The Midwest Region of the National Model Railroad Association invites you to attend it's spring convention "The Hoosier Connection" hosted by the Central Indiana Division of the National Model Railroad Association. The convention will take place on April 20, 21 & 22, 2007 at the Horizon Convention Center located in Historical Muncie, Indiana. This beautiful little town is located only 40 miles north of Indianapolis, nestled in the Heartland of Indiana. The Train Schedule of exciting events will include the following…………. (All Scheduled events are at the Convention Center unless otherwise noted. Note some events may change without Notice. )

Registration.... Friday night 4PM until 9PM - Saturday 8AM until 12PM
Operating Sessions....
All operating sessions are on Friday evening April 20 th , starting at 7PM until ~10 PM or Finish.
* Al Kohut will open his DCC Digitrax HO scale layout for prototype operations.
* Robert Lehnen will open his DCC NEC HO Scale layout for Prototype operations.

Clinics.... (Ten Friday night clinics and 12 on Saturday)
Friday Night Clinics--------
* "Muncie Rails" by Roger Hensley. Friday evening from 5 to 6 PM.
* "Crabgrass is not our enemy, it's a free Tree", Plus the use of weeds and free goodies at our disposal. By Matt Hewitt. Friday evening 6:30 to 7:30
* "Adding detail to older Kits, or how I made my Athearn blue box, box car look like an Intermountain RTR", by Tom Cain. Friday evening from 6:30 to 7:30
* "Great Rocks from the Ceiling", By Dan Goins. Friday evening 6:30 to 7:30
* "Hardshell the Easy Way", by Capt. Al Nelson. Friday evening 8:00 to 9:00.
* "CATS, a JMRI based computerized CTC system", by Steve Johnson. Friday evening 8 to 9.
* "Handlaying Switches", by Keith Clark. Friday evening 8 to 9.
* "Freight Car Detailing" by Frank Hermanek. Friday evening 9:30 to 10:30
* "Computer Automated Layout Operation", by Mike Nicoletti. Friday evening 9:30 to 10:30
* "Signals", by Bill Litkenhous. Friday evening 9:30 to 10:30

Saturday Clinics------
* "Brazing and Soldering", by Frank Hermanek. Saturday morning 8 to 9.
* "Indiana Railroad Depots", by Francis Parker. Saturday morning 8 to 9.
* "Researching your Railroad", by Brad Philbrick. Saturday morning 8 to 9.
* "Model Builders Tools, Tricks and Techniques", by Mont Switzer. Sat. morning 9:30 to 11.
* "Designing your Layout for Operations", by Bob Lehnen. Saturday morning 9:30 to 11
* "3 rd Plan It", by Tom Cain. Saturday morning 9:30 to 11.
* "Layout Planning 102", by Hank Brown. Saturday morning 11:30 to 12:30
* "Modeling Trees", by Jim Crowell, III. Saturday morning 11:30 to 12:30
* "Modeling NYC GPs", by Jim Six. Saturday morning 11:30 to 1 PM.
* "Modeling Industrial Sidings", by Gary Children. Saturday Afternoon 1 to 2.
* "Creating a Website", by Allen Byme. Saturday afternoon 1 to 2.
* "Modeling the NYC Mich. Branch/NS Marion Branch", by Jim Six Time 1:30 to 3

Model and Photo Contests.... (bring entries Saturday morning 8AM til Noon. Pick up entries after 5PM)
By all means bring your Photo and Model entries for judging and get those valuable achievement points.

Extra Board....
Bingo will be held Friday evening from 7 pm until 9 pm. Prizes will be awarded.
Special Class on Beaded Bracelets by Mary Harless. Saturday 9 to 10 am. Mary will also host Quilted Hot Pad construction on Saturday from 10 to 11 am.
"Paint a Ceramic Piece" by "The Artist Within" location offsite. Time 1 pm to 2 pm.

Due to the unexpected closing of the Roberts Hotel in Muncie, all previous information about using them for lodging for the Spring Regional convention should be disregarded. This does not change the convention activities or site, which is still the Horizon Center in Muncie.

The hotel now suggested for lodging at the convention is:
Holiday Inn Express Hotel and Suites
4201 W. Bethel Ave., Muncie. 
Phone is 765-289-4678, or 800-465-4329.

They have blocked 40 rooms both Friday and Saturday at a special rate of $75 per night.  They have a breakfast bar with a free continental breakfast, and will be running a shuttle to the convention center on a regular schedule. There is also plenty of free parking at the convention center.
There is a McDonalds near the hotel, and other eating places nearby.  The Horizon Center will provide food service for lunch and the banquet.

Other possible lodging facilities in the area are:
Days Inn
3509 N. Everbrook Ln., Muncie
Phone 765-299-2311 or 800-329-7466

Lees Inn
3302 N. Everbrook Ln., Muncie
Phone 765-282-7557 or 800-733-5337

Super 8 Motel
3601 W. Foxridge Ln., Muncie
Phone 765-286-4333 or 800-800-8000

Layout Tour....Layout tours will be Saturday Afternoon from 12 PM until 5 PM and Sunday from 12 PM until 4 PM. Note there may be more layouts added.
Muncie Layouts
* Richard Seymour: HO layout of the Norfolk Southern "Rathole" Division in Current/modern times. Nicely finished, great detail, excellent scenery.
* Dick McPherson: Great Northern in steam era. It is not completed, but has a well done and finely detailed railroad yard. What works is done Stellar. Dick is a former painter for Overland Models and thus has beautifully painted models on his railroad as well in his display case.
* Dale Scrivnor: Has a grand layout of the C&O RR in the 50's. It is nearly all steam with a little diesel. It has great signaling, attention to detail, and superb scenery.
* Matt Lappin: HO layout of Central Indiana and Ohio railroad. He has his beautiful web site of his railroad and description of his layout on the CID web site. (see CID site address below)

Anderson Layouts
* Matt Hewitt: HO layout of the Shadowton Ridge, a fictitious railroad branch line of the Norfolk and Western rambling through the Coal areas of Appalachia. Beautiful scenery, excellent construction.
* Jim and Luana Wilhite: Ho layout of the Buttercup Valley and Denver short line. Excellent modeling.
* Roger Hensley: HO Layout of the East Central Indiana Railroad
* George Harris: HO Layout

Noblesville Layouts
* Keith Gamble: HO layout of the Carbon Creek, a layout in Appalachia where coal mining is King.
* Richard Bourgerie: A finished, highly detailed HO layout set in the 40's. Has been featured in Model Railroad magazine
* Warner Clark: A finely designed and great attention given to detail in a "O" scale layout.

Fishers Layouts
* Tom Fitzsimmons: The Red Mountain Northern is a HOn3 layout located in the silver mining area of Colorado. The time is set in the late 1800's, beautifully detailed, great scenery.
* Mike Nicoletti: HO layout of the B&O/Western Maryland. Superb attention to DCC and Computer control is one of the highlights of this layout. Also a nine level, moving vertical staging yard.
* Brad Philbrick: An "N" scale layout of the Illinois Central Railroad in Indiana, better known by the people of it's day as the "High-Dry" See the "Tulip Trestle" as you have never see it before.

Banquet, followed by Awards and the live Auction....
The Hoosier Connection will offer a Buffet Banquet, followed by the Awards presentations. Also after the Awards there will be a General Membership Meeting, required by our Constitution, followed by the Auction. Banquet Saturday 7:30 pm. Note bring in Auction items Saturday morning. (Note if you have special diet requirements please attach a note to the registration form)
Restaurant list available.... (A list will be posted at the Convention Site Registration.)
Hobby Shop list available.... (A list will be posted at the Convention Site Registration.)
Train Show: There will be a Train Show at the Convention Center on Sunday 10 to 4 pm, registered members attend for free. Show will include vendors and Layouts. Show open to the General public.
Non-rail Activities....
Overland Models, a major brass and plastic manufacturer, will be on tour. Jim Davis, creator of the "Garfield "Comic strip, has his home and studio in Muncie and may be open for tours. The National Model Aviation Museum & Academy of Model Aeronautics has the world's largest collection of Flying memorabilia. The Muncie Children's Museum in the same building as the Convention. They also have a model Railroad display.