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

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Convention

Southern Pacific
Historical & Technical Society

2017 Annual Conference
Santa Rosa, California
November 8 to 11, 2017

This year, we will hold a joint convention with the Northwestern Pacific Railroad Historical Society. Can you guess what the theme will be? You guessed it, the focus will be on the NWP and the railroads which interchanged with it. Our convention hosts are Charlie Siebenthal and Angelo Figone.

Located in the heart of wine country, the Santa Rosa area will allow you to visit some historic railroad sites and also some local wineries. We hope to arrange for some great extra fare events. For example, if you are a fan of the long-running cartoon strip, Peanuts, plan on visiting the Charles M. Schultz museum.

The convention dates are November 8 to November 11, 2017.

Presentation Schedule

Note: Presentations will only be given once due to only having one large meeting room

Wednesday

  • NEW – Presentations & Panel Discussions – Former SP managers during the 1980s and 1990s will discuss the railroad during its last two decades. Presentations will be from 9 am to 11:30 am, and from 1 pm to 4 pm. Please click HERE for a list of expected panel members.

Thursday

  1. Charlie Siebenthal – The San Francisco & North Pacific Railroad 1870 to 1906
  2. John Schmale – The Petaluma and Santa Rosa Railroad
  3. Roger Greaber & Mike Pechner – Rebuilding the NWPRR for Freight and Passenger Service
  4. Jeff Cauthen & Don Munger – NWP Passenger Trains
  5. Charlie Siebenthal – The Sonoma Valley and Santa Rosa & Carquinez Railroads 1876 to 1906
  6. Night
    Bob Zenk – SP 10 – Budd Car
    General Membership Meeting

Friday

  1. Charlie Siebenthal – The North Pacific Coast and North Shore Railroads 1873 to 1906
  2. Ron Plies – Views form the North End
  3. Charlie Siebenthal – Logging along the North Pacific Coast Railway
  4. Joe Strapac – NWP Steam and Diesel Locomotives
  5. Charlie Siebenthal – Consolidation into the Northwestern Pacific Railroad.
  6. Night
    Don Shortt – Last Years of NWP – Photo Journal
    Old Timers Talk

Saturday

  1. John Shubert – The Magnesite Railroad
  2. Fred Runner – The Mount Tamalpais Scenic Railway
  3. Hunter Lohse – NWPRR’s Marin County Interurban Service
  4. Fred Codoni – Humorous Anecdotes of Life on the NWP and SP
  5. Gus Campagna – California Western Railroad
  6. Angelo Figone – Boom and Bust Years of the NWP

Confirmed Extra Fare:

  • Layout tours and visits to NWPRRHS library Saturday Nov 11

Registration Costs:

Early-Bird Registration: $170 from July 1 though September 30
After October 1: $190

We will be staying at the Doubletree Hotel in Rohnert Park as it is the largest hotel in the area which would accommodate us. We realize this year’s meeting dates are later than our traditional dates in September or October. However, those months are prime tour dates for visiting wineries, and hotel rooms would have been cost prohibitive. We have reserved four hundred rooms at a rate of $149 per night. To reserve a room, call the hotel at 1-707-584-5466 and use the special code Southern Pacific. Or you can use this on-line link to reserve via the web:

http://group.doubletree.com/southernpacifichistoricaltechnicalsociety

This will allow people to bypass the phones and they won’t have to punch in a special rate code. This link already has our special rate.

We look forward to seeing you in Santa Rosa!

View photos from past conventions!