Anyone excited about the 2014 NMRA convention in Cleveland, OH?

I'm tentatively planning to attend at least a couple of days…probably Tuesday and Wednesday, and perhaps Thursday.  Would like to make the Age of Steam Roundhouse tour, the GE Locomotive Works tour, and perhaps even the CVSR Dinner Train, as well as one of the layout tours.  Still a possible plan, but not firmed-up.

I didn't see any dates on the form...when is this?  And I assume you have to be an

NMRA member to participate in tours,  and noticed convention cars are only in smaller scales?

Dates are July 13-19.

Yes, you must be an NMRA member to participate in the various activities except for the National Train Show that is also open to the public.

Yes, the convention cars are available in HO and N only, since the vast majority of participants model in those scale (both in the NMRA and in the hobby in general).

I am an NMRA Life Member and used to attend all the national conventions back when I lived in Hawaii, along with some when I moved back to the mainland.  Haven't been able to attend in recent years, but since the Cleveland convention is just an hour away, I figure I can attend for at least a couple of days or so.

The NMRA convention certainly isn't an O-centric event, but there are already plenty of those.  The clinics are nice and generally not scale specific - a good place to get some hands-on with different techniques right from the masters.  There should be many more listed soon.  The cost may seem steep for some things like tours, but frankly some of them are once in a lifetime opportunities unless you have an 'in' at the location.  Like the roundhouse tour.

I love taking in layouts of all scales and appreciating the creativity and craftsmanship, and can't resist a prototype tour of anything.  There is a walking tour of Cleveland Union Terminal (CUT), and I only wish it were a 'hard-hat' tour that lasted most of the day.  I can't get enough of the Terminal Tower.