Registration email contact: nmraconvreg@comcast.net

Welcome                                                                                                                           Members of Los Angeles Division and Pacific Southwest Region cordially invite you to the 2008 convention of the National Model Railroad Association. A dedicated team is working to ensure visitors will be rewarded by attending “Anaheim Special” in 2008. Besides attractions to entice model railroaders, the city of Anaheim will provide all convention goers with opportunities for dining, shopping, and recreation. Join us in July 2008 and revel in the magic of Southern California.

Theme                                                                                                                                      “Anaheim Special” celebrates agricultural riches that fueled the growth of Southern California.  Our initial design features the orange reefer that was used to ship perishable fruit from California to all parts of the nation. Over a hundred years ago German emigrants settled around Anaheim and developed a wine growing region along the Santa Ana River. Late in the 1800s, vintners turned to oranges when a blight destroyed vines that had come as cuttings from the Rhineland. Up through World War II, two-lane roads cut through vast groves of sweet-blooming orange trees. Along these roads, small stands appeared where locals sold oranges and jars of preserves. Walter Knott owned one of these stands, and present-day Knott’s Berry Farm is an easy drive from our convention. Oranges were a durable fruit that could be shipped across the country by train.  A vigorous marketing campaign soon convinced every family they needed the health-giving California sunshine captured in the orange. The California Fruit Growers Association soon obtained the needed fleet of refrigerator cars.