This is the 6th Canadian Railway Convention and the first CARM convention to be held in Toronto, Canada’s largest city, and a major vacation destination in its own right. The convention offers the benefit of an extremely reasonable accommodation rate with easy access to the whole city so you may want to consider adding some days to your trip to take in more of the city. Some options to keep you occupied are listed throughout the website along with the convention information. Register early to take advantage of the lower costs and assure yourself of a spot on some of the prototype tours which have limited availability.
All on site activities will be held at Humber Lakeshore, all connected under cover, so no one need leave the building except for tours. Parking is available adjacent to the convention building, Humber Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, Lakeshore Campus which is located at 3199 Lake Shore Boulevard West, Toronto, Ontario.
To find the location of the Humber Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning take a look at the maps below;
DINNER: Planned for Saturday night to allow everyone to meet friends and fellow hobbyists and be entertained by an eminent speaker.
PRO SHOW: This new and unique event at model railroading conventions will offer opportunities to address your concerns; to ask questions of manufacturers and compare and contrast the products and technology available and being developed. We will have skilled modellers and manufacturers present who have learned the hard way and will help you avoid problems. Have you thought of converting your layout to DCC but don’t know where to start? Then this is the venue for you to find out where and how you would go about it. Railway historical societies will be there, as will manufacturers, showing their new products and plans.
RAFFLE: This will run Friday and Saturday with winning numbers to be drawn at the dinner on Saturday night.
WELCOMING RECEPTION: The convention will kick off on Friday evening with a welcoming reception so everyone can meet their friends, arrange groups for tours, examine the comprehensive programme, ask questions of the organizers and plan their next busy days.
NON-RAIL ACTIVITIES: Toronto is home to shopping, theatres, restaurants, museums, galleries, gardens, amusements, historic and futuristic sites that will keep you occupied for much longer than the three days of the convention. We will have knowledgeable people available at the registration desk with quantities of information to assist you in making your choice of what to do and see, whether it is day or evening, indoor or outdoor. Many theatre productions are scheduled during the convention include Frankenstein, Rock of Ages, Glengarry Glen Ross, Itzhak Perlman and Roberto Carlos. Humber Lakeshore has the advantages of TTC street car and bus connections allowing you to travel anywhere in the city from the convention for a single fare.
PARKING: Ample parking is available at Humber Lakeshore.
MEALS: Breakfast and lunch meals will be available for those choosing them on the registration form. Restaurants are nearby for those choosing to eat off campus.
MODEL RAILWAY STORES: Greater Toronto is home to several of the largest and most comprehensive model railway stores in Canada and we will provide notes on how to get to them as well as vouchers and other inducements provided by them. Most of them are near layout tour routes.
RAIL FAN SITES: Toronto has great opportunities to view many of these facilities from public overpasses and viewing sites that might have been purpose built for just that objective. We are preparing a guide and notes for those wishing to undertake self guided prototype tours and facilities tours. This guide to rail fanning sites will be limited to those that are safe, on public property and/or open to rail fans. It will provide notes on locations, accessibility, availability of parking and information on what may be seen from the site. Some surface rail lines in the area accommodate upwards of 50 trains per day on week days. Toronto’s subway and streetcar lines provide additional interest.