Where did 2020, 2021 and 2022 go? It’s hard to believe we’re already in 2023. Who is excited for the resurrection of Hattanooga this year? I know I am. I have started the new year by chipping in where needed for the Hattanooga 2023 convention.

What have I been up to? Quite a bit! I have lots to share, including working on this website and game designs, but more about that later. Let’s talk about something long-overdue first.

It is time to blog about one of the train-game-blog-masters of the past, lover of pies, and collector extraordinaire! Thanks Tyler (and Luke) for all the kind words over the years with Hattanooga’s blog posts, tweets, and other public content.

Bare with me, as I perplex everyone with this bullet point list of fluffy and random content. I think we all need some randomness at times, just not in train games…

But first… a ‘magical’ neon glowing train!

The magical essence of Tyler:

• Blessed with a kind and charming wife, who somehow puts up with all of us boardgamers for an extra long weekend!
• Has almost as many children as a shelf row of train games!
• Those aforementioned children are caring, helpful, curious, and well behaved. They are extra-well behaved for their mom, when dad gets a fun weekend dedicated to this hobby… I think?… Are they reading this? Hmm…
• Owns almost as many train-themed games, as there are days in a year! 
• Multitasking master! Can BBQ for 40+ people, host a convention, and still manage to play some games the same day. 
• Great communicator and leader. It’s amazing that we can get 30+ people to a niche convention in a ‘small’ city (~60000 people), and he is a huge reason why it has been successful. (So is Luke, more on him in another blog post coming soon!)
• Under his busy schedule, it is amazing what he has done for train gaming in the area. He has brought parts of his large collection to several conventions in Calgary (and other Cities) several times in the past.
• Has always been a great friend for the years I have known him. Treats all his friends well (as far as I know!). Honestly, a man of honor who keeps his word.
• Puts up with and playtests my wacky prototypes, with no complaints.
• Currently has ‘Danger’ as a middle-nickname. Why ‘Danger’? I honestly haven’t asked him for his take on it. Mysterious!
• He seems to have a 6th sense that guides him into saying/doing the right things that generally keep everyone happy. Maybe that’s in part due to his experience with friends/family.. wherever it comes from, I love it.  
• Loves reading ‘unordered point lists’. Maybe not.
• Blessed with a kind and charming wife, who somehow puts up with all of us boardgamers for an extra long weekend! (Repeating this was intentional)

Trust me, Tyler is an absolute joy to be around! You won’t want to miss Hattanooga! Have a look at the archive section, if you haven’t read the blog posts from the old hattanooga.ca site. They were recovered there. That’s all for now, folks! Hope to see you all in April.

Marc ‘Train Game Taxi’’ Voyer