World's Greatest Hobby On Tour Train Show IS the WORST Show

[Anonymous]

I have been to GATS shows in texas(houston,dallas,san antonio, and austin). They always have some o gauge stuff for sale. The majority is HO scale. I see lots of used modern lionel, and MTH stuff for sale. I have never left the show without buying something. I never see much if any atlas o gauge and k-line for sale. I have bought lionel diesel engines, train books, lionel operating acessories and lots of MTH rolling stock. There are ussually 2 GATS shows a year in houston.There is one [tup]large one and one [tdn]small one. The large GATS [^]show held at the brown convention center or the reliant center is the best(lots of stuff for sale). The [V]smaller shows held in pasadena tx and in the humble convention center are small(not so much stuff for sale). I still go to the small shows but the selection is smaller. Both shows big and small do have O gauge stuff for sale. As for attending workshops and tutorials, I never have. I just go to look at merchandise and buy stuff I want.

[espeefoamer]

I thought the WGH show was better than the last few GATS shows I have been to. It was good for HO and N modellers, and they had more layouts than I have seen at recent GATS shows.I used the Blue line to go there, so didn't have to pay thier outrageous parking fees.The slide presentation of the Disneland railroad by Micheal Broggie was excellent.
The show that sucked was the recent show at the Queen Mary.Mostly manufacturers and some were not selling anything[:(!]!

[macdannyk1]

FJ and G: Hey, if you find any guaranteed women, let me know how long the warranty period is! :)

[Anonymous]

As I understand it, the purpose of the "World's Greatest Hobby" events is to introduce our hobby to the public. It is not designed to be a train meet with stacks of dusty and rusty old stuff for people to buy, nor is it primarily intended to appeal to those already in the hobby. A comprehensive representation of each manufacturer's product line is also not needed--just a sampling of what folks new to the hobby can expect to find. It is (or should be) a venue for Thomas the Tank Engine, affordable starter sets, a variety of accessories, and a number of operating layouts in various scales to show folks what can be accomplished in the hobby.

I imagine that if all of the scales from Z through Large Scale are somehow represented at these shows, and if there is sufficient manufacturer, dealer, or hobbyist representation on hand to answer questions and explain things, then the shows have accomplished their intended purpose.

If you want to buy toy trains, you go to the York TCA Meet. If you want to see the pinnacle of creative modeling in various scales, you attend an NMRA national convention or a similar event held by other such organizations. But if you want to attract some public interest in the hobby at an entry level (meaning something the average person can do and can afford to do), then something along the lines of an "introductory overview" show would seem to be a very good concept.

[3railguy]

QUOTE: There is no such thing as a bad Train Show. Some are just better than others.
BillFromWayne

Bill, I feel the same way. I think the world's Greatest Hobby Show is more geared to HO and N scale. Even though I'm an O gauger, it's still fun to see HO layouts and products.

[Anonymous]

St. Louis show got me hooked on MTH - had never seen or heard PS2 before....wow! I still have never heard or seen other mfrs sounds, including Lionel. Not looked at trains in 50+ years, except my old prewars, until St. L show. Had no idea of the progress until then. Perfect show for new/old beginner.

[webenda]

I'm with Bill Lango. I have never failed to learn something or find something that I needed at the train shows here in Tucson.

This year I met Bill Nunn. He let me see the secrets behind his G Gauge micro size layout. Bill N. showed me how a "Sector Track" works. I also found out that he works across the street from me.

At another show, I saw good looking wires strung on the telephone poles. I asked the owner it if was real wire. He pulled a spool of sewing thread out of his tool box and told me it was thread. The interest part was that it had no fuzz. It was a form of monofiliment thread sold at yardage stores. (The layout was "N", but the thread would look just as good in O-gauge.)

I could go on and on.

Wayne

[Anonymous]

There is no such thing as a bad Train Show. Some are just better than others.
BillFromWayne
www.modeltrainjournal.com

[GWayneG]

The best one I have been to Lately was in MD. They had everything there and about 20,000 people. I drove 4 hours to get there and it was the best so far. I am putting togeather a club here in VA> of the RF&P O Gauger Club we will be out of Richmond, VA at the old Train Station on Main St. That They have just Redone and now is back in service to trains. If anyone want to know more about it or wants to join Please let me know at [e-mail]. See you all later Wayne Gilbert in VA.

[Anonymous]

The Long Beach show was OK. It had about the same amount of layouts on display as I've seen at other shows in Southern California. As usual HO had the lion's share of displays, followed by N then O. I enjoyed both layouts and spoke with members of both clubs represented.

What was missing from this show were booths of second hand O gage product. Typically there are several well stocked postwar boths along with several more that deal with anything under the sun thats related to O.

It was nice to see MTH there, but after hearing about what a great booth they have at "York" I was a little let down. I'd like to see a lot more product, such as, cars and accessories, track, etc... They had roughly a 20 X 20 booth space. Atlas was there too. But, at least they were there. Lionel was a no show along with Weaver, Williams and K-Line.

[Anonymous]

The WGH shows here, In Edison... was packed! I was there displaying, and it was well worth it.

[siberianmo]

I guess I lucked out. When WGH show was in St. Louis in January, my wife and I attended it. Compared to the seemingly never ending GATS (on earth or anywhere else) this one was refreshing to say the least.

They had lots of area set aside for the little ones to enjoy their entry into hopefully what will become a long love affair with trains. Isn't that part of what we all want? As more and more passenger train opportunities disappear from the landscape, how are we supposed to get and keep our kids and grandkids interested in our hobby? Anyway .....

I especially appreciated the absence of people who "dump" their boxes of used stuff on the tables and expect someone to do a back flip when viewing it. Ugh - no thanx.

The presence of representatives from the leading model railroad outfits was really a good idea. While I did not have any particular issues or questions to ask, there were lines of folks who apparently did.

So, it may have been the worst in rainy Long Beach (where, by the way, I used to work!) it was quite the opposite here in sunny and cold St. Louis!

[FJ and G]

I don't go to any show anymore as I'm busy. If there are guaranteed women there, count me in.

[dougdagrump]

EM, The sales at the museum are nothing more than individuals trying to sell some of their own stuff, some might be small dealers but I've never seen much. The museum opens early before the clubs open for daily operations, and the sellers set up their tables around the hallways in the museum.
Tim, I've seen flyers on this show but have no info about it.

[TurboOne]

There is supposed to be a big train show in Perris March 5th. Does anyone know if anything good is there ?

Tim

[Anonymous]

Doug there was a show in Lajolla last year I thought was pretty good for a small show. It seemed like a sale of whatever people had under their layout. But the group seems to have dropped off the face of the earth.

I tried to go to a sale at your museum but it was over at 10 am. Why? It is the weekend FCOL.

[dougdagrump]

Craig, The only difference between this show and the GATS is this had a few factory reps but unfortunately like the Gats there was very very little "O" gauge items. I will no longer go to either show in the future. [V]
I guess the only real show to attend would be the Cal-Stewart show next year, nothing else in SoCal seems to be worth much.

[Anonymous]

Well, I didn't take someone''s advise, and so my 3 boys and I drove 1 1/2 hours each way (in the rain) to Long Beach to see the World's Greatest Hobby Show. We had intended on attending a few of the free seminars,. One of the seminars never went forward, another one was on basic electronics, but was limited to HO (and I run an O), and we arrived late for the other seminar. Most of the layouts I'd seen at GATS shows. The MTH booth was very sparce, and no one at the booth was helpful in answering questions. They just kept referring me to their web site. This show would be okay if you are thinking about getting into the hobby. Maybe there will be a good show in Southern California. If anyone finds or knows of one, please let me know.
Craig