The West end of the Grand Ballroom on the following days:

  • Thursday, October 16th
    9:00am to 11:30am, 1:00pm to 5:00pm, and 7:00pm to 10:00pm
  • Friday, October 17th
    9:00am to 11:30am, 1:00pm to 5:00pm, and 7:00pm to 10:00pm
  • Saturday, October 18th
    9:00am to 11:30am, and 1:00pm to 3:30pm

All presentations will only be given once. Check your registration timetable for speakers, subjects, and times.

Model Contest:

On Friday and Saturday, we will hold our railroad model contest of Southern Pacific equipment.

Railroad Prototype Meet:

For the third year, SPH&TS is proud to host a Railroad Prototype Meet (RPM) as part of our annual meeting. The RPM offers modelers of all scales and all prototypes, not just Southern Pacific, an opportunity to display their works. Items may be finished or in progress. You do not need to be a member of the Society to attend. The event will be held in the Vendor Room on Saturday October 19 from 8:30 am to 1:00 pm. Please pay the admission fee of $30 at Registration. This includes access to the four presentations on Saturday and the vendor room.

Vendors:

The vendors will be in the Main Ballroom. Tables are 8-feet long and are $40 each. There is a limit of 4 tables per vendor. You do not have to be a member of the Society to be a vendor.

Vendor Setup Hours:

  • Wednesday October 15 from 4 pm to 7 pm, and Thursday October 16 from 8 am to 8:30 am.

Vendor Sales Hours:

  • Thursday October 16
    8:30am to 12:00 pm, and 1:30pm to 5:00pm
  • Friday October 17
    8:30am to 12:00 pm, and 1:30pm to 5:00pm
  • Saturday October 18
    8:30am to 1:00pm

At 1:00pm on Saturday, vendors must begin removing their items; the room must be cleared by 3:00pm to allow time for setup for the banquet that evening.

Model Manufacturers:

Please contact us ejcause@hotmail.com if you would like to sponsor the vendor room. Up to three display tables can be provided.

Models, Dioramas & Photographs:

Models and diagrams of Southern Pacific and subsidiaries accepted are in all scales.

  • All scale models of equipment operated by Southern Pacific and its subsidiaries may be registered on Friday October 18 from 9 am to 5 pm at the model contest area in the vendor room.
  • Contest models may be entered if you did the modeling.
  • Display models may be entered if you did not do the modeling.
  • Photographs must be a minimum of 8 inches x 10 inches.
  • Contest photographs may be entered if the you were the photographer.
  • Display photographs may be displayed if you were not the photographer.
  • Voting will be on Saturday, October 18, from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. Please see the ballot in your registration packet.
  • All items must be retrieved Saturday, October 18, between 1:30 pm and 3:00 pm.

Extra Fare:

Wednesday October 15th, 2025.

We have a trip schedule to the Port of Tucson in the morning. We will then head to the downtown Tucson area for “On your own” lunch, then a tour of the SP/Amtrak Train Station and a walking tour of the EP&SW Station. EP&SW station is also where the SP Hospital site is located. Additional stops maybe added. Plan for a full day of fun.

Registration:

Coming soon

Schedule:

Coming Soon