A Big Hello to the best members, of the Best Toy Train Club on the Planet. I sure have missed seeing so many of your smiling faces the last 2 plus years. I just love your expressions as you board the buses for our many tours. Hopefully, we can start this process all over in about 11 months.

Let’s talk Nashville, “The Music City,” for a couple of minutes. Our biggest change, and one that I think you will accept with open arms, is, we will be starting one day earlier than usual, but this will allow us to have two more great experiences. Part of this was by Choice, and part by Necessity. The Choice is, Instead of coming in as usual on Sunday night and getting ready for our Monday train ride, we will come in on Saturday to prepare for the Sunday ride. Remember, Nashville is know as Music City, and for good reason. By coming in On Saturday, We will have an opportunity to attend the longest, continually running show in the United States. That is, The Saturday Night Grand Ole Opry! For 96 years, starting on November 28, 1925, the Grand Ole Opry has never missed a Saturday night performance since then. A whopping 96 straight years. That is 4,992 shows. 

Now, The Necessity part; is our train ride! Our all day Sunday Train excursion will be on the Tennessee Central Rail Road that uses the RJCorman tracks. These tracks are used during the week by commuter trains and therefore, we could not occupy the tracks until after 10:00 am and would have to be off by 2:30 pm (4 hours) so that they could accommodate their commuters. There was also the possibility that we could be pushed off on a siding where we would just have to set & wait for quite some time. That pretty much ruled out our normal Monday train excursion. So, with the unanimous decision of the LCCA Leadership team, we chose to select Sunday for this fantastic event. With this decision, We now will ride way more than 100 miles with 4 power units and many coaches; including a dome car, snack car, souvenir car, dining car, regular coaches, etc. We will depart at 9:00 am and return at 5:00 pm , 8 hours, while enjoying lunch, live Railroad music, and a photo “run by.” The Tenn Valley Railroad Museum and Restoration Barn are also included on this tour. There will be some other special items that I will not disclose at this time. This is one tour you don’t want to miss!

Then throughout the week, we will have our normal Presidents Reception, Get Acquainted Party, Lionel Seminar, Trading Hall floor, Seminars, etc., along with many outstanding tours. These tours--will include, outstanding home layout tours, the Union Station, Tenn state Capitol building, and the world famous Parthenon. The Museums we visit will include the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Musicians Hall of Fame, and The Clarksville Museum with its Lionel Layout. There are Tours, including the back stage visit, of both the Ryman Auditorium & the Grand Ole Opry Auditorium, along with the historic RCA Studio “B” where we will relive the days of Elvis where he recorded most of his songs. Two Plantations, President Andrew Jackson's home, “the Hermitage,” along with the “Belle Meade Plantation” is on the docket. There will be two more Civil War homes when we go 25 miles south to Franklin, TN for the famous sites of the Civil War. Bullet holes and a cannon ball hole can still be seen in one of these homes!

A few minutes will be assigned to Marathon Village, home of the TV Show, the “Pickers” along with other quaint shops. Would you like to visit a winery, a brewery, and a distillery; with tastings at all three places? If so, Then get ready for Pennington's and Fat Bottoms. When thinking of spots to tour, the LCCA always list Trains, Planes, & Automobiles. For these, no place can match Bowling Green, Ky. This site is only an hour north of Nashville. There, we will tour the National Corvette Museum, the American Heritage Park for famous Air Craft, and also Rail Park, located in the old L & N Depot, complete with a large working layout. If all of this is not enough, join us on the General Jackson Show Boat. This 4 level authentic Paddle Wheel Boat will thrill us with outstanding Live Music and a Great Banquet Meal, all while viewing the lights of the magnificent sky line of Nashville, which is one of America’s fastest growing cities. This trip is on the Cumberland River which winds its way through the heart of the city. And folks, There is more to come.

So, go ahead now and Mark your calendar, start saving your pennies, and get ready to join us next summer, July 23-30, for a great time, in a great city, with another great LCCA convention. All the details and registration forms will be in the February issue of the Lion Roars as well as on the clubs web site at about that same time. In Closing ----I Hope to see all of you in Nashville.