Things have been progressing nicely on the planning for the 2023 National Garden Railway Convention. We’ve secured the Hyatt Santa Clara at the unheard of rate of $149 per night! You can make reservations here: Hyatt Reservations for the 2023 NGRC. There is a glitch in the system that doesn’t allow you to book a King Bed room before July 1st… I’m working on the hotel staff to fix that but I’d suggest booking the 2-bed room if you’re arriving early then change to the King. We’ve locked in 3 of the large convention halls so that we can use the closer "Hall A"entrance to the convention center, so no more long trek to the far end of the center to visit the vendor hall. Right now, all of the clinics will be held in the Hyatt Hotel so access for those will be much easier also… We are in the process of buying up 2 complete dining cars on the Napa Valley Wine Train for an amazing pre-convention excursion and dining experience. It is a bit pricy at $240.00 (per person!) but that is down form the original $320.00 price quoted to us… so that’s good, right? We have again booked the amazing Roaring Camp Railroad for our steak BBQ and the Narrow Gauge Ride through the redwoods. The vendor hall will be filled with display layouts, manufacturer’s booths, and, of course, as many of the best Garden Railway Vendors we can fit. I’ve been told that the convention we held in 2016 was the best ever dollar wise for vendors and we are trying to surpass that in 2023. Accucraft has stepped up to be the title sponsor of our Friday Night Banquet and LGB sponsorship will help us hold a “true” Ice Cream Social on Thursday before the vendor hall opens. You’ll get your choice of a Donut or Brownie bottomed vanilla sundae that will be served in our LGB Social Hall. We are working on some surprises to be revealed at the Ice Cream Social and attendees of the social will also get to enter the vendor hall first when the doors open up. We will have Garden Layout Tours everyday of the convention spread over the entire SF Bay Area. This is one reason, among many, why the convention is held the week of Fourth of July… less traffic!
I’m here it try and answer any questions… as I’m again the Chairman as I was in 2016.
Russ Miller
Chairman NGRC 2023
