Thank you for visiting!
These web pages provide detailed information about the 2012 O Scale West meet. Below "O Scale West / S West 7" is abbreviated to "OSW".
At the time this page was created (February 2011) the 2012 meet is over a year away.
As information about the meet becomes available it is added to these web pages, so take note of the date above when these pages were updated, and only spend time looking for new information if the pages have been updated since then.
This section is updated if previously published information has changed.
The registration form can be downloaded. Click HERE to download a copy of the registration form that you can print, fill in, and mail to OSW (make a copy for your records).
For registrations postmarked before January 1, 2012, 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. Tables require pre-registration as we sell out and may not have tables available for those who walk up and want to rent at table. There is no extra charge for electrical service, but we need to know in advance that you need one or more tables so that we can locate your table near an electrical outlet. You should bring an extension cord. You may have to run your cord across an aisle, in which case you should bring some duct tape to make it safe for foot traffic.
For registrations postmarked January 1, 2012 and later, 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 $40. Tables require pre-registration as we sell out and may not have tables available for those who walk up and want to rent at table. There is no extra charge for electrical service, but we need to know in advance that you need it so your table(s) will be assigned a location near an electrical outlet.
Note: you do not have to pre-register to enter the meet. You can register at the door.
There is no organizational membership required to register and enter the meet.
The meet will be held in the 25,000 square foot well lit and carpeted ballroom of the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara in Santa Clara, CA.
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 $20 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 the hotel's meeting rooms.
O Scale West has obtained a special rate of $112 ($TBD for Regency Club rooms) per night plus approximately 9.5% tax for single, double, triple, or quadruple occupancy, a $.14 California State Tourism tax and a district improvement fee of $1.00. There is an extra charge of $15 for a roll-away bed. This rate is available for for the nights of Wednesday February 8 through Sunday February 12.
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 the special rate so that you can plan your travel. If you need alternative accommodations because the hotel is sold out, please contact Bob Plageman using the phone number provided below; we may be able to have more rooms be made available at the OSW rate.
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. This 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.
Here is person who is looking for a room-mate.
Click here to download the complete overall meet schedule along the clinics schedule.
Activities on Thursday February 9 are:
Activities on Friday February 10 are:
Activities on Saturday February 11 are:
Left over from previous O Scale West meets, we will have:
For information including photos of the above cars click here and scroll down to the entries for 2010 and 2012.
Layout visits are the highlight of OSW for many attendees.
There will be over 30, the exact number varies from year to year, 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 are open for visiting immediately before, during, and after the meet. Some of them are several hour's drive from the meet location and are open only Sunday after the meet. 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.
We recommend a GPS system for saving time in finding layouts, particularily at night. And of course, if you fly or take the train or bus to the meet, you will either need a car or have to find someone who can take riders (and you are then beholden to go where they want to go which may not match your interests).
Click here to view the layout visits schedule.
As of Tuesday AM, February 7, there was a major modification to the clinics schedule in order to add five clinics. You will get the new schedule if you download it below. If you have already downloaded a schedule you should discard it and download it again.
The new schedule will be available for pick up at the registration desk and will be on the rolling video display next to the registration desk.
Click here to download the clinics schedule along the overall meet schedule; note that the schedule you will download supercedes that which is in your registration packet.
The schedule is a two page document that has the clinics schedule on one page and the schedule for all other meet activities not including layout visits (see above) on the other page. View this document with the Adobe Acrobat viewer/reader (see NEWSLETTER below).
Contest details are TBD. Note that some information about the contest can be viewed HERE . There is a limit on the number of entries in the contest. The maximun number of entries per category by one entrant is two entries except for the Display category where the limit is four entries.
The company store is located immediately to your right as you enter the ballroom. In addition to sales of the meet car and other meet-related items, the company store runs two popular activities.
Got one or two items you'd like to sell but don't want to rent a table? Use the white elephant tables! For a very modest fixed fee, you can put your item(s) on the white elephant tables in the company store for sale at a price you determine. If your items sell, the company store collects from the seller and pays you your price minus the table fee.
An alternative to the white elephant tables is to put your item in the silent auction. People bid on items in the auction up to the specified auction close time, and the highest bidder wins. Bids are written on the bid sheet which is public. The action gets hot and heavy as the auction close time approaches; the Company Store provides plenty of warning via the PA system as auctions approach closing. A fee is deducted from the auction proceeds when they are given to the seller.
The video program comprises two new releases from Catenary Productions. Those videos are: "Narrow Gauge Logging Railroads of El Dorado County" (this is where the spectacular 1200 foot high 1/2 mile long cableway was built across a steep river canyon), and "Smoke in Niles Canyon".
Layout and railfan videos (DVDs formatted so they can be played on computers) are solicited; if we accept your submission please be prepared to narrate it. Videos of layouts are popular.
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.
One of the layouts that was in high demand for visiting but was almost never open was Michael Stimac's. Michael passed away unexpectedly this summer, we are sorry to report. Bill Baxley was a good friend of Michael's and helped him with the layout. Bill has photos of the layout when under construction and then when it was in operation, and a video of train action on the layout. Bill will be presenting this material as part of the Videos session.
Lastly, we will show home-made layout videos that people want to bring to show; if you plan to bring one, it would be great if you could get an advance copy to us so we can verify it works with our computer and presentation program. Call Rod to discuss.
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 who are merely revising our collection 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! If your activity is such that you need to collect sales taxes and you need to get a California resale number from the California BOE, that make take a few days if done by fax.
If you registered for either the 2010 O Scale National Convention or the 2011 OSW, you will receive the October newsletter with a registration form.
The registration form is available on line; click HERE 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.
Registration forms for O Scale West can also be found at most O scale meets.
To obtain a hard copy newsletter and registration form please send an LSSAE to the O Scale West address below.
Pre-registration is not required. You can register as a walk up at the meet. The $30 registration fee will apply if you walk up on Thursday or Friday. On Saturday the walk up registration fee is $20.
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. If you don't use email call Rod Miller to verify your registration.
The October newsletter tells you everything you need to know about
the meet (if not, please let Rod Miller know!)
Note: if you registered for either the 2010 O Scale National Convention or the 2011 OSW, you will receive
a hard copy of the October newsletter.
If you did not register for one of those meets and you wish to receive a copy of a newsletter instead of downloading and printing it yourself, please send an LSSAE with 1 oz. first class postage to the O Scale West address below. Newsletters are printed in late Spring and early Fall.
To download a copy of the newsletter, please click on 2012 Newsletter.
The newsletter page size is 11 x 17 inches. If you want to print it on an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet, try a size reduction to 65% which works to print it on an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet on some printers.
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.
If you attend the meet, you will receive a survey in your registration packet; please be sure to complete the survey and turn it in during the meet at the registration desk or mail it to us after the meet! The survey is the organizing committee's primary tool for getting your feedback, and for testing the waters when a major change is contemplated.