Welcome to the 39th National Narrow Gauge Convention website. Our “Come Early, Stay Late” is more than just a motto with the vast vacation opportunities in Northern California. On the California Coast line there is Big Sur, Monterey Bay, and Carmel by the Sea to the south of San Francisco, plus San Francisco itself, and Napa Valley nearby, then the Coastal Redwoods to the north with its National Park and many State Parks. Into the Gold Country, the Sierra Foothills, with the California gold rush discovery site plus quaint mining towns that now support wineries and mining museums. Farther into the Sierra Nevada Mountains the beautiful Lake Tahoe is a great location to visit and not to be outdone, the Sierras have three National parks, Lassen Volcanic National Park, Yosemite National Park, the the Sequoia National Park.

2019 is promising to be an amazing year with most of the National Conventions being held on the Western side of the country. In April, the Sn3 Symposium lands in Seattle, Washington. In May, the O Scale National Convention is being hosted by O Scale West in Santa Clara, California. July brings the NMRA National Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah. The National Garden Railway Convention will be in Portland, Oregon in late August. (The blue event links will take you to their respective websites.)

One week later, the 39th National Narrow Gauge Convention is being held in Sacramento, California. In addition to these model railroad conventions, the 150th celebration of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad will be held in May in Utah. With the Garden Convention and the Narrow Gauge Convention being held one week apart, you have the opportunity to attend both conventions.