Thank you for visiting!
These web pages provide information about the 2007 O Scale West meet.
If you didn't arrive on this page via the O Scale West home page, please click the O Scale West home page, for general information, particularly what you can expect in the way of meet activities.
Activities on Thursday, February 15 include registration, packet pick up for those who pre-registered, clinics, layout visits (must be registered to get the map packet), and videos. Layouts are open for visiting immediately before and after the meet. Some of them are several hour's drive from the meet location. Advance information that lacks street addresses but is sufficient for planning your layout visiting will be posted to this web page (see below) sometime during January. Information about the layouts can be obtained by e-mail after January 15, 2007. To receive that infomration by postal mail after that date, please supply a 9 x 12 self addressed envelope with four ounces of postage for first class for first class mail, or with or Priority Mail postage on it.
For registrations received before January 1, 2007, the cost to enter the meet is $25. This is a one time fee and is good for all days of the meet, and includes you, your spouse, and children (yours or not) under 18. The cost per table for rental is $35. There is no extra charge for electrical service. Prices increase after December 31, 2006!
For registrations received after December 31, 2006, the cost to enter the meet is $30. This is a one time fee and is good for all days of the meet, and includes you, your spouse, and children (yours or not) under 18. The cost per table for rental is $45. There is no extra charge for electrical service.
Note: you do not have to pre-register to enter the meet. You can register at the door. Prices at the door will be the post-December 31 prices.
The meet will be held in the 25,000 square foot carpeted ballroom of the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara in Santa Clara, CA. Note: The Hyatt Regency was formerly the Westin; the change occurred about January, 2006.
The Hyat Regency Santa Clara Hotel is located about five miles from the San Jose International Airport. There is ample free covered parking. If you come in by airplane or train and are not renting a car, you can get to the hotel via taxi (about $25 from the San Jose airport), or via the light rail line which stops outside the hotel.
The visiting layouts and contests will be in the ballroom. Clinics, because of a need for quieter surroundings, will be held in one of the hotel's meeting rooms.
Because of the change of Westin Santa Clara to the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara, telephone numbers have changed. The new telephone number for reservations is 800-233-1234. Be sure to ask for the O Scale West rate. The fax number is 408-980-3939. The switchboard number is 408-200-1234.
O Scale West has obtained a special rate of $99 per night plus approximately 10% tax for single, double, triple, or quadruple occupancy. There is an extra charge of $15 for a roll-away bed. This rate is available for for the nights of Wednesday February 14th through Sunday February 18th.
The number of rooms available at the special rate on nights other than Thursday-Saturday rate is limited. If you plan on staying in the hotel either of those nights, you should verify that a room is available at that rate before committing to air or train travel tickets. If you need alternative accommodations because the hotel is sold out, please contact Rod Miller using the contact information provided below.
Staying in the hotel is much more convenient, and helps to keep O Scale West's cost for the facility (which determines the prices charged for admission and the table rental cost) as low as can be.
A deposit of one night's lodging is required. Additional hotel contact information is included in the newsletter (see below.)
If you have any difficulties at all with your room reservation please call Bob Plageman at 650-349-1496 or Niel Chichizola at 650-591-4136.
If you are looking to share a room, O Scale West will help you make contact with someone else who also wishes to share. The two of you then work out the details on your own. All we ask is that you contact us after you have made arrangements to that we can remove your entry from the list below.
Here is how it works. Contact O Scale West using the contact information at the bottom of this page. Please provide your arrival and departure dates, how you want to be contacted, and anything else you consider important, such as your smoking preferences, etc. The web page will be updated to add an entry for you. Potential room-mates should contact OSW who will get them in contact with you. After you have made arrangements, be sure to let us know so no more people are referred to you.
The meet schedule is as follows:
The 2007 meet car is a response to requests for something more modern.
The car is the AtlasO 70 ton covered hopper lettered for Southern Pacific in the "bubble gum" large gothic scheme. OSW has worked with Petersen Supply Company to bring this car out.
OSW will sell the 2-rail version of this car and Petersen Supply will sell the 3-rail version. Here is an artist's rendition of the car as seen on the Petersen Supply web pages: Car image.
The scheme on this car went into use during the late steam era and lasted for the rest of the lives of those cars.
The cars are assembled and weighted, have metal non-magnetic wheelsets, and include installed KD-compatible couplers.
Price for the 2-rail car is TBD.
3-rail cars will be available from Petersen Supply, either at their table as they normally attend OSW, or by direct purchase.
Some cars are still available. If you didn't come to the meet and want to purchase one or more of these cars, please contact Errol Spangler at "Oscalerr at yahoo dot com".
We will also have for last years flat car meet car more loads from Smokey Mountain Minatures. The loads will include pipes, utility poles, crawler tractor treads, etc. The loads are priced from approximately $10 to $35 each.
The S scale meet car was the Pacific Rail Shops PFE reefer, ready to run, painted in the double herald (black and white UP herald) scheme and with three new road numbers. e-mail me if you are interested in this car so I can find out for you if any are still available.
Layout visits are the highlight of OSW for many attendees.
For the 2006 meet there were over 30 layouts open for visiting. Some layouts were HO, and were included because the layout is exceptional and the layout and owner are nationally known. Of course, with the inclusion of S scale, some layouts were S scale. However, the majority of layouts, are O scale.
There are private layouts and club layouts. Some layouts are local to Santa Clara, while some are several hours drive away.
Layouts open starting Thursday afternoon, and are open at various times from then through Sunday after the meet.
CLICK HERE to view the layout visits schedule.
Note: one individual has contacted us about wanting to share the ride to layouts as we offered in the Newsletter. There would be a charge to ride in the shared vehicle, which most likely would be a mini-bus with seating for about 15 people.
We need more than one rider to make this economically feasible. If you would like to ride the bus, please contact Neil Chichizola at area code 650 prefix 591 number 4136 (if you have difficulty understanding the coded number, which is coded for Neil's privacy), the link TO CONTACT O SCALE WEST below tells how to decode (see My Voice Number on that page) the coded number.
Neil must hear from you no later than January 15 in order to arrange for the bus.
CLICK HERE to view the clinics schedule.
Don Olsen's plan for videos is provide complete showings or previews (depending upon progress) of up to four video segments that Cantenary Productions is working on at this time. The four will comprise a set called Sierra Shortlines that will be contained in two volumes. The railroads that will be featured are:
Note that while the media is video, it is projected via a video projector onto a screen, giving a large view that the entire audience can enjoy.
In general, one is an occasional seller if they are not in the model railroad business full time, and they do not sell at more than two train events in a calendar year. In other words, most of us are occasional sellers.
The following may help to illustrate this: Rod Miller has two tables at OSW. One is for his full-time model railroad-related business; for that table Rod is a business seller, and sales tax is collected and reported for sales made at that table. At his other table Rod sells his personal model railroad items. At that table he is an occasional seller.
Note: if you are in the model railroad business full time in another state, and only sell in California once a year at O Scale West, you are not an occasional seller.
The California Board of Equalization (BOE) requires OSW to collect a simple form from you that attests to your sales tax status as a seller. You must identify yourself (mailing address or California driver's license number) and check one of three boxes, which are:
OSW provides that form. You must complete it and give it to OSW in order to receive your registration packet.
If you have any questions please call Rod Miller. PLEASE do not wait until the last minute as you might be too late for you to get set up as a seller!
The October newsletter (see Newsletter below) will contain a registration form that you can use
to pre-register (note price increase after December 31, 2006.)
Registration forms for O Scale West can also be found at most O scale meets.
Note: if you registered for either the 2005 or 2006 meet, you will receive
the October newsletter.
To obtain a hard copy registration form please send an LSSAE to the O Scale West address below.
The registration form will also available on line after September 1. Click on
to download a printable copy of the form. Note: the Adobe Acrobat program is required to view and print this file. The program is available free from Adobe:
Click here to download acrobat.
Pre-registration is not required. You can register as a walk up at the meet. The $30 registration fee will apply.
Tables sell out before the meet begins, so advance registration is required if you wish to rent one or more tables.
Please note that confirmations of early registration are provided only if you provide a valid (and legible!) e-mail address or a stamped self addressed envelope.
The October newsletter tells you everything you need to know about the meet (if not, please let me know!) Note: if you registered for either the 2005 or 2006 meet, you will receive the October newsletter.
If you did not register for one of those meets and you wish to receive a copy of the the October newsletter when the mass mailing is done, please send an LSSAE with 1 oz. first class postage to the O Scale West address below.
The newsletter will also be available on-line as a PDF file. To download a copy of the newsletter, please click on
Since the newsletter page size is 11 x 17 inches, if you want to print it, try a size reduction to 65%. Depending upon your printer, it may fit on an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet.
Note: the Adobe Acrobat program is required to view and print this file. The program is available free from Adobe:
Click here to download acrobat.
Go back to the general information page.
If you attend the meet, you will receive a survey in your registration packet; please be sure to complete the survey! The survey is the organizing committee's primary tool for getting your feedback, and for testing the waters when a major change is contemplated.