Attendance number at York in dispute?

[Anonymous]

The TCA board said 14,200 were in attendance. From all indications, that isn't exactly accurate. Maybe 14,200 were REGISTERED but I'm sure the gas prices and state of the economy kept many folks at home. Plus, there is such a gult of trains on the market that end up on ebay and the internet at better prices than you can find at York.

It looks like the only real news and excitement at York was the photo of the two hobby leaders together.[:0]

[Anonymous]

I think you're probably right. They have no real way of knowing the exact count anyhow; all they can deterimine with any accuracy is the number of folks who paid to attend. I myself have frequently registered (and paid) to attend York, but have been unable to actually make the trip. I figure it's a small amount of money, and even if I'm not able to be there in person, the money goes to support the Eastern Division's efforts.

From virtually all accounts I've read (from regulars), including the bandit meets and the York meet itself, attendance was down this time around.

[laz 57]

I was there yesterday(Friday) and by what I saw and had to park there were lots more there then there was last year.
laz57

[laz 57]

And I even saw 2 full bus loads of TCA members.
I never saw bus loads at the meet.
laz57

[Roger Bielen]

Does anyone other than the organizers and vendors really care?

[msacco]

Laz57,
If you saw two full bus loads of tca members, you saw me. I was on one. We had two full busses.
Nice York. I hadn't been there in a few years. Last time MTH and Lionel had tents setup. I missed those as I remember the space being bigger.
Talked to Mike W. and as always very approachable and a nice guy.
His booth was by far the best stocked and most impressive. IMHO


Mike S.

[dlagrua]

IMO, the attendence at the York meet was pretty typical. No doubt that if the price of gasoline stays at exhorbitant levels; attendence at trains shows could decline. If you look around you still have the same old audience. Pehaps some of this audience have too many trains or is affected by changing demographics that affect their buying habits. It seemed as though buying activity was down.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by msacco
[
Talked to Mike W. and as always very approachable and a nice guy.
His booth was by far the best stocked and most impressive. IMHO


Mike S.

MTH did have a great booth. Not only trains running on a layout, but also accessories and operating rolling stock actually operating, and engines running-in-place in other areas. Joe

[trigtrax]

As a vendor I can report my sales were well above previous years but I just can't get any handle on attendance. I heard lots of grumblings.. Blaming the internet and E-Bay, complaints about the bandit meets, complaints about the new hours and additional costs.. Two Orange Hall dealers (that I know of) packed up Friday night and vowed never to return.
My view now is York is evolving, but I don't have enough information to say if that's good or bad.

[fifedog]

I spoke with a number of dealers on Friday, and they advised sales were slow. Some had pre-ordered merchandise for members to pick-up, which guarenteed some earnings. My impression was that attendance was a little lighter than average. Possibly due to weather, or fuel prices (from the [:(] sob stories I've been reading in these forums). Either way, I enjoyed myself, kinda like a bi-annual therapy session. Rain held off on Friday until late in the day, so there weren't anyone getting stuck out in the fairgrounds.

[mitchelr]

QUOTE: Originally posted by fifedog

.... Either way, I enjoyed myself, kinda like a bi-annual therapy session. Rain held off on Friday until late in the day, so there weren't anyone getting stuck out in the fairgrounds.

I agree with fifedog it is like a therapy session. What some folks might forget is that since they opened the new Orange Hall in the huge Toyota Arena, there's a lot more space square footage wise and I believe they are leaving a little larger aisles and not cramming so many people into the spaces. I saw lots of people buying and my buddy and I did our fair share Friday[;)] It was his first York TCA Meet, but not his last. He was like a kid in a candy shop. It was fun to watch a fellow trainaholic in that environment, it is toy train nirvana.

Mitch[:D]

[wrmcclellan]

I would say that attendance was typical for the Spring meet which is always lower than the October meet. The great difficulty I had in getting through the aisles was the same as I have encountered in the past.

The folks that brought some popular new stuff seemed to move it. If you wanted an Atlas O Steam Era tank car, you better have bought it Thurs or Fri morning, because by Friday afternoon - they were gone (my cohort procrastinated and completely missed out). The Weaver troop cars and express versions also went really fast. Lionel operating accessories also seemed to be moving (probably since the prices were very attractive) and got harder to find as the day wore on (I bought several for a friend bulding a layout).

One interesting note is there was a LOT of pre-war standard gauge as compared to recent years (and I mean a lot) and prices were appropriately high. I did not see this stuff moving much. Many sets with boxes.

I think starting the meet on Thursday afternoon is a good idea. It is not really taking away from the parking lot sales and to me it actually improves things for the venders if it rains (Which at York seems to be all the time). Now you have everyone under cover if the weather turns foul.

Roy

[fifedog]

Roy, i noticed a lot of pre-war too. I can appreciate the stuff,and I usually fly by those types of tables, but I've been bitten by the Britains bug lately, and these tinplate folks always seem to have a few soldiers out amongst their wares. Also, K-Line definitely seemed to be the topic dujour. I think I saw more yellow/black boxes than everything else on friday.

[trigtrax]

I think I saw more yellow/black boxes than everything else on friday.

My booth was by the side door and by far there was more K-line being carried out than anything else. I had heard somebody was blowing out passenger sets but as I had no helpers this time I couldn't leave to investigate what was going on.